Wikipedia:Don't build the Frankenstein

Essay on editing Wikipedia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Building the Frankenstein is a variation of original research. Generally, it is a good faith error by Wikipedia editors attempting to find as many sources as possible about a subject. Often, in this situation, the information presented by the sources is not actually about the same subject, and when mistakenly combined, creates a Frankenstein's monster (often called a "Frankenstein").

Boris Karloff as the classic film version and Hollywood's interpretation of Frankenstein's monster

Example:

  • "John Doe played Johnny in movie A." (source: Newspaper X)
  • "John Doe played Carl in movie B." (source: Newspaper Y)

Based on that, an editor may write:

  • "John Doe played Johnny in the movie A<ref>NewspaperX</ref> and played Carl in the movie B.<ref>Newspaper Y</ref>

The information may be correct, but there is a possibility of mistaken identity with, for instance, John Doe from movie A being a different person than the one from the movie B. It would be accurate if a source (Newspaper Z) writes "John Doe, who played Johnny in the movie A, will be in the movie B as Carl".

Hypothetical examples

Attention: The following examples are all verifiable but mistakenly combine information from two or more homonymous people.

  • George Bush was a NASCAR driver[7] and midfield footballer[8] who was elected president of the United States in 1988[9], 2000, and 2004.[10]
  • Top model Cindy Crawford[17] was in the porno film "Anal Addicts # 22".[18]
  • Anne Hathaway (born 1556), wife of William Shakespeare, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2013 for her performance in Les Misérables.
  • Jimmy Johnson played quarterback, defensive back, and tight end in American football, was a head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and an assistant in the NFL, CFL, and college football, and was named the 2009 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year after winning a record fourth consecutive NASCAR Racing championship.[29] He died in 2004[30] and 2009[31] and is currently a television sports commentator.[32]
  • Jim Jones, a cult leader who committed suicide after carrying out the Jonestown Massacre in 1978,[33] played offensive line for the Baltimore Ravens in 2001.[34]
  • Michael Jordan is widely regarded as one of the best basketball player of all time,[35] has won acclaim for his acting in movies such as "Creed" and "Black Panther",[36] and was elected to the Irish National Assembly for Wexford in 1927.[37]
  • Osmar Lins was a São Paulo mayoral candidate in 2000.[38] As a writer, he wrote the story "Lisbela e o Prisioneiro".[39]
  • Michael Moore wrote the books "Stupid White Men", "Dude, Where's My Country?"[40] and "Distance Education - A system view".[41]
  • The band Nirvana released the album "All of Us" in 1967[42] and the album "Nevermind" in 1991.[43]
  • Katie Perry is a singer[44] and fashion designer.[45]
  • Jenna Reid is a fiddle player[46] and runner[47] who was named the Penthouse Pet of the Month for September 2015.[48]

Databases

According to WP:BIO: "Database sources such as Notable Names Database, Internet Movie Database and Internet Adult Film Database are not considered credible since they are, like wikis, mass-edited with little oversight. Additionally, these databases have low, wide-sweeping generic standards of inclusion."

Another reason why these are not reliable sources is because they build Frankensteins: they are based on trivial sources, which makes them susceptible to errors. For instance, IMDb itself admits that "occasional mistakes and omissions are inevitable"[63] like some profiles which have credits of different persons,[64][65] and people who have multiple profiles because they were credited with different names.[66][67] For instance, according to an archived version of Mariana Rios' IMDb profile, she was in a 1953 film (before she was born!).[68]

Intersections

A Venn diagram representing intersections of sources A, B and C

Verifiability is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Let the sources be sets; make sure that there are enough intersections of non-trivial reliable independent secondary sources to guarantee that all sources are about the same subject. If the depth of any source is not enough, you should avoid adding it to the article. It's not just a way to make sure the topic of your article is notable: it's also a way to make sure that the article is consistent. If several reliable independent secondary sources are in a consensus (represented by intersections) about a statement, it tends to be more reliable. In addition to these, it is also a way to find biased or minor views: if just a few sources agree about a statement it tends to be a minority point of view.

See also

References

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