Note to a project we first reported on earlier this week

We told you about a research project that used a half million dollars in stimulus money to study binge-drinking patterns that lead to risky decision-making. The project is being funded by the National Institutes of Health and involves research at nightclubs in the Bay Area of Northern California.

In our report we said that the workers – old enough to go to a nightclub but young enough to blend in – were paid to go into the clubs and observe the people drinking there. Soon after that report aired, the principal investigator of the study wrote to CNN telling us we got some of it wrong. She says that the researchers will not be going into the clubs themselves... rather they will be interviewing patrons outside the clubs as they enter or leave. She says the researchers, who should have researching or interviewing experience, are likely to be young people, because the job will involve working late at night.

She and the National Institutes of Health strongly defend the study, saying it will save lives by reducing the number of accidents among young people, the leading cause of death for those aged between the ages of 15 and 34. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.