Statistical significance and its part in science downfalls
Imagine if there were a simple single statistical measure everybody could use with any set of data and it would reliably separate true from false. Oh, the things we would know! Unrealistic to expect...
View Article5 Key Things to Know About Meta-Analysis
Knowledge accumulates. But studies can get contradictory or misleading along the way. You can’t just do a head count: 3 studies saying yes minus 1 saying no ≠ thumbs up. The one that says “no” might...
View ArticleThe Disease Prevention Illusion: A Tragedy in Five Parts
Act I: An ounce of “prevention.” “Prevention is better than cure.” Aphorisms like this go back a long way. And most of our dramatic triumphs against disease come from prevention: clean water, making...
View Article5 Shortcuts to Keep Data on Risks in Perspective
“Risky” is definitely not a one-size-fits-all concept. It’s not just that we aren’t all at the same level of every risk. Our tolerance of risk-taking in different situations can be wildly different,...
View ArticleWeighing Up Anonymity and Openness in Publication Peer Review
Scientists are in a real bind when it comes to peer review. It’s hard to be objective when we’re all among the peer reviewing and peer-reviewed, or plan to be. Still, we should be able to mobilize...
View Article“Just” Joking? Sexist Talk in Science
I’m a scientist who’s also a cartoonist. So I’ve got a pretty keen interest in scholarship and empirical research on humor. And I want to talk about research and sexist jokes, and where that leads....
View ArticleAnother 5 Things to Know About Meta-Analysis
Last year I wrote a post of “5 Key Things to Know About Meta-Analysis”. It was a great way to focus – but it was hard keeping to only 5. With meta-analyses booming, including many that are poorly...
View ArticleInching closer towards a science base for justice
In a courtroom, the full power of the state comes down on an individual. No one should have to face that on their own. A criminal defense lawyer was making this argument to me after a long day in the …...
View ArticleMind Your “p”s, RRs, and NNTs: On Good Statistics Behavior
P is for pandemonium. And a bit of that broke out recently when a psychology journal banned p–values and more, declaring the whole process of significance testing “invalid”. There’s a good roundup of...
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