Dmitriy T.M. sent in a TED talk in which Ben Goldacre discusses the problems with many of the scientific findings we hear about in the media, highlighting the importance of scientific literacy and critical consumption of science reporting:
And while we’re on the topic of potentially misleading statistics, Dolores R. and Sarah E. sent in an image posted at boing boing as one of “the best set of infographics ever,” helpfully illustrating the difference between correlation and causation:
Comments 10
Yrro Simyarin — February 2, 2012
This is the first thing everyone in the world forgets as long as the correlation matches their personal viewpoint.
The graph showing publication bias in studies of publication bias was beautiful.
Yrro Simyarin — February 2, 2012
This is the first thing everyone in the world forgets as long as the correlation matches their personal viewpoint.
The graph showing publication bias in studies of publication bias was beautiful.
Jon — February 2, 2012
On somewhat of a tangent, but linking back through 'bad science' (reporting):
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/hiv-infected-going-undiagnosed-research-4710122 and
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10782988. Two articles about a New Zealand study that both claim things about HIV infection rates completely divorced from what they say in the actual quoting of the research less than 10 lines down.
Loglog — February 3, 2012
This post is a great reason why you should not be so confident in the message of the Spirit Level, whose main analysis consists of correlations without establishing causation in any way.
LarryW — February 3, 2012
When I taught Middle School I became part of the problem by hanging a poster that said "Studying Makes You Ugly." Of course I only taught Middle School for six years before moving "up" to community college for the next 23. It was not necessary to warn college students about the pitfalls of studying...they seldom did any until the night before the exam.
The importance of science | Critical Sass — February 4, 2012
[...] the video, via Sociological Images. [...]
Lemon — February 5, 2012
Au contraire, I think it was the housing bubble that had an effect on Avas.
Frank Gorman — February 5, 2012
I've been blaming the Nancys, Mias and Barbaras, but it turns out it was the Avas all along.
Yannick — February 5, 2012
Let's not get caried away here. Correlation does not imply causation, but it's at least an indication. Otherwise we woudn't spend all that taxpayer money figuring out the correlation of outcome vs intake of new drugs in double-blind studies and such.
Science does not rely on authority as an indicator of truth. « Restructure! — February 12, 2012
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