Data
The Power of Position
How we position our bodies says a lot to others about our confidence and our abilities, but it also says a lot to us. Thanks to Cody Wanner for pointing me toward this wonderful TED video. I would love to know more about her study techniques, and the graph with a non-zero baseline bugs me, […]
TMQ Tidbits of the Week
Once again, here is the best of Gregg Easterbrook’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback column on ESPN.com. You can read the football bits here. Many Intellectuals Don’t Believe in God But Do Believe in the God Particle: In 2011, physicists at the enormous CERN atom-smasher in Switzerland declared they had found matter moving faster than light. This was received […]
TED on Wrongful Convictions: Part VI
In today’s final installment of TED’s wrongful conviction series, David Dow points out the uncomfortable connection between childhood environment and eventually being sentenced to the death sentence. About three quarters of death row inmates have a history in the juvenile justice system. How can we break this link and help end this link? Dow has […]
TED on Wrongful Convictions: Part V
In today’s installment of TED’s wrongful conviction series, James Lockyer gives a case study of a wrongfully convicted client of his, and the long journey to justice. Some of the thoughts from previous talks in this series (click the Wrongful Convictions category above or the Wrongful Convictions tag to see other posts in this series, […]
TED on Wrongful Convictions: Part IV
In today’s installment of TED’s wrongful conviction series, Peter Donnelly discusses how misunderstanding statistics and probability can lead to wrongful convictions. Even the “experts” can really mess this up. The problem is often experts in other disciplines attempting to apply statistics and probability, and failing miserably. However, often no one seems to notice. We would […]
TED on Wrongful Convictions: Part III
In today’s installment of TED’s wrongful conviction series, Rob Warden discusses false confessions. Why would anyone admit to a crime that they did not commit? There are several reasons. Some are predictable (to make the interrogation stop), while others are more surprising (police have lied and implied they have evidence that they don’t). Warden gives example cases […]
TED on Wrongful Convictions: Part II
In today’s installment of TED’s wrongful conviction series, Bryan Stevenson talks about the issue of justice. Our criminal justice system is supposed to give every accused the same protections, but does it? Stevenson points out where it does not, and how we might be able to make a difference.
TED on Wrongful Convictions: Part I
I recently came across a series of good talks about the phenomenon of wrongful convictions. There are numerous reasons for the problem, some of which will be discussed in the videos. I’ll spread them out over six days, so that my readers can give each talk the thought that it might deserve. The speakers come […]
Multiple Guess
Test takers and givers have long debated whether it is wise to stick with your initial answer or switch when in doubt. The usual suggestion is to stick with your “gut reaction”, but does the data bear this out? Actually, no. This article at PSYBlog discusses the data, and conjectures about the reason. I’m sure […]
DHA Could Help Poor Readers
In a recent randomized double blind trial, adding the Omega-3 fatty acid DHA to a students diet resulted in improved reading scores. Here is a taste of a piece from STATS fellow Maia Szalavitz: Researchers at Oxford University’s Center for Evidence-Based Intervention studied 362 7- to 9-year-old children who had placed in the bottom third […]
No Longer Normal 