Here's a research synopsis from the Science Daily website with the headline, "Running on little sleep? You're twice as likely to get hurt." The way this heading is phrased, it makes it sound like a causal claim. Phrases such as "twice as likely" don't make it causal, but the "if...then..." nature of the headline does …
Continue reading “Running on little sleep? You’re twice as likely to get hurt”
It's not hard to find TikTok, IG, or webposts about a field called "color psychology." It generally argues that different colors have specific effects on your mood, behavior, and energy. Put your critical thinking hat on while we take a look at some of its claims. Can the color you choose to wear really impact …
This is a joint blog post by two W.W. Norton & Co. authors (and pals): Beth Morling and Jess Hartnett. We first “met” through our blogs and social media years ago (Beth's blog on teaching RM, which you are reading now, and Jess's blog on teaching stats, notawfulandboring, here). Our friendship love language is DMing each …
Continue reading Repairing past research injustices (a joint post with Jess Hartnett!)
The journalist provides a mixture of empirical evidence and authority to support advice for how to talk to family you disagree with. Photo: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A/Shutterstock During the holidays, we may find ourselves interacting with family members who don't agree with us--especially on politics. Here's a story from NPR news with advice on how …
Continue reading Psychological research: How to talk with family you disagree with
Should we trust a study that tested only 8 people? Photo: sirtravelalot/Shutterstock Yahoo news picked up a story from the Washington Post , which, in turn, had covered an empirical journal article about high heels and walking (did you follow that?). The Yahoo headline read, "Can wearing high heels actually improve your walking?" In this …
Continue reading Really? Wearing high heels can improve your walking
Does the study support the causal claim the journalist attached to it? Photo: Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock Guest post by Carli Fine, University of Delaware A recent news article for the general public was headlined, “Cutting Out Meat Might Help PreventSnoring: Study”. The journalistic source was Health Day: News for Healthier Living, which makes recommendations for the …
Continue reading Really? “Cutting out meat might help prevent snoring”
As it's nearly Valentine's Day, it's a good time to feature this new story on so-called "love languages." According to a new review by relationships researchers, it looks like we should lump this idea, along with the Myers Briggs Type Inventory and learning styles, into the category of "things that make research psychologists cringe." Many …
The journalist's uncritical acceptance of this frequency claim's data is also awkward. Photo credit:JRP Studio/Shutterstock Here's an interesting set of frequency claims about what percentage of U.S. adults feel awkward. The data were presented at the content farm StudyFinds, under the headline, "That's awkward! 68% still often feel as insecure as they did as teens" …
Credit: halfpoint/Deposit Photos Summer is the time for music festivals like Burning Man, Burning Nest, Firefly, and Bonnaroo. If you are planning to attend one this year, this post might interest you. The science journalism clearinghouse called Study Finds recently reported on a study conducted at Yale University. The journalists' report included the causal headline …
Continue reading Music festivals “make people more generous, socially connected”
Conspiracy theories, unlike scientific theories, are unfalsifiable. Credit: buecax/Depositphotos Early in the research methods course you learn about the theory-data cycle (Chapter 1). You also learn about the benefits of scientific reasoning over informal, everyday reasoning such as intuition, experience, or authority (Chapter 2). The QAnon conspiracy theory is a good example of several principles …
Continue reading Conspiracy reasoning vs. Scientific reasoning (the case of QAnon)