Participants and newspapers were more likely to blame video games when a school shooter was white than when he was black. Photo: Richard Levine / Alamy Stock Photo What causes mass shootings? Of course, we have no experimental evidence on this question. Correlational evidence (both within the U.S. and evidence that compares the U.S. to …
Continue reading Racial stereotypes behind how we explain school shootings
The study used a quasi-experimental design. Credit: Beth Dubber/Netflix/Kobal/Shutterstock Update 7/19/2019: Netflix has decided to remove the scene depicting the main character's actual suicide, perhaps in response to data from this and other studies. Here's one story on the change. The Netflix series "Thirteen reasons why" tells the story of a teenage girl who commits …
Continue reading Did the show “Thirteen Reasons Why” cause an increase in suicides?
The journalist's article was illustrated with a photo of a businessman. Is that the best choice, given the study? Photo credit: Yuri Arcurs/Getty Images Are you familiar with proper numbers? How about declarative fractions? If you claimed that you knew these concepts, you're probably fooling yourself....because declarative fractions and proper numbers are not real math …
When people knew they could look up facts online, they didn't remember them as well. Here's an article on how intelligence might be changing over time, from Australia's Sydney Morning Herald. It's a great opportunity to practice classifying claims and identifying studies. One point the article makes is that humans have been getting more intelligent …
That sounds delicious, thank you! Photo credit: Nathan Motoyama/EyeEm/Getty Images June is food month on the ERM blog! This story's about the headline, Loud music makes you eat bad food?!?!?Whaaaaaaatever! QRock 100.7 was one of several news outlets that had fun describing this study for its readers. Let's find out what kind of study was …
The study found an estimated 12% higher rate of fatal accidents after 4:20pm on April 20. Credit: Lars Hagberg/AFP/Getty Images REPLICATION UPDATE (posted Feb 25, 2019) Another set of researchers wondered why the study below compared April 20 to April 13 and April 27, rather than comparing April 20 to every other day in April …
Continue reading Does smoking marijuana cause car fatalities?
Legalizing marijuana is associated with lower rates of opioid prescriptions in those U.S. states. Photo: Gina Kelly/Alamy Stock Photo Opioid addition is a major health crisis in the United States. Deaths from overdose increased dramatically in the last 5 years. Opioid addiction sometimes starts when a person in pain is prescribed legal opioid drugs by a physician. …
Continue reading Does legal marijuana lower opioid prescriptions? A quasi-experiment
People in studies who spend more time socializing, rather than time on their phones, are generally happier. Photo: Maria Taglienti-Molinari/Getty Images Are smartphones making young people lonely, anxious and depressed? Are teens spending time on phones instead of dating, driving, or drinking? That's the argument of a new data-based book by psychologist Jean Twenge. You …
The sun sets in Amarillo, TX an hour later than it does in Huntsville, AL though they are on the same time zone. Amarillo residents get less sleep and earn more money: Is there a causal connection? Photo: Creativeedits/Wikimedia Common Sleep is an essential human function and getting more sleep is associated with improved mood, …
To what extent does the evidence support a causal influence of vacations on happiness and stress? Photo: Syda Productions/Shutterstock Here are some quasi-experimental and correlational studies on vacations, just in time for the end of summer. The APS website describes a few studies consistent with the argument that vacations can be good for your mental …