This project provided several frequency claims you can analyze. Photo credit: LukaFunduk/Deposit Photos Before you read on, take out a pencil and draw the Apple logo (no peeking at your own device!) Now try to draw the Adidas logo, too (no peeking at your feet, either). Which one was easier? How confident are you in …
Category: External Validity
Random sampling in action for public health
Why is random sampling important when trying to estimate antibody levels in the population? Photo: © Eugene Lu/Shutterstock Here is a timely example of random sampling in action. Watch this 2-minute video about the CDC's project in Atlanta (produced by NPR). It explains how nurses are visiting about 500 people in the Atlanta metropolitan area …
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Who’s more likely to claim expertise?
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 …
Why strive for large samples?
When the general public critiques research, I often hear them say that the samples are "too small." It's true that sample sizes (N) in psychology research should be large. One of the outcomes of the so-called "replication crisis" is that large samples are more and more important in psychology. But why? A common misconception--held by …
Is there a negative impact of cell-phone distracted parenting?
To what extent does the study in question support the claim that smartphone use causes kids to develop emotional disorders? Photo: Amble Design/Shutterstock A report in Time magazine carries the headline, "Cell phone distracted parenting can have long-term consequences: Study". In the video accompanying the story, the narrator warns: Devoting more attention to your smartphones …
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Viewing scenes in slow-motion changes how we think
Is defensive end Allen Bailey intentionally hurting running back Carlos Hyde? Your answer may depend on whether you watch the scene in slo mo. Photo Credit: Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images When people view videos in slow-motion, they attribute more intent and purpose to the actors in the video compared to when they watch the same …
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Online resource: Video about random sampling
Pew Research is my favorite polling resource, partly because they ask such interesting questions, and partly because they are so transparent about sharing their methodology. (For examples, see their Methods page or click on the full Report Materials for a study they did on gun ownership in America.) They make their sampling techniques and question …
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Observational research: What are parents doing?
Several press sources are covering a research article published in the journal Pediatrics, which observed parenting behaviors in naturalistic settings. Here's how the story was covered by ABCnews. The researchers visited a sample of fast food restaurants in the Boston area, found tables in which parents were sitting with kids, and made notes of the …
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Malnutrition statistics in North Korea
This Wall Street Journal article describes how a team of U.S. and European professors traveled to North Korea to teach students there about quantitative methods for studying their population. North Korea, the story says, has "some of the least reliable statistics in the world." Please take a look at the pop-out map of North Korea …
More than half of US teens text while driving…
This recent story from msnbc.com reports that "nearly 60 percent of teens text while driving." From the story: An anonymous national survey conducted last year found that 58 percent of high school seniors said they had texted or emailed while driving during the previous month. About 43 percent of high school juniors acknowledged they did …
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