Spotted this great t-shirt in Berkeley, California. Evidently the creator made this to summarize his doctoral research: Science: It Works, B!t3^&s. What does “clinically studied” mean? (A cynic might interpret that as “research funds were spent”). I happened to see GNC’s Mega Men Sport multivitamin,…
Evidence Soup: We’ve got to stop drooling at shiny data visualizations and keep searching for non-obvious evidence.
April 26, 2013 By
Yes, we want people to provide hard evidence supporting their claims. But aren’t some things just too obvious to bother with? Shouldn’t we use our talents to discover things we don’t already know? I like a shiny data visualization as much as the next guy,…
Evidence Soup: Skeptical about the evidence in business books? The evidence on sales volumes is iffy, too.
March 8, 2013 By
I quit business books a long time ago, and I’m not the only one. Yet we hear endlessly about things like cheese moving and power posing. Turns out, we should question not only the evidence being claimed by the authors, but also some of their…
Evidence Soup: Evidence doesn’t solve problems, people do. Richard Florida forgets that not everything is a Toyota (or Cheesecake) factory.
February 7, 2013 By
You know I love all things evidence. But while evidence helps us understand past events, it can get in our way when we’re trying bold, new things. And just because we understand important evidence doesn’t mean we know how to solve important problems. Was reminded…
Evidence Soup: Fun-with-Evidence Friday: Do you suffer from evidence euphoria? Or research rapture?
February 1, 2013 By
Well, hell. Another malady to worry about. Sean Pidgeon described research rapture in a recent New York Times column. Here I am, searching for evidence to support my every move, only to learn it’s an addiction. I’ll call it evidence euphoria. I thought I was…
Evidence Soup: A must-read: "Does the Language Fit the Evidence? Association Versus Causation."
January 30, 2013 By
Science is easy; explaining it is hard. Back in 2009, Evidence Soup recommended the excellent Health News Review, whose mission is to “hold health and medical journalism accountable” (more about them at the end of this post). They’ve published Tips for Understanding Studies (available for…
Evidence Soup: Show me the evidence. Education policy debate needs a major overhaul.
January 29, 2013 By
U.S. education is in crisis. Wherever you stand on reform/ vouchers/ charter etc., I think you’ll agree our schools could be better. Big dollars go into training, innovation, and research, but there’s a distinct lack of agreement on how to improve outcomes. It gets worse:…
Evidence Soup: What counts as good evidence? Alliance for Useful Evidence offers food for thought.
November 7, 2012 By
“What counts as good evidence?” is a great conversation starter. The UK-based Alliance for Useful Evidence / Nesta are hosting a seminar Friday morning to “explore what is realistic in terms of standards of evidence for social policy, programmes and practice.” Details: What is Good…
Evidence Soup: Patient-centered outcomes? Evidently we don’t have those yet, and we don’t agree on how to get there.
November 6, 2012 By
The Patient-Center Outcomes Research Institute is a big deal these days, “authorized by Congress to conduct research to provide information about the best available evidence to help patients and their health care providers make more informed decisions. PCORI’s research is intended to give patients a…
Evidence Soup: Evidence shows natural gas can grow the U.S. economy. If people will look at the evidence.
October 25, 2012 By
Bitter political conflicts threaten growth of the U.S. economy, and energy issues are no exception. I believe a better presentation of certain key evidence could improve people’s understanding of natural gas. First I’ll highlight some evidence about production. Then I’ll provide some hard evidence showing…