Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
On Corrections In Science
Somebody attributed to Max Planck, a constant1 source of wisdom, the saying that science advances funeral by funeral. This is a pithy condensation of his more famous quotation: A new…
Posted inStatistics
Autism Caused By Highways?
Epidemiology is nothing if not a productive field. All that is needed for success is a database (larger the better), a disease (any will do), and some minor facility with…
Posted inStatistics
AMO+PDO = Temperature Variation: One Graph Does Not Says It All
Introduction Anthony Watts over at Watts Up With That?---incidentally, a blog title infinitely superior to "William M. Briggs, Statistician"---asked me to comment on Joe D'Aleo and Don Easterbrook's new paper,…
Posted inStatistics
Why So Many (Medical) Studies Based On Statistics Are Wrong
This was inspired by the (unfortunately titled) article Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science, publishing in this month's Atlantic (thanks A&LD!). The article profiles the work of John Ioannidis, who…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
What’s Wrong With Hypothesis Testing: Reader Question
I received this email from long-time reader Ivin Rhyne, which is so well put that I thought we should all see it (I'm quoting with permission): Matt, I just got…
Posted inStatistics
Bem, ESP, And Hypothesis Testing
Daryl Bem, Cornell professor of psychology, once again believes he has proven the validity of ESP (extra-sensory perception). Bem is a long-time researcher of the paranormal who once found notoriety…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Model Selection and the Difficulty of Falsifying Probability Models: Part I
These next posts are in the way of being notes to myself. Logic is the study of the relation between statements. For example, if "All green men are irascible, and…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Model Selection and the Difficulty of Falsifying Probability Models: Part II
I hope all understand that we are not just discussing statistics and probability models: what is true here is true for all theories/models (mathematics, physics, chemistry, climate, etc.). Read Part…
