Stats + Stories

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Big, If True | Stats + Stories Episode 234 Jun 02, 2022

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Most articles that appear in academic journals are kind of mundane in that they’re extending the work of scholars who have come before, or sometimes taking an old theory in a new direction. There are those moments however, when a piece of research holds the possibility of fundamentally remaking a field. How should those articles be handled? What’s the ethical way to review such research? That’s the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Andrew German. Andrew Gelman (@StatModeling) is a professor of statistics and political science, and director of the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University. His research interests include voting behavior and outcomes, campaign polling, criminal justice issues, social network structure, and statistical and research methods. He has received the Outstanding Statistical Application award three times from the American Statistical Association, the award for best article published in the American Political Science Review, and the Council of Presidents of Statistical Societies award for outstanding contributions by a person under the age of 40. Timestamps Could you just describe what a big if true article is? (1:37), Editor motivations and making a splash (9:00), How can reviewers be better? (12:47), Attributing credit in this new post publishing review system (15:21), Why you felt compelled to start your ethics article (18:43), Changing thoughts? (25:03)

The Aging American Workforce | Stats + Stories Episode 233 May 26, 2022

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In the United States, like many countries, middle-aged and older workers are increasingly a larger proportion of the workforce. The needs of these workers is different than those you are younger and can run the gamut from educational to health needs. That's the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guests Takashi‌ ‌Yamashita‌ and Phyllis A. Cummins Takashi‌ ‌Yamashita‌ ‌‌is‌ ‌an‌ ‌associate‌ ‌professor‌ ‌of‌ ‌sociology,‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌faculty‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌Gerontology‌ ‌Ph.D.‌ ‌program‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌Center‌ ‌for‌ ‌Aging‌ ‌Studies‌ ‌at‌ ‌University‌ ‌of‌ ‌Maryland,‌ ‌Baltimore‌ ‌County (UMBC).‌ ‌He‌ ‌also‌ ‌has‌ ‌a‌ ‌secondary‌ ‌appointment‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌Department‌ ‌of‌ ‌Epidemiology‌ ‌and‌ ‌Public‌ ‌Health‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌School‌ ‌of‌ ‌Medicine,‌ ‌and‌ ‌serves‌ ‌as‌ ‌an‌ ‌affiliate‌ ‌member‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Center‌ ‌for‌ ‌Research‌ ‌on‌ ‌Aging‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌University‌ ‌of‌ ‌Maryland,‌ ‌Baltimore‌ ‌(UMB).‌ ‌His‌ ‌areas‌ ‌of‌ ‌research‌ ‌are‌ ‌social‌ ‌determinants‌ ‌of‌ ‌health‌ ‌and‌ ‌well-being‌ ‌over‌ ‌the‌ ‌life‌ ‌course,‌ ‌health‌ ‌literacy,‌ ‌wider‌ ‌benefits‌ ‌of‌ ‌lifelong‌ ‌learning,‌ ‌gerontology‌ ‌education‌ ‌and‌ ‌social‌ ‌statistics‌ ‌education.‌ ‌ Phyllis A. Cummins is a Senior Research Scholar Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Gerontology at the Scripps Gerontology Center here at Miami University. Her research interests include work and retirement transitions, education and training for older workers, publicly sponsored employment and training programs, the role community colleges play in education and training for older adult

The Winner’s Curse | Stats + Stories Episode 232 May 19, 2022

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A randomized controlled trial is viewed as the golden standard in medical research, particularly as it relates to treatments or interventions. But there may be pitfalls to trusting that approach too much. That's the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Erik van Zwet. -Timestamps- What is a RCT? (1:15), What are characteristic of a well designed trial? (2:00), How did you get interested in this research?(3:45), Data you obtained from Cochrane Database? 5:18), Power and how you got results (7:05), How does affect the laymen (9:49), Coverage of RCTs (12:00), Trends of exaggeration (14:17), What goes into exaggeration? (16:54), What needs to be done? (18:56), Across other fields (21:58) Erik van Zwet (@erikvanzwet) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Data Sciences of the Leiden University Medical Center where he has been since 2009. He joined the school wanting to do more applied work in the areas of statistics and data analysis and has since published multiple papers in Significance Magazine including the main focus of today’s episode, “Addressing exaggeration of effects from single RCTs”.

The Statistics That Go Into City Planning | Stats + Stories Episode 231 May 12, 2022

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Cities are places where continuity and change co-exist. History shapes neighborhoods and the relationships between them, while economic forces can reshape a city’s landscape and skyline. In Washington D-C, the friction between continuity and change is ever present. The data and the research that goes into planning such a place is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories, with guest Andrew Trueblood. Trueblood is a housing, economic development, and land use professional. Between 2018 and 2021, Andrew served as the Director of the DC Office of Planning (DCOP), where he prioritized agency efforts around housing and equity. He shepherded the update of the Comprehensive Plan and led DCOP’s support of the Mayor’s housing efforts. This included a goal of 36,000 new units by 2025, with 12,000 affordable units and area-level affordable housing targets with the goal of achieving a more equitable distribution of affordable housing. Trueblood also championed regional coordination, including through his role as Chair of the Planning Directors Technical Committee at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, where he helped formulate regional housing targets.

Becoming a Biostatistician | Stats + Short Stories Episode 230 May 05, 2022

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Conner Jackson is a Research Instructor in the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health. He serves as the chair of the Education Committee for the Center for Innovative Design and Analysis and teaches a 6-week short course about statistics and data science to bench scientists. His research focuses on the analysis of correlated data, largely in the context of infectious diseases.

The Age of the Supercentenarian | Stats + Stories Episode 229 Apr 29, 2022

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When American comedian and actor Betty White died, fans lamented the fact that she had just missed making it to her 100th birthday. They felt she’d been robbed of achieving a significant life moment. Some researchers think that this century could see more people making it to that moment and beyond. That’s the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Michael Pearce. Michael Pearce is a PhD candidate in Statistics at the University of Washington, working under the supervision of Elena A. Erosheva. His primary research interests include preference learning and developing Bayesian statistical models for social science problems. In his spare time, Michael enjoys running, biking, and paddling around the Puget Sound.

Ecological and Environmental Stats for Earth Day | Stats + Stories Episode 228 Apr 21, 2022

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Earth day was launched in 1970 in the aftermath of several environmental disasters in the publication of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring". It was designed to help raise awareness of environmental issues and has since grown into a global event. With this year's Earth Day taking out a particular urgency in light of the most recent UN Climate Report. But what goes into the scientific research that informs some this activism? What statistical tools are used to better understand the health of our environment. That's the focus of this episode of staffs and stories with guest Philip Dixon. Philip Dixon is a professor of statistics at Iowa State University. Dixon research interests include developing and evaluating statistical methods to answer interesting biological questions. Some of his current projects are developing non-parametric estimates of prediction distributions, modeling physical activity data, and developing model-based visualizations of species composition data.

Academic Writing for Everyone | Stats + Short Stories Episode 227 Apr 14, 2022

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Rosemary and John both have a passion for teaching. Their experience with classes ranges from mentored studies with a few students, to face-to-face classes with close to 100 students. Recently online classes that might be held synchronously or asynchronously with classes somewhere in between. What if you wanted to offer classes too many more students, who might be based anywhere around the world. Teaching at scale is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Kristin Sainani (née Cobb). Kristin Sainani(née Cobb)(@KristinSainani) is a professor at Stanford University. She teaches statistics and writing; works on statistical projects in sports medicine; and writes about health, science and statistics for a range of audiences. She authored the health column Body News for Allure magazine for a decade. She is the statistical editor for the journal Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; and has authored a statistics column, Statistically Speaking, for this journal since 2009. She is also the associate editor for statistics at Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. She teaches the popular Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Writing in the Sciences on Coursera, and also offers an online medical statistics certificate program through the Stanford Center for Professional Development. She was the recipient of the 2018 Biosciences Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching at Stanford University.

The Statistical Detective | Stats + Stories Episode 226 Apr 07, 2022

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No matter how careful a researcher or statistician is there's the possibility that an error made exists in reported data. The trick as a reader is figuring out how to identify errors and then understand what they might mean. Learning how to be a statistical detective as a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Kristin Sainani. Kristin Sainani(née Cobb)(@KristinSainani) is a professor at Stanford University. She teaches statistics and writing; works on statistical projects in sports medicine; and writes about health, science and statistics for a range of audiences. She authored the health column Body News for Allure magazine for a decade. She is the statistical editor for the journal Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; and has authored a statistics column, Statistically Speaking, for this journal since 2009. She is also the associate editor for statistics at Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. She teaches the popular Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Writing in the Sciences on Coursera, and also offers an online medical statistics certificate program through the Stanford Center for Professional Development. She was the recipient of the 2018 Biosciences Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching at Stanford University.

Predicting the Weather with Pietro the Weather Tortoise | Stats + Stories Episode 225 Mar 31, 2022

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Meteorologists go to school to be able to predict the weather accurately, but for some people, weather prediction is a hobby. Maybe they have a trick knee that hurts when it rains or perhaps they know when a storm is coming by how the birds at their feeders are behaving. Some lucky folks have pets that can help them figure out what the weather is going to do and that’s the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Conner Jackson. Conner Jackson is a Research Instructor in the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health. He serves as the chair of the Education Committee for the Center for Innovative Design and Analysis and teaches a 6-week short course about statistics and data science to bench scientists. His research focuses on the analysis of correlated data, largely in the context of infectious diseases. Timestamps: How did this come about? (1:40) How did you frame this project? (4:40) How do you know, he's predicting rain?(8:29) So how did it work out? (11:40) Conner’s writing style (15:24) Has this influenced your other work? (20:42)

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