There is no reason that scientific papers should take from 4-6 months to review with current management and computer technologies.
Out with the old … bada bing, bada boom!
Click to explode the myths.
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Program Evaluation: II. Some Skills Required
Measure, Find Relationships, Communicate
Ask the Big Questions and Study How the Answers Relate to One Another
Decode Events and Naturally Occurring Data
Examine in Detail
Find Patterns
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#MindMapp (new mind mapping app for iPad) Rocks
MindMapp is a brilliant new iPad app for mind mapping posted on the app store in mid-December. You can see my review of the app there. Break-through: this is an amazing app that changes the game, at least on the iPad (and hopefully iPhone).
To say that I highly recommend MindMapp is an understatement. Students and everyone who takes notes should have this app.
A map created in MindMapp about MindMapp. This was my first “real” map, and I know that I will get faster and better at this fairly rapidly. It took about 30 minutes to work through the instructions in the included self instruction module, practice, and then to draw the map.
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The Most Important Statistical Methods for Health-Related Research, Cattle Prods
Logistic regression and survival analysis.
Logistic regression and survival analysis?
Yup. Logistic regression and its extension into Cox regression (survival analysis).
Wanna know one population mean is significantly higher or lower than that of another population? OK. Go read a different blog post.
Wanna know how much your life expectancy decreases if you smoke cigarettes or use alcohol to excess or are 15% over the medically acceptable weight or some combination of these? Use logistic or Cox regression depending on the type of data you have (time invariant predictors or not, time-censored or not). Don’t tell me that smokers have significantly shorter lifespans than nonsmokers. That is not going to surprise me or shock me into behavior change. Do tell me how much my chances of reaching the age of 70 decrease if I smoke two humps of Camels a day.
Shock me. Make me want to change. Let me see how my behavior affects the odds I will live long, or be happy, or have a well-adjusted family.
Do a logistic regression or survival analysis. I strongly believe that the average member of the general public, press, AND EVEN US Congress Members, can understand these analyses easily if the information is presented in a straight-forward way. Of course, prepare for US politicians to call you an idiot on the daily cable news shows that air during prime time. Personally I do not give a damn what Bill O’Reilly or Chris Matthews thinks (if indeed they do think before shouting at a “guest” on their shows). Or what the scientific “hatchet” professional talking heads say to them.
Oh yeah, my (intuitive) logistic regression tells me that after conducting this statistical research only a small percent will make the necessary behavior changes and live longer, more happily, and have better adjusted families. That’s OK if it has to be that way. Every life is priceless and every small gain is huge.
Plug in the cattle prod and shock me with those results.
Live long and prosper.
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Plastic Cows and Science
I have been mesmerized, as I have been before, by plastic painted cows. There are a bunch of cow statues parked in strategic places on the UNC campus waiting for a charity auction. I am not sure what it is about the cows that are so interesting: the bright colors, the poses, the overall clean design. Perhaps I feel guilty because I have enjoyed many a burger and sirloin and prime rib. But I think not. The bright colors are always a welcome juxtaposition to their environment (whether Manhattan or Chicago or Chapel Hill) and the “wild” designs capture surreal perceptions of the location. I could over analyze this one to death (a problem for my profession) or just say I LIKE PAINTED PLASTIC COWS. I will choose the latter.
What happens when someone over-thinks a scientific study? Sometimes, the study gets too complex because the investigative team gets hung up in the twigs on the branches instead of the tree. Sometimes, the methods take over and become the primary focus of the study. Sometimes, only four specialists in the world will be able to understand (and use) the resulting masterpiece of trivia and big words. Usually, the investigators lose sight of the desirable outcome of the study — that a clear decision can be made from the results answering a question of great importance.
There are a half dozen close up pictures of two of the cows at this page on my web site: http://www.hubaisms.com/about/stuuuff-pics/.
I hope there are no examples of over-thinking on the web site. I have been trying hard to keep them from sneaking into the pasture.
