Science is about asking questions, getting data and (often) applying statistical methods to use data to answer questions. What are some principles of effective statistical practice that statisticians would like working scientists to know? In the ongoing “Ten Simple Rules” series at PLoS Computational Biology, statisticians Kass and colleagues (2016) present some good advice and guidance. Here is a summary
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Note. This is a semi-independent summary of the same paper that Marty wrote about in the post here. I wrote it to present a different perspective on an otherwise fascinating idea. There is an increasing awareness and deep concern that most scientific findings are not reliable or valid. Many key researchers and research groups have called for (1) greater transparency
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As stated in a recent post, the majority of scientific findings are likely false (Ioannidis, 2005). Although there are multiple reasons for this, it has been suggested that the pressure to publish is the driving incentive behind scientists adopting poor research practices that lead to false findings. In a recent paper, Smaldino & McElreath (2016) argue that the pressure to
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Researchers often use statistical tests to test hypotheses and/or infer properties of a population based on properties of a sample. A key idea is that all statistical tests assume a statistical model provides a complete and valid representation of variability in the data, and faithfully reflects how the study was conducted and the phenomena being tested. For example, when we
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There is evidence that many (and possibly most) of the conclusions drawn from biomedical research are probably false (Ioannidis, 2005). In a 2013 Nature Reviews Neuroscience paper entitled “Power failure: why small sample size undermines the reliability of neuroscience”, Button et al. explained how low statistical power is partly to blame for a similar issue in the field of neuroscience.
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The scientist’s lab notebook is essentially a record of all scholarly activities conducted. However scientists often find it difficult to keep, or know how to keep, a good lab notebook. In 2015, PLoS published an editorial providing guidance on how to keep a good lab notebook. Here is a summary of a few key points: Record all scientific activities in
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Scientifically Sound 