November 2, 2023 — Over the past 20 years or so, there has been growing concern that many research results published in scientific journals can’t be reproduced. Depending on the field of research, studies have found efforts to redo published studies lead to different results in between 23% and 89% of cases. To understand how different researchers might arrive […]
October 30, 2021 — The Nutrition Source at Harvard makes one thing clear enough. Potatoes are a problem. They can give you obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Skip across town and you’ll get a very different story from Boston University. “Nutrient-rich potatoes can be part of a healthy diet in young girls.” This kind of whiplash tells us that, […]
February 10, 2019 — Sometimes things are not what they seem. That’s a problem when something slips into scientific literature that’s not exactly true. We offer a prime example today. Here we have two papers where an RCT – a randomized controlled study – is not properly randomized. Apparently, the investigators, reviewers, and editors for these papers weren’t too fussy about […]
November 23, 2018 — The curious case of the missing workplace teaspoons Once upon a time, a group of disheartened scientists found their tearoom bereft of teaspoons. Despite dispatching a research assistant to go purchase more – so sugar could be stirred and coffee dispensed – the newly purchased teaspoons disappeared within a few short months. Exasperated by the […]
