Latest posts
The futuRe of statistics.. is R…
It is the most up to date software; it will make you more attractive on the job market; and enable you to do any analysis from one program. The two (linked) articles explain why, and give a great list of resources for how to learn, including Coursera : Read more at:...
The natural selection of bad science
This paper lays out the argument that flawed research design, methods and analysis (all be it unintentional) will yield results in greater volume and that are more novel and surprising; and thus, also greater rate of publishing. As publishing is a key factor in...
Selection bias and the use of success stories
While it is obvious when stated, it is still a sad fact that the popular business press continues to write hero stories and generalize from business successes. This article from HBR is a quick introduction to why this can lead one to draw the wrong conclusions....
Measurement error and the replication crisis
A common assumption has been that if one finds statistically significant results with noisy data, it means that the findings are conservative. (The intuition is that had there not been strong associations present, they would not have made it through the noise) In...
How statistics lost their power
Interesting historical perspective, and why statistics as a tool to form policy and public opinion may loose its effect in the time to come. some points: the nation is a misleading entity to use; while some cities flourish and grow, other regions are hit hard; an...
Style and how to write well..
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-37285796
How should academics be evaluated?
Great article titled: "“Am I Famous Yet?” Judging Scholarly Merit in Psychological Science. An Introduction" by Robert J. Sternberg; which discusses the various metrics used, their shortcomings and what changes in how academics will be judged in the future. A good...
How to attend a conference
While interesting to go, my first academic conference did not exactly give me high returns on the investment. Did I "do it" in the best way possible? Definitely not. This article gives a quick summary of what I should been doing 🙂 In short: Define your goals Do your...
Type 1 Vs type 2 errors
http://daniellakens.blogspot.no/2016/12/why-type-1-errors-are-more-important.html?m=1
Building Effective Networks
Herminia Ibarra is a professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, and ranked as one of the most influential management thinkers, on one list as number 8. http://thinkers50.com/t50-ranking/2015-2/ In the linked 15 minute video, she presents her thoughts on...
Kindle: different uses and Oasis vs. Paper White
I first tried an e-reader in 2010, when I got a Kindle Fire. I hated it, and gave it to my nephew so he could use it to play games. I had to get an e-book for my research, so decided to try the Kindle Paper White; a black and white, e-ink reader. I loved it. Easy to...
Docear — a tool to organize thoughts
STarting to test this software out now.. will update the page as I either grow tired of it, or become convinced 😀 http://www.docear.org/software/screenshots/
The Dark Side of Personality – the Hogan Development Survey
There are traits that can be directly damaging in certain situations; Hogan has a scale to measure this, including: Dive into the Dark Side SCALE NAME LOW SCORERS HIGH SCORERS Excitable seem calm to the point of appearing to lack passion or urgency display dramatic...
Statistics tools
Some times, one needs to calculate some statistics, like effect size; not complex, but takes time. Here is a collection of tools to make that easier. http://www.danielsoper.com/statcalc/
“For more than three decades, macroeconomics has gone backwards,”
Paul Romer on the state of economics, rational expectations and on groupthink in the field. On how theory, assumptions and math has led progress (or regress in his opinion) rather than empirical observation. Fun read....
Friends with academic benefits
This article studies college students, from a sociological perspective, using network theory analysis and qualitative work. The key findings: Student’s social networks fall into three types: tight knitters, compartmentalizes and samplers. Tight Knitters: all friends...
What happened in the US election? What should we learn from it as researchers?
The US election result came as a big surprise to me; as to most who have put their faith in polling and statistical analysis predicting the outcome. Nate Silver and his company FiveThirtyEight is widely acknowledged to have some of the best analysis in the business;...
Competing against luck
Clayton Christensen gives a lecture on his new book; the key point is: Focus on what problem you are solving for the customer; not what your product can do, or what you can offer. His example from McDonalds is: What problem does their Milkshake solve: answer: a snack...
Ethical analysis is an increasingly important competence
As I am running a couple of workshops in the Msc. ethics course at BI this fall; I am reminded of how the subject is becoming an increasingly important; as the world is changing ever faster, throwing up questions we do not have a set "common sense" answer to. One...
How to network with purpose mutual effect
As with so many activities, networking is a craft to be learnt. If done well.. It benefit both you and your network.. Here are some advice from a leading researcher in the field. For network to have value, it needs to have relevant and potentially strategically...