Many psychologists try to measure things that are tough to measure — and many of those many do it iffily. The Reproducibility Project is trying to measure how iffy those measurements are. They published a study called “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science,” about their progress. Benedict Carey tells about this, in a New York Times article called “Many Psychology […]
Tag: measurement
Weight? Wait — don’t tell me in kilos. (BWMA)
The British Weights and Measures Association (BWMA) exists, it says, “to protect and promote British weights and measures, and to oppose compulsory use of the metric system”. Their catchy slogan: “campaigning for inch-pound industries and consumer interests”. They maintain a list of “Corporate Culprits” — people and groups of whom they say: Just who are the […]
“… it does not exceed the precision of an upholsterer”
The non-scientific mind has the most ridiculous ideas of the precision of laboratory work, and would be much surprised to learn that, excepting electrical measurements, the bulk of it does not exceed the precision of an upholsterer who comes to measure a window for a pair of curtains. —Charles S. Peirce (1908) No doubt Charles Sanders […]
If you can measure it, it must be important: Ear lobe vs ear lobe vs body fat
If you can measure it, it must be important — a principle demonstrated in this study: “Predicting visceral obesity based on facial characteristics,” Bum Ju Lee and Jong Yeol Kim, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2014, 14:248. The authors, at the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, report: No studies on the best predictor of visceral […]