Polls haven’t been great at reflecting how electoral college votes will stack up in the last 2 US Presidential elections. In 2016…
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Bias A Meta-Analyst View of Polling Averages and Alternatives
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Bias What a New Review Reveals About the Mask Effectiveness Debate
Last year I wrote that a day may come, when we have evidence about masks that’s so strong, so convincing, only the…
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Bias Study Preregistration and Avoiding the Methods Fetish/Demonization Trap
This month, there was a thought-provoking 2-day workshop about preregistering studies, held at the Royal Society in London. The theme was “promises…
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Bias Unpacking the Biggest Trial Yet of Naming Authors in Peer Review
This is a very important trial. I had been looking forward to its results since it started a few years ago. It’s…
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Bias Where Is the Line Between Being Critical & Contrarian? Thoughts On a Plague
In a post late last year, I used the phrase “contrarian Covid takes”. On Twitter, Lars Henning asked, “what exactly does it…
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Bias Peeling Back the Layers of “Medical Conservativism”
I don’t know when describing yourself as a “medical conservative” became a thing. I only noticed it recently, persistently popping up among…
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Bias This “Waning Immunity” Argument Against the FDA’s Covid Vaccine Approval Is a Scientific Quagmire
I sure don’t envy the people under all that pressure at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They’ve been at the brunt…
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Bias A Communication Research Unicorn! Decent Evidence You Can Change People’s Minds & Actions Via Social Media
The field of research on communication interventions is heavily littered with studies that are too small, too indirect, and too riddled with…
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Bias Peering Through the Smoke at a Duel Over Covid’s Infection Fatality Rate
This is one of my older cartoons. Unfortunately, the problem it’s depicting hasn’t gone out of style. But now it strikes me…
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Bias The Pioneering Crossover Trials for Covid Vaccines and What We’ll Find Out
As results for the big phase 3 trials for the BNT-Pfizer and Moderna were looming, a debate ramped up: when would the…
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Bias Radical Vaccine Trial Transparency & Press Release Readouts: What’s the Problem?
Every time a drug company press release of vaccine trial results blasts through the media, it’s followed by criticism of “science by…
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Bias Clinical Trials Are Vital for the Rest Of Us. Are They a Good Deal for the Participants?
“People on a trial tend to do better”. Ordinarily, when I see someone make that point, I agree. But last week, when…