This example illustrates how better assessment has likely increased in autism diagnoses (as opposed to the increase being due to vaccines or hysterical parents). It does a good job of illustrating truncated y-axes and the surveillance effect. It also reminds our psychology majors that we have many professional allies and colleagues outside of psychology. Like speech language pathologists.  I found these examples (see below) on Facebook from speech-language pathologist/excellent science communicator  Mrs. Speechie P.   AKA Andi Putt. How to use in class: 1. Truncated y-axis I like how she mentions that truncated y axes can be a scare tactic. I also like that she shows there are still relatively few in the total population. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1327073175898079&set=a.463959318876140 On this theme, she shared a second image that does a really good job of showing how proper diagnosis isn't the same thing as fake/inflated diagnoses (a common argument in ant...

Goodhart's Law is a truism in assessment circles, which are always statistics-adjacent. And that is why I'm sharing this fine embodiment of Goodhart's Law on my blog. Always pair the important stuff with something ridiculous, I swear, it makes it easier to remember the important stuff.

1) I disagree with Marc Stein's title  for this article. I don't think NBA great Steven Curry's devotion to his favorite snack is a problem. I think it is a very, very endearing example of someone who knows themselves, knows what works for them, and embraces it. A quote from the article describing Curry's popcorn devotion: 2) Curry loves popcorn so much that at the behest of the New York Times, Curry rated popcorn served at all of the pro-basketball arenas: Here is an example of the assessment form:  And here are the results of the NYT's n=1 study. In addition to a statistics class example, I think this could also be used in an I/O class to explain Subject Matter Experts ;)

Kamenetz (reporting for NPR) talks about her book , Test , which is about the extensive use of standardized testing in our schools. Largely, this is a story about the impact these tests have had on how teachers instruct K-12 education in the US. However, a portion of the story discusses alternatives to annual testing of every student. Alternatives include using sampling to assess a school as well as numerous alternate testing methods (stealth testing, assessing child emotional well-being, portfolios, etc.). Additionally, this story touches on some of the implications of living in a Big Data society and what it is doing to our schools. I think this would be a great conversation starter for a research methods or psychometric course (especially if you are teaching such a class for a School of Education). What are we trying to assess: Individual students or teachers or schools? What are the benefits and short comings of these different kinds of assessments? Can you students come up with...