http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800 This story demonstrates how easy it is to do crap science, get it published in a pay-to-play journal, and market your research (to a global audience). Within this story, there are some good examples of Type I error, p -hacking, sensationalist science reporting, and, frankly, our obsession with weight and fitness and easy fixes—also, chocolate. Here is the original story, as told to io9.com by the perpetrator of this very conscientious fraud, John Bohannon . Bohannon ran this con to expose just how open to corruption and manipulation the whole research publication process can be ( BioMed Central scandal , for another example), especially when it just the kind of research that is bound to get a lot of media attention ( LaCour scandal , for another example). Bohannon set out to "demonstrate" that dark chocolate can contribute to weight loss. He ran an actual study ( n = 26). He went on a ...

There are a number of TED talks that apply to research methods and statistics classes. First, there is this TED playlist entitled The Dark Side of Data . This one may not be applicable to a basic stats class but does address broader ethical issues of big data, widespread data collection, and data mining. These videos are also a good way of conveying how data collection (and, by extension, statistics) are a routine and invisible part of everyday life. This talk by Peter Donnelly discusses the use of statistics in court cases, and the importance of explaining statistics in a manner that laypeople can understand. I like this one as I teach my students how to create APA results sections for all of their statistical analyses. This video helps to explain WHY we need to learn to report statistics, not just perform statistics. Hans Rosling has a number of talks (and he has been mentioned previously on this blog, but bears being mentioned again). He is a physician and conveys his passion...

I am going up for both Rank and Tenure this fall. Within my applications for both, I will argue that this blog constitutes service to my profession. I have evidence of this: The blog has 50,000+ page views from 115 countries. I have 271 Twitter followers. So, I can successfully argue that someone other than my dad is reading the blog (Hi, Dad!). However, I think that more compelling evidence of service to my profession would come in the form of brief testimonials from its readers. If you have a few free moments, please consider writing a brief email that describes, maybe, your favorite blog post, why you enjoy this blog, how you think this blog contributes to the teaching of statistics and research methods, or mention a specific blog post or two that you've integrated into your own class. Do you students seem to enjoy any of the materials I've shared here? Have you recommended the blog to peers? You get the idea. Think you can help me out? If so, please shoot me an emai...