Could Distributed Peer Review Better Decide Grant Funding?
The landscape of academic grant funding is notoriously competitive and plagued by lengthy, bureaucratic processes, exacerbated by difficulties in finding willing reviewers. Distributed […]
Methods: In Polling, Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better
As various canvasses and opinion polls attempt to predict the outcome of the Scottish independence plebiscite, it’s worth taking a look at how more methodologically sound inputs lead to more accurate forecasts.
Taking the Air out of the Ban on Transgender Troops
UPDATE: In a 2014 article, a former U.S. surgeon general and four co-authors argue that the U.S. military’s medically based ban on transgender troops in place then failed on the facts and on the precedents of other populations in uniform.
Social Science in Action: Ferguson Is a Serious Outlier
One black city council member is not nearly enough. In a study of city councils, only one place in America had a greater representational disparity than Ferguson, Missouri.
Are Good Intentions Enough in Allocating School Places?
Unintended consequences and little practical improvement could result from England’s plan to give poor students priority in school placement, especially if schools can decide to opt in or out, argue Stephen Gorard and Rebecca Morris.
Nudge Isn’t New, But It Is Comfortable
It took decades for behavioral economics to break into the mainstream. Now, after just a few years of “bias,” “anchoring” and “nudge,” […]
Sarah Harper on the Population Challenge for the 21st Century
Around the world, populations are growing older. But is that because people are living longer? Or could it be that there are fewer younger people to dilute the demographic pool? And what about aging itself — when exactly is ‘old’ these days?
Do We Have (Data) Trust Issues With the Academy?
A new survey of the British public finds it has serious concerns about sharing data with just about everyone, even with institutions is otherwise respects deeply.
Beware the Lessons of Competitive US Higher Ed
Other nations looking at successful American universities and seeing the invisible hand of the marketplace at work should take a closer look at the arm attached to that hand, argues Steve C. Ward.
