WHAT IS STATS?
We Want
People to think about the number behind the news
We Look
At major issues and news stories from a quantitative and scientific perspective
We Help
Journalists think quantitatively through education, workshops and direct assistance with data analysis
We Offer
Fellowships to journalists to pursue innovative and in-depth analysis of major issues
We Are
Non-partisan and non-profit; we advocate scientific and statistical methods as the best way of analyzing and solving society's problems. We are a sister organization of the Center for Media and Public Affairs - "America's preeminent news analysts"
STATS INVESTIGATES
Choking on hot dog data: Has pediatricians’ group gone wild?
Trevor Butterworth, February 23, 2010
The American Academy of Pediatrics issues a stern warning on an “under-appreciated” risk. Good. But can it really be calling for the “recall” of food products with “significant and unacceptable choking hazard” based on 29-year old data showing five deaths per year?
Lowdown on the Ivory Corral?
Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D, February 23, 2010
Academics can pack more than critical heat, but how dangerous are they really?
RECENT ANALYSIS
Can soda give you pancreatic cancer?
Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D, February 11, 2010
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with five-year survival rates under five percent. And it could be caused by something you drink every day: soda. Then again, maybe not.
Why any ol' diet will work (if your BMI is high enough): A case study in regression toward the mean
Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D, February 10, 2010
New York Public School's Whole Milk Swindle
Trevor Butterworth, February 3, 2010
BPA and heart disease: Smoking gun or statistical smoke?
Trevor Butterworth, January 13, 2010
Zzz's
Rebecca Goldin,Ph.D, January 22, 2010
BPA and heart disease: Smoking gun or statistical smoke?
Trevor Butterworth, January 13, 2010
Click here to see the BPA archive.
Main Archive
STATS BLOG
George Stephanopoulos fears for 2,000 missing kids a day
(March 8, 2010)
A talking cure (literally)
(March 8, 2010)
Vital Statistics
(March 4, 2010)
Are blogs better than newspapers for medical reporting?
(February 26, 2010)
Aliens tired of saucer-shaped spacecraft; flashing lights, abduction still popular
(February 19, 2010)
STATS Fellow Maia Szalavitz on ABC News
(February 17, 2010)
Read more blog items
STATS IN THE NEWS
The New Digital Underclass
Trevor Butterworth on Forbes.com
(March 10, 2010)The Dark Side of 'The Secret': Empathy and Inequality
Maia Szalavitz on Psychology Today.
(March 5, 2010)Enviroporn
Forbes - A new article by Trevor Butterworth for his weekly column, Medialand.
(March 3, 2010)New rules for big data
STATS Research Director Rebecca Goldin Ph.D is cited in The Economist.
(February 25, 2010)Battling Pain: Are Doctors Too Reluctant to Prescribe Opioids?
Maia Szalavitz on Time.com
(February 24, 2010)Parents Face Difficult Decisions When Dealing With a Drug-Addicted Child
Maia Szalavitz is featured on ABC News as part of their series: 'Family in Crisis: At the Breakpoint'.
(February 17, 2010)
A fellow at STATS since 2004, Szalavitz writes about health, science and public policy. She is co-author, with leading child trauma expert Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love and Healing (Basic, 2007) among other books.
A groundbreaking study conducted by STATS and The Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University shows how experts view the risks of common chemicals - and that the media are overstating risk.
You can view the Media Monitor, Toxicologists' Opinions on Chemical Risk and Media Coverage, here.
Plus check out Science suppressed: How America became obsessed with BPA
on the web, or download a PDF of the full report here
February 8, 2010, 1-3pm
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
2950 Broadway, 3rd floor World Room
New York, NY
Sherwood Ebey Lecture with STATS Research Director Dr. Rebecca Goldin
February 1, 2010 from 7:30 - 9:00 pm.
In this talk, Dr. Goldin will illustrate how the press often misuses statistics with examples from recent coverage.
Underage drinking is a serious problem for our society. From reports in the media, one gets the impression that it is getting worse ever year and that even casual teenage drinking carries with it devastating implications for our youth, including increasing the alcoholism rate of those who drink early and even death. Do the statistics support these stories?
Plus, The do's and don'ts of kicking addiction and treating alcoholism.
Watch STATS Director of Research, Rebecca Goldin Ph.D, lecture on how the media miss the mark in the use and presentation of statistics The talk was given as part of the Mathematical Association of America's Distinguished Lecture Series in Washington DC on October 28. 2008
Climate scientists agree on warming, disagree on dangers, and don’t trust the media’s coverage of climate change
S. Robert Lichter, Ph.D,
April 24, 2008
STATS experts analyze the everyday concerns of parenting.
Land of the free, home of the scared: An interview with Lenore Skenazy
Honoring some of the worst abuses of statistics and science in the past year.
Plus, The worst survey of the year, and whether "Pixie dust" can regrow severed flesh.
