WHAT IS STATS?
We Want
People to think about the numbers 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 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 INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
Will A Soda Tax Really Save 26,000 Lives, Billions Of Dollars?
Trevor Butterworth, Forbes, January 12, 2012
A new study makes a very strong case for taxing soda based on the health benefits of even a small amount of weight loss.
Brilliant ideas from the Washington Post: Learning math is stupid!
Rebecca Goldin PhD and Cindy Merrick, December 13, 2011
Mathematics has become the target of a witch-hunt led by Florida school board administrator Rick Roach.
15 Key Insights From 2011 From 15 Key Thinkers And Writers
Trevor Butterworth, Forbes, December 13, 2011
From economic historians to evolutionary biologists and exercise physiologists and epidemiologists, what were their "wow" moments from the past year?
RECENT ANALYSIS
Who blew up the 'bridge to the future'?
Jon Entine, The Ethical Corporation, December 13, 2011
Are smart kids really more likely to use drugs?
Rebecca Goldin PhD, November 22, 2011
Breast Cancer Fund's Scary Thanksgiving Study Is A Turkey
Trevor Butterworth, Forbes, November 16, 2011
BPA and Babies: New Research From FDA Focuses On What Happens In Womb
Trevor Butterworth, Forbes, November 14, 2011
BPA Archive
STATS BLOG
Death by headphones
(January 18, 2012)
Is your degree paying off?
(January 6, 2012)
The Presenter's Paradox
(December 23, 2011)
Fitness vs. Fatness: Which is more important?
(December 13, 2011)
Read more blog itemsSTATS IN THE NEWS
Killing drilling with farcical ‘science’
STATS fellow Jon Entine on the New York Post
(January 24, 2012)New Research on the Antidepressant-vs.-Placebo Debate
STATS fellow Maia Szalavitz on TIME Healthland
(January 18, 2012)The Bizarre Logic Behind Mayor Bloomberg's Booze Crackdown: Target Moderate Drinkers
STATS editor-at-large Trevor Butterworth on Forbes
(January 11, 2012)NY greens’ anti-drilling baloney
STATS fellow Jon Entine in The New York Post
(January 3, 2012)It Doesn't Add Up
STATS Research Director Rebecca Goldin is quoted in Science Mag
(December 16, 2011)Three factors behind the ‘progressive’ flip-flop on shale gas, the left’s new Public Enemy #1
STATS fellow Jon Entine on The American
(December 13, 2011)
The Genetic Literacy Project will foster a dialogue about the scientific, social and ethical implications of genetic technologies, human and agricultural. It is designed to help journalists, scientists and policymakers navigate the increasingly politicized arena of biotechnology, genetic engineering, medical genomics and related sciences, such as nanotechnology.
Entine's new book Crop Chemophobia: Will Precaution Kill the Green Revolution is available now.
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
Sugar-sweetened beverages have become the focus of intense debate in the US as public health advocates and policy makers argue that these drinks are driving the obesity epidemic which is, in turn, driving huge health care costs. Therefore, many argue that soda is subject to a sin tax.
This analysis looks at the soda tax debate and asks whether the data adds up to a compelling case for either position.
Plus, Slimmed Down Sourcing: Media Coverage of Soda Taxes on STATS' sister organization, CMPA.
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.
Cutting through the clutter, spin, and sophistry: what you need to know to understand ongoing budget debates.
Op-Ed: Capping the debt hyperbole
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
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). Her new book Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered is out now.
