Everything Hertz

When interpreting the magnitude of group differences using effect sizes, researchers often rely on Cohen's guidelines for small, medium, and large effects. However, Cohen originally proposed these guidelines as a fall back when the distribution of effect sizes was unknown. Despite the hundreds of available studies comparing heart rate variability (HRV), Cohen's guidelines are still used for interpretation. In this episode, Dan discusses his recent preprint describing an effect size distribution analysis on HRV studies. Some of the topics discussed: A summary of Dan's preprint What is an effect size? What can an effect size distribution tell us? How effect sizes can inform study planning How close are Cohen's guidelines to the distribution of HRV effect sizes? What samples sizes are appropriate? Pre-publication review vs. post-publication review Statcheck Links The preprint article http://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/08/31/072660 Statcheck https://mbnuijten.com/statcheck/ Facebook page https://www.fa

P-values are universal, but do we really know what they mean? In this episode, Dan and James discuss a recent paper describing the failure to correctly interpret p-values in a sample of academic psychologists. Some of the topics discussed: Common p-value misconceptions James tests Dan on his p-value knowledge p-values vs. effect size The problem of sample size with p-value interpretation The Facebook mood manipulation study Data peeking Equivalent p-values do not represent equivalent results Meta-analytical thinking Using significance as a categorical factor Statistical vs. clinical significance Clinical trial registration and 'secondary outcome creep' Dan and James answer listener questions Science communicator vs. scientist Grant titles and the 'Pub test' NASA and social media Links The article http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01247/full Geoff Cumming's book (we got the name completely wrong - sorry Geoff!) http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-The-New-Statistics-Meta-Analysis-eb

Science funding has a series of built in incentive structures, but what sort of science does this produce? Some of the topics discussed: Feedback from our 'Public health and Pokemon' episode (#22) Incentive structures in science What we should be doing in science compared to what we are doing Quantity vs. Quality The analysis of Trump's tweets for negativity vs. positivity Pre-registration How much detail do you need to go into when it comes to pre-registering an analysis APS journal badges - they're working! Data sharing makes you more careful with your data Solutions to the incentive problem have to come from the policy level The grant funding lottery system proposal The PhD oversupply Gaming the system James wants to mandate science communication Dan wants to include replication studies in PhD programs Scientist names that suit their research area Links The article on incentive structures https://medium.com/the-spike/how-a-happy-moment-for-neuroscience-is-a-sad-moment-for-science-c4ba00336e9c#.x3sea13i1 Th

Can you be a "serious academic" while still posting photos on Instagram? In this episode, James and Dan discuss a recent article bemoaning the infiltration of the "selfie epidemic" into academia. Some of the topics discussed: James and Dan share their thoughts on the article The REAL 'c' word.... Social media and conferences Snapchat + academics = snapademics Using Instagram stories to share you research Why "PHD comics" is so successful Criticism in academia Listener question 1: What's your favourite part of research? Listener question 2: What's your favourite technique or experiment to perform? Listener question 3: What's a funny story from being an academic? Links The article https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2016/aug/05/im-a-serious-academic-not-a-professional-instagrammer A response to the article https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2016/aug/05/im-a-non-serious-academic-i-make-no-apologies-for-this Snapademics https://twitter.com/snapademia Facebook page https://www.face

Pokemon Go is sweeping the world and getting people walking again! But is the Pokemon Go 'model' a golden opportunity to tackle obesity or just another fad? Some of the topics discussed: James plays "Pokemon or Cholesterol medication?" Dan tries to explain Pokemon Go to James James' first contact with Pokemon Go "trainers" Should health interventions be modeled on Pokemon Go? Other exercise augmented reality health apps What's the app's endgame? Can health authorities copy this model? We make a correction from episode 17: PLoS is in fact a non-profit journal, not a for-profit journal Dan and James answer two listener questions: i) The dumbest things they've ever done in the lab (both related to email faux pas) ii) How often should lab meetings be run The importance of PROPERLY piloting your experiment If you don't know the person in the meeting that takes up too much time, it's probably you. Links The quiz http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/gaming/2016/07/pokemonorcholesterolmedicationa_quiz.html Face

It's well established that steroid use is associated with many adverse healthy outcomes, but what does it actually do to your brain? Dan and James discuss an interesting new paper that compared brain structure in long-term steroid users and non-using weightlifters. Some of the topics discussed: A summary of the study How are steroids typically used? What are the differences in use between sports? The recruitment of 'real' users James gives Dan a surprise Norwegian test (he doesn't do too well) The things Dan and James liked about the study (hint: many things) Steroid use in women Dose-dependent effects of steroids Folk beliefs surrounding steroid use James' goal of making his cat as jacked as possible If you have a great study, there's no need to oversell James' experience of participating in a growth hormone trial Links The paper http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632231632529X Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpod

Can psychologists learn more by studying fewer people? Some of the topics discussed: Brexit and science Can the UK take the 'Norway' option? Horizon 2020 The impact on personnel and research training Italian coffee Listener feedback We're sorry for the chewing sound from episode 17! Intraindividual replication vs. larger sample sizes What sort of experiments are better suited to detailed within-subject studies? Is 'quantified self' data more valid than experimental data? What if you happen to recruit a 'weird' person? Links The paper http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911349/ Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

Dan and James discuss a recent paper on intranasal oxytocin and spirituality Some of the topics discussed: A summary of a recent paper on oxytocin and spirituality Why within-subject designs are a better choice for oxytocin research The physiology of nasal administration How do you control for differences in nasal environment Hypothesis-driven vs. exploratory research Oxytocin pathway gene ANCOVA and Lord's paradox (yep, it's called that) Dan applauding the authors for posting ALL their data online James disagrees with Dan on approaches to pre-registering studies James promises never to chew during a recording (sorry!) Producing research vs. actually reading other people's research Our first citation (sort of) How the replication crisis is the fact that we're not doing any Heart rate variability in oysters (and other animals) Links The paper http://scan.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/06/22/scan.nsw078 Dan's blog post on intranasal oxytocin administration considerations https://medium.com/@dsqui

Withholding data: bad science or scientific misconduct? Some of the topics discussed: Dan raises privacy issues surrounding sharing data What are the limits of AI to identify people from 'un-identifiable' data? The new age of sharing data What grinds Dan's gears Requesting data from people who said that they'd actually share their data James' experiences with requesting data Dan offers a solution for accessing data via an independent 3rd party When is a data request 'vexatious'? Hiding data vs. just being lazy with data management The importance of sharing your analysis code along with the data Version controlling manuscripts How much will open data actually improve science? 'Fake' journals masquerading as real ones Australia's windfarm commissioner (a real thing, unfortunalty) Australian coffee vs. the rest of the world Our Twitter followers numbers have surpassed our Facebook fans! Links The paper on requesting data http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22686633 The blog post on whether withholding your d

Do we really need scientific journals? Some of the topics discussed: James trolling predatory journals with jibberish papers on the 'DONG' effect How do these spammy journal invitation emails actually work? Formal journals vs. preprint servers The shift to preprints in psychology Why do some journals forbid preprints? An article defending the big publishers How much does it really cost to have an online journal? What if the public funders were to set up thier own journals? What's the role of post-pubication review? Do journals provide added value? James' brush with the 'established' media Links Publisher policies on preprints https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listofacademicjournalsbypreprintpolicy How much do universities pay for journal subscriptions? https://gowers.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/elsevier-journals-some-facts/ Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

What are the defining characteristics of a good psychology study? We received this excellent question from a listener and decided to do a whole episode on this idea. Some of the topics discussed: When’s the last time you saw a psych study that only reported a t-test? Dan and James’ new paper on worry and heart rate variability Skepticism towards studies with many variables and ‘novel’ statistical approaches (that tend to always provide marvellous results) Repeated measures ANOVAs vs. linear mixed models Publishing convenient ideas, even if they’re wrong Fishing expeditions The ‘nocebo’ effect in action What are markers of study quality? Pre-registering studies - can it be gamed? The gradual improvement of psychology studies Links Dan and James' new paper on worry and heart rate variability http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27255891 The paper that said "Encouraging experimental psychologists to use LMMs was like giving shotguns to toddlers.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25657634 Facebook page ht

Dan and James discuss software and coding, including the tools they use Links (lots this week) Introduction to Python course - http://python.swaroopch.com //// R markdown - http://rmarkdown.rstudio.com //// GraphPad - http://www.graphpad.com //// JASP - https://jasp-stats.org //// Igor - https://www.wavemetrics.com/products/igorpro/igorpro.htm //// Canva - https://www.canva.com ////Omnifocus - https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus ////Slack - https://slack.com //// PsychoPy - http://www.psychopy.org //// 1Password - https://1password.com //// Papers - http://papersapp.com //// http://www.manuscriptsapp.com Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

Dan and James discuss public engagement, science communication, and the internet outrage machine. Links: James' GRIM pre-print https://peerj.com/preprints/2064v1/ Dan's meta-analysis paper http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01549/full Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

Dan and James discuss a few academic horror stories sent in by their listeners. Links: The Gawker story on leaving academia http://gawker.com/i-left-my-ph-d-program-in-chemistry-a-few-years-back-wh-1774236393 Equator network http://www.equator-network.org Jack Johnson (the singer, not the boxer from the turn of the century) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seZMOTGCDag Abominable Putridity (the band James mentioned) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JYFgoaEeaQ Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

Heart rate variability is becoming incredibly popular in the biobehavioral sciences yet there's no standard for how this research is reported. In this episode, Dan and James discuss their latest paper where they propose heart rate variability reporting guidelines. They also talk about saunas (why not?) and why 'sympathovagal balance' should be abandoned. Links: Dan and James' guidelines paper http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n5/abs/tp201673a.html Dan and Gail's heart rate variability meta-analysis http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26447819 Quora https://www.quora.com Whole body hyperthermia study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27172277 Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

In this episode, James and Dan discuss issues surrounding the placebo effect. Links: Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast Dan's other podcast https://soundcloud.com/startup-scientist-podcast

In this episode, James and Dan talk about failure. What's the benefit of openly sharing your failures - is this an antidote to the imposter syndrome or something only the privileged few can afford to do?

In this episode, James and Dan discuss what happens if your research is wrong. They talk about the recent controversy surrounding tDCS, why many people don't hold negative results to the same scrutiny as positive results, and the hype cycle of research. Links: Dan's new Startup Scientist podcast https://soundcloud.com/startup-scientist-podcast Vestibular stimulation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanicvestibularstimulation The one slide on the tDCS presentation that Dan found https://twitter.com/nomorewires/status/717384486888022016 The hype cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

In this episode, James and Dan discuss how to navigate the PhD to Postdoc transition. They provide advice to a hypothetical first-year graduate student and discuss the realities of the postdoc job market. Links: Propel Careers - https://www.propelcareers.com James' blog post - https://medium.com/@jamesheathers/12-thing-you-should-know-before-you-start-a-phd-9c064a979e8#.iqqwzf55s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast

How do you write a lot and do it well? In this episode, James and Dan discuss the writing process and the tools they use to get things done. Links: The Conversation https://theconversation.com BreakTime app http://breaktimeapp.com Tomato timer http://tomato-timer.com Jelte Wichert's paper http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0026828 Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/everythinghertzpodcast/ Twitter account https://www.twitter.com/hertzpodcast