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
New York Public School's Whole Milk Swindle
Trevor Butterworth, February 3, 2010
Department of Education says its success in reducing child obesity by removing whole milk from schools can be replicated accross America. What "success"?
Zzz's
Rebecca Goldin Ph.D, January 22, 2010
How much difference does a little bit more or a little bit less sleep make?
RECENT ANALYSIS
BPA and heart disease: Smoking gun or statistical smoke?
Trevor Butterworth, January 13, 2010
A new study claims an association between bisphenol a and heart disease. We've been here before.
Click here to see the BPA archive.
Is your teenage son going to get man boobs?
Rebecca Goldin Ph.D, January 6, 2010
Happy Holidays: You're living longer (on average)
Trevor Butterworth, December 23, 2009
Nicholas Kristof: STATS winner of the worst “science” journalist of the year
Trevor Butterworth, December 14, 2009
Should health care reform include payment for intercessory prayer?
Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D, December 2, 2009
Why you should vaccinate your child against H1N1
Gary Kreps, Ph.D and Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D, November 17, 2009
Main Archive
STATS BLOG
Bankers are like child abusers, says psychoanalyst
(February 4, 2010)
Heading to the slopes
(February 3, 2010)
Crime falls despite recession and other odd stats making news
(January 27, 2010)
Vital Statistics
(January 25, 2010)
Pharm party phever!
(January 22, 2010)
Teflon and Thyroidism
(January 21, 2010)
When Americans think of Europe, they’re not thinking of Bolton
(January 21, 2010)
Trust me, I found it on the Internet
(January 21, 2010)
Read more blog items
STATS IN THE NEWS
Of Killer Cans and Toxic Baby Bottles
STATS is cited in the Canada Free Press.
(February 5, 2010)
Trevor Butterworth reviews the book Mega Disasters for The Wall Street Journal
(January 18, 2010)
The Most Depressing Day of the Year
Maia Szalavitz on MSN Health
(January 15, 2010)
How Cocaine Scrambles Genes in the Brain
Maia Szalavitz on Time.com.
(January 8, 2010)
How Childhood Trauma Can Cause Adult Obesity
Maia Szalavitz on Time.com.
(January 5, 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.
