Why We Need a Statistical Revolution

My father told me the most important thing about solving a problem is to formulate it accurately, and one would think that, as statisticians, most of us would agree with that advice. Suppose we were to build a spaceship that can fly to Mars and return safely to Earth....

Calling Out Coffee Mania: A Reporter Looks at the Statistics

The press bombards us with messages about what’s bad for us: obesity, drugs, too much alcohol, (maybe), coffee, sugar, cell phones, and—most recently—loneliness, which we were told was as damaging to our health as obesity and smoking. Occasionally, we catch a break...

Israeli Election Socks it to Pollsters

The recent Israeli election provides a case study in how political polls—and even exit polls—can get the answer badly wrong, with the result that election winner seemed to flip flop from news outlet to news outlet as the actual count unfolded. The print edition of The...

Israeli Election Socks it to Pollsters

The recent Israeli election provides a case study in how political polls—and even exit polls—can get the answer badly wrong, with the result that election winner seemed to flip flop from news outlet to news outlet as the actual count unfolded. The print edition of The...

Did the Health Benefits of Alcohol Just Vanish?

Alcohol has long been held as a source of damnation and debauchery, thanks to its well-publicized ill effects from deaths associated to drunk driving to unfortunate people living bottle to bottle on the street. But health professionals have also recognized the health...