Do Our Means of Inquiry Match our Intentions?

Do Our Means of Inquiry Match our Intentions?

A key stage of the scientific method is the analysis of data, yet despite the variety of methods that are available to researchers they are most frequently distilled to a model that focuses on the average relation between variables. Although research questions are frequently conceived with broad inquiry in mind, most regression methods are limited in comprehensively evaluating how observed beha...

Living beyond Our Means

As someone who has been advocating “living beyond one’s means” since before the Reagan administration, I welcome Thomas’s endorsement of the idea. If we embrace the maxim that statistics is about variation then we should stand ready to explore how that variation varies with covariates. Assuming, as theory may tempt us to do, that covariates shift only the central tendency of the response, while...

What do our genes tell us about our past?

The use of DNA sequences to elucidate the history of relationships of organisms is widespread, and focus on our species has been intense. This paper examines some simple aspects of using genetic information to analyze relationships within and amongst humans. Clonal markers (mtDNA and Y chromosomal DNA) have always shown a high degree of structure and robustness when analyzed for hierarchical st...

Do Genes Determine Our Health?

Belalcazar et al exploited a genetic variant (L446P) in the glucokinase regulatory (GCKR) gene, known to have inverse cardiometabolic effects, to investigate whether the effect of the 446L allele can be attenuated by an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) in the Look Action for Health in Diabetes (AHEAD) trial. Participants of Look AHEAD exhibited high adherence to the ILI, which demonstrate...

Do we own our bodies?