In this paper we present our ideas for conducting a cost benefit analysis by using three different methods: scenario analysis, decision trees and simulation. Then we introduce our case study and examine these methods in a real world situation. We show how these tools can be used and what the results are for each of them. Our aim is to conduct a comparison of these different probabilistic method...

Over the last few years, a number of works have been published asserting both the putative prosocial benefits of belief in free will and the possible dangers of disclosing doubts about the existence of free will. Although concerns have been raised over the disservice of keeping such doubts from the public, this does not highlight the full danger that is presented by social psychology's newly fo...

Over the past decade, a good number of studies have attempted to demonstrate that open access journal articles have higher citation rates than traditionally published ones. These open access articles are either published in open access journals or are made publicly available through open access repositories. More methodologically sound studies, however, are needed to pinpoint more exactly the i...

1. INTRODUCTION W.V. Quine has expressed a fairly conventional form of non-cognitivism in those of his writings that concern the status of moral judgments. For instance, in Quine (1981), he argues that ethics, as compared with science, is 'methodologically infirm'. The reason is that while science is responsive to observation, and therefore 'retains some title to a correspondence theory of trut...

Medicine in most parts of the world is becoming a stressful profession. Psychiatrists represent a high-risk group among doctors for experiencing burnout, alcohol and drug use, posing suicide risk and other forms of work-related stress. There are reports that entrants in the profession of psychiatrists are decreasing globally. Conceptual issues related to burnout are explored and factors contrib...

Emotional intelligence (El) has been embraced by many practitioners and academicians without clear empirical support for the construct. In this rejoinder and extension of an earlier comment, I highlight the importance of using methodologically defensible scientific criteria for conducting or evaluating research. I review literature demonstrating that El models are beset with problems concerning...

The rapidly expanding field of mobile health (mHealth) seeks to harness increasingly affordable and ubiquitous mobile digital technologies including smartphones, tablets, apps and wearable devices to enhance clinical care. Accumulating evidence suggests that mHealth interventions are increasingly being adopted and valued by people living with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and b...

Treatment of chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia is challenging due to limitations of drug therapies. An initial exploration into the relationships between self-reported alcohol consumption, symptom severity, and quality of life for individuals with fibromyalgia sheds new light on plausible hypotheses and potential mechanisms of action for future research. Evidence suggests that alcoho...

Fish is a very important food because of its high nutritional value. Fish consumption is largely recommended in all countries, so quality and safety of seafood are becoming of great concern. Especially in Mediterranean Sea, where many pollutants, as metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), are often relieved also in high concentrations, seafood safety has to be checked by a methodolo...

Loop analysis is a method of qualitative modeling anticipated by Sewall Wright and systematically developed by Richard Levins. In Levins’ (1966) distinctions between modeling strategies, loop analysis sacrifices precision for generality and realism. Besides criticizing the clarity of these distinctions, Orzack and Sober (1993) argued qualitative modeling is conceptually and methodologically pro...