Also this week: analyzing biases in recommendation letters, against political endorsements by scientific journals, and more.
From Jeremy:
“For the first time, an open application process was used to attract applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. The Chancellor’s Election Committee has considered all applications solely on the specific exclusion criteria set out in the University regulations. The following candidates will stand in election for the role of Chancellor of the University of Oxford…The candidates’ statements of interest have been reproduced exactly as submitted.” Emphasis in original, for extremely and amusingly good reason. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to comments from our British readers on this one. Don’t let me down! 🙂
Dan Davies on when you should open a “black box.” Interesting blog post. The applications to theoretical ecology and macroecology are left as exercises for the reader.
This is old but it’s new to me and quite good. Don’t fight the power (analysis). Can’t remember: did I link to this an old linkfest back when it first came out?
Interesting and entertaining reviews of three advanced mathematical textbooks. I mean, interesting and entertaining even if you, like me, don’t know any advanced mathematics, and don’t want to learn any.
Demographic differences in letters of recommendation for economics Ph.D. students applying to a large US research institution. Unreviewed preprint, based on analysis of 6000+ reference letters for 2000+ recent Ph.D. graduates in economics. I only skimmed it very quickly, so I can’t really vouch for it, but thought it was worth passing along if you want to dig into it yourself. (As an aside, a skim would’ve been easier and more informative if economists would graph their frickin’ data, instead of just providing giant tables of estimated GLM coefficients.) I wouldn’t assume the results generalize to other fields, but I wouldn’t assume they don’t.
An argument for why scientific journals shouldn’t endorse candidates for political office. Or at least, an argument for being clear-eyed about the likely effects (and non-effects) of such endorsements. Personally, I found the argument cogent. But given the subject matter, your mileage will DEFINITELY vary.
This is old, but it’s new to me: why study cosmology when there are children begging in the street? This will read as lovely and inspiring to many people, but I can also imagine that it might read as self-serving to others. My own reaction leans towards the “lovely and inspiring” end of the spectrum, but I can appreciate why others might react differently.
Exactly how much financial carnage will Canada’s new international student visa policies inflict on its colleges and universities? And how much of the damage will be due to a chilling effect on international student applications, rather than to the policies per se? Alex Usher crunches the numbers and reads the tea leaves.