“The intellectual mountaineer makes false starts, gets stuck, gets into blind alleys and cul-de-sacs, finds himself in untenable positions, has to backtrack and start again. Thus slowly and painfully, with innumerable errors and corrections, he makes his zigzag path up the mountain.” Helmholtz At the end of 2024, I retired and reflected on my career, … Continue reading Research strategy: five lessons from my career
Category: Research Methods
Setting a new study in the context of previous studies: a simple calculator
(This blog is based on the Open Access publication: Paul Glasziou, Mark Jones, Mike Clarke. Setting New Research in the context of Previous Research: some options, BMJ EBM, 2023,) Interpreting reports of new controlled trials is greatly aided if the Discussion sets the results in the context of the results from available similar research, ideally … Continue reading Setting a new study in the context of previous studies: a simple calculator
COVID-19 vaccine development and Formula-1 pit stops
Have you ever watched a Formula One pit stop and tyre change? Though no fan of car racing, I find the 2-second pit stops breathtaking. In 1937 the pitstop record was 33 seconds - impossibly slow by today’s standards. Continual improvements in technology and the coordination of the process have seen the near 20-fold reduction … Continue reading COVID-19 vaccine development and Formula-1 pit stops
How to make responding to reviewers (almost) fun!
Most of these blogs are about health and evidence issues, but occassionally they will just relate to the processes of research. So this one is about responding to peer review, which most researchers find traumatic as captured in Nick Kim's grim cartoon below. https://scienceandink.com/350dpi/ISS-12_nz060.jpg When I've asked folk about this, their response to reviewer comments … Continue reading How to make responding to reviewers (almost) fun!
Healthy Evidence 
