One big challenge we all face is understanding what’s good and what’s bad for us. And it’s harder when published research studies conflict. And so thanks to Roger Peng for posting on his Facebook page an article that led me to this article by Emily Oster: Cellphones Do Not Give You Brain Cancer, from the good folks at the 538 blog. I think this article would make a great classroom discussion, particularly if, before showing your students the article, they themselves brainstormed several possible experimental designs and discussed strengths and weaknesses of the designs. I think it is also interesting to ask why no study similar to the Danish Cohort study was done in the US. Thinking about this might lead students to think about cultural attitudes towards wide-spread data collection.
