This will be a two-parter since there's a lot in it. It's been interesting reading the initial article about why professors need to be involved in public debate from Nicholas Kristof and seeing the rejoinders, particularly Michelle Goldbergs' article about Columbia University's decision to let two of their best professors of public health go. I'm … Continue reading Kristof, Columbia, and the ‘Public Intellectual-Professor’: Part 1
Research
Headed to Toronto soon…
I'll be at the International Studies Association annual convention from March 26-30 presenting two papers (never again will I submit two abstracts for papers that have to be written from scratch...) on Crowdsourcing methodology and technology in peacekeeping operations. Should be a lot of fun - feel free to give me feedback on the papers … Continue reading Headed to Toronto soon…
Causes of Effects…and Effects of Causes
Andrew Gelman and Guido Imbens recently posted a paper entitled "Why Ask Why? Forward Causal Inference and Reverse Causal Questions." It completely made my day, primarily because it succinctly deals with the way people naturally arrive at research questions with the help of some statistical logic. While I liked the models and the logic, what I … Continue reading Causes of Effects…and Effects of Causes
Tech4Dev Conference: Call for abstracts closes Oct. 14
My colleague Dr. Paula Lytle and I will be hosting one of the sessions at next June's Tech4Dev conference, focusing on the policy side of integrating technology into disaster response and preparedness. The Federal Polytechnic Institute in Lausanne is hosting the event; they do a great job and the city of Lausanne is lovely. If … Continue reading Tech4Dev Conference: Call for abstracts closes Oct. 14
Samoa update: A little informed consent, a lot of economics
I'm embracing my status as a political scientist working in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MCIT). While a lot of my experience in the tech space tends to be tool-centric, I'm finding more and more that the challenges on the user end (in this case Samoa) are related to policy and economics. The … Continue reading Samoa update: A little informed consent, a lot of economics
The Fulbrighters make the paper in Samoa
We're all pretty excited to be here working with the Samoan government - we made the paper here in Apia, and so far the welcome from our counterparts and Samoan friends has been fantastic! The interviews and photos were from the welcome event the embassy and Charge d'Affaires Peter Ganser organized last week.
EPFL Tech4Dev Conference call for papers!
My colleague Dr. Paula Lytle from the World Bank and I will be co-hosting a panel at the Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne's Tech4Dev Conference, June 4-6 2014! Our session will cover policy and technology for disaster risk reduction. The conference is a good one, particularly since it covers topics ranging from social policy to hardware … Continue reading EPFL Tech4Dev Conference call for papers!
Arrived in Samoa
I’ve arrived in Samoa to start my Clinton-Fulbright Fellowship, working with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on disaster management and response policy. I’ll be blogging on the technical details of what I’m doing starting next week, but just wanted to post a few photos from my journey.
Unpacking P-values: Turning statistical significance into practical significance
I often get questions about the veracity of using statistics to understand conflict and political behavior, especially when using predictive or confirmatory analytic methods. The questions are well founded, since a recent article found that potentially up to 54% of statistical results in the medical field are spurious. This should give social scientists pause, since … Continue reading Unpacking P-values: Turning statistical significance into practical significance
Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship: Quite the welcome
So this week is the orientation week for 23 of my colleagues and me as we prepare to head off and do our Fulbright-Clinton Fellowships. People will be going all over: Burma, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Samoa, Cote D'Ivoire and Guatemala. What really struck me was the history and the timelessness of the Fulbright program. Former … Continue reading Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship: Quite the welcome
Charles P. Martin-Shields 