Sam Harper

@sbh4th.bsky.social

1.8K followers 180 following 36 posts

Professor, Epidemiologist, McGill University. Impact evaluation, health inequalities, reproducible research. 🚲🍳🍷🎸🏸👨‍💻 https://samharper.org

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Public Health 34%

Economics 20%

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Reposted by Sam Harper

Alex Coppock @aecoppock.bsky.social · 14d

encountered this article by David Weimer from 1986 (cited by 7) with three good ideas for improving science that just a few short decades later, we've started to implement.

Collective Delusion In The Social Sciences: Publishing Incentives For Empirical Abuse

doi.org/10.1111/j.15...

title page of article:

There is a skeleton in the social science closet. Almost all of us have heard it rattled at one time or another.! Nevertheless, we collectively ignore it. Some ignore it because they do not think it is very scary: others because its putting to rest would require a major restructuring of our scholarly journals. Perhaps others even fear that admitting its existence would undermine belief in the empirical progress? the social sciences have apparently enjoyed since the widespread diffusion of statistical training and the ready availability of the computer.
I will argue that the
skeleton, the bias social science journals exhibit for publishing articles reporting statistically significant results, is dangerous

The results of statistical tests should not be submitted to or als until after articles have been accepted for publica-
tion..
would base their decisions on
theory under
discussions of the theory under consideration, the specific hypotheses to be tested, and the data sample to be used.?
This would divert attention from the final result to the a priori specification of hypotheses and the appropriateness of data and statistical technique for testing them. Unfortunate-ly, this approach would not work unless adopted by all the relevant journals. If a single journal adopted it, researchers

Any journal that publishes an article with statistical models should be required (by the disciplines?) to provide a page of space to anyone who wants to report the results of applying the authors' models to different sets of data. This approach would provide a less biased sampling of research results. It would also allow us to better gauge the robustness of our theories.8 Some journals now provide some space for veri-fications; doing so should be standard editorial practice.

Researchers should be required to submit a statement with
indicating
their articles indicating whether or not the model being presented is the one actually first estimated from the data.
A general description of statistical techniques would also be included in the submission. Is the presented model the first specification or is it the end product of stepwise regression or some other questionable data search? Where appropriate, the editor would affix a warning along the following lines next to results:

Reposted by Sam Harper

George Davey Smith @mendelrandom.bsky.social · 18d

Fantastic opportunity to lead the Equity Lab @wellcometrust.bsky.social working with the legendary Jimmy Volmink, details here wellcome.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/Wellco... Please repost so as many as possible can see this great opportunity

Associate Director, Equity Lab

Salary: £120,800 Closing date: 9th November Contract type: Permanent Interview dates: 24th and 28th November The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by fun...

wellcome.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Sep 29

McGill's @healthsciences.mcgill.ca Jay Kaufman critiquing public health guidance that "promote the powerful ideological message that being normal or abnormal ultimately depends on one’s race. That premise should be regarded as the truly malignant pathology"

lareviewofbooks.org/article/does...

Does One Size Fit All? | Los Angeles Review of Books

In the 10th essay in the Legacies of Eugenics series, Jay S. Kaufman shows how the science of human body size is suffused with cultural assumptions.

lareviewofbooks.org

Reposted by Sam Harper, David M. Farrell, Brendan Nyhan , and 11 more Sam Harper, David M. Farrell, Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Nicolas Véron, Daniel W. Drezner, Carlos Martín, Aaron Sojourner, Mark Rice, Mathias Frisch, Christina Pagel, Manisha Sinha, Dunlap, Andrew Perchard

Belfast Telegraph @belfasttelegraph.co.uk · Sep 10

Horrors of Trump detention centre: Lisburn man tells his story after arrest for 'looking like a Mexican'

Lee Stinton was lifted by US immigration police on an American street — in an incident he compared to a kidnapping.

Here, he tells us his story.

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Aug 12

"Credit card perks for educated, usually urban professionals are being subsidized by people who have less. In other words, when you book a hotel room or enjoy entry to an airport lounge at no cost, poor consumers are ultimately footing the bill." www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/o...

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Aug 5

What is going on here?

Why does Aalborg (or Copenhagen, Montreal, San Diego, etc.) even need a zoo?

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/s...

A Zoo in Denmark Wants to Feed Your Pets to Its Predators

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Brian A. Nosek, Adrian Barnett , and 10 more Dorothy Bishop, Brian A. Nosek, Adrian Barnett, Sam Harper, James M. Bullock, Julie L. Lockwood, Alistair Munro, Magnus Johansson, Ian Hussey, Silvia Secchi, Juanjo Medina, Jack Stilgoe, David Spurrett

Reese Richardson @reeserichardson.bsky.social · Aug 4

Today, our article "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly" is finally published in PNAS. I hope that it proves to be a wake-up-call for the whole scientific community.

reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...

A do-or-die moment for the scientific enterprise

Reflecting on our paper “The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly”

reeserichardson.blog

Reposted by Sam Harper

Khoa @khoavuumn.bsky.social · Jan 9

Accidentally download the appendix of an econ working paper:

Reposted by Sam Harper

Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · Jul 24

Two PhD studentships available in real-time infectious disease modelling, jointly with LSHTM, Imperial and UKHSA. January 2026 start + 3.5 years of funding: www.lshtm.ac.uk/study/fees-a...

PhD studentships in real-time infectious disease modelling | LSHTM

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Imperial College London and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are pleased to invite applications for two PhD studentships in real-time

www.lshtm.ac.uk

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Jun 19

Fully agree. In exactly the same way that making all of the material (protocol, data, code) available for reproducing research also is no guarantee of "better" research. Transparency is (largely) good, but can't delude ourselves that improved transparency equals improved quality.

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Jun 3

🤔🤔🤔

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/w...

That Cup of Coffee May Have a Longer-Term Perk

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Sam Harper

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · May 30

Gold standard science

White House Health Report Included Fake Citations

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Sam Harper, Cameron Brick, Jeremy Freese

Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · May 25

"In extremely rare move, Harvard revokes tenure and cuts ties with star business professor" Francesca Gino

In extremely rare move, Harvard revokes tenure and cuts ties with star business professor

An internal investigation had found that Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino’s research on why people lie and cheat was based on falsified data.

www.wgbh.org

Reposted by Sam Harper, Marcus Grant, Florence Faucher

Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · May 25

'Scientific conferences are leaving the US amid border fears'

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Scientific conferences are leaving the US amid border fears

Some meetings have been put on hold in response to foreign researchers’ travel concerns.

www.nature.com

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · May 6

Obviously not sufficient for causal interpretation. Just wanted to highlight some good journalism here.

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · May 6

This report by ProPublica probably has more detailed description of methods than many *peer-reviewed* published papers. AND they shared their code! (github.com/propublica/t...)

Reposted by Sam Harper

Jeremy Labrecque @jeremylabrecque.bsky.social · May 2

If you're looking for a post-doc in social health inequalities research and causal inference? Joost Oude-Groeniger and I have just such a position opening up.

www.werkenbijerasmusmc.nl/en/vacancy/1...

Vacature: Postdoc Preventing health inequalities by improving socioeconomic positions

Are you passionate about understanding how social policies shape health inequalities? Join us as a Postdoctoral Researcher and help uncover the true impact of policies aimed at improving socioeconomic...

www.werkenbijerasmusmc.nl

Reposted by Sam Harper, Geneviève Gore

Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · Apr 28

📣📣

We are looking for an Assistant Professor (tenure track) in the Department of Global and Public Health @mcgillspgh.bsky.social @healthsciences.mcgill.ca!

mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/mcgill...

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Apr 1

Is there a live stream or recording?

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Mar 21

I reviewed this applied example applying `synthpop` to longitudinal data. Could be of interest for you. wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-57

wellcomeopenresearch.org

Reposted by Sam Harper, Bernardo Lanza Queiroz

Ilya Kashnitsky @ikashnitsky.phd · Mar 19

💥José Manuel Aburto is seeking an early career colleague to join his forming team as a postdoc 🌿
JM is an exceptional mentor and friend. And now he is inviting a lucky colleague to join for an exciting ride. It's a highway to the frontier of demography. Catch this unique chance 🚀
lnkd.in/dBJyaF9p

José Manuel Aburto giving a presentation

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Mar 13

Feels somewhat self-indulgent given the news cycle, but I want to take this moment to thank the anonymous students that sent a note of appreciation to me via @mcgill.ca 's 'Thank-a-Prof' program. These small gestures actually mean a lot and help keep us motivated to do more, better. Thank you!

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Feb 18

Great post and needed (especially in epidemiology / public health where there is a lot of 'only an association BUT we should do X'). Agree with ☝️ about 'doing CI' and would prefer clarity in aims ('to estimate the effect of A' plus a serious discussion of credibility of assumptions needed for CI.

Reposted by Sam Harper, Jeanette Hofmann

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · Feb 18

“They cut speed limits, changed street design, removed space for cars… Now it appears that work is paying off. Oslo & Helsinki are reaping the rewards of committed action on making their roads safer, reducing pedestrian fatalities to zero last year.” #VisionZero #SpeedKills #Oslo #Helsinki

How Helsinki and Oslo cut pedestrian deaths to zero

After years of committed action, neither city recorded a single pedestrian fatality in 2019

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Sam Harper

Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · Jan 29

New results from "The Nation's Report Card" just dropped and they are pretty bad. I got a sneak peek as a member of IES’s Standing Committee, so I had an extra day or so to ruminate about them. A few thoughts 👇
1/n

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Jan 24

There is just no going back from this.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/u...

Violent Acts of Many Jan. 6 Rioters Pardoned by Trump Are Shown in Videos

President Trump pardoned men who violently attacked police officers on Jan. 6 along with nearly 1,600 other people who had been charged in connection with the riot. But his grant of clemency did not e...

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Sam Harper

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Jan 24

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/u...

"dragged into the crowd ... attacked with a stun gun"
"used an American flag to pummel another officer"
"charged with using a baseball bat to beat officers"
"swinging a metal flagpole at an officer"
"attacked the police with a chair and chemical spray"

Violent Acts of Many Jan. 6 Rioters Pardoned by Trump Are Shown in Videos

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Sam Harper

Matthew Herper @matthewherper.bsky.social · Jan 23

FDA purges material on clinical trial diversity from its site, showing stakes of Trump DEI ban

From me and @lizzylawrence.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/01/23/f...

FDA purges material on clinical trial diversity from its site, showing stakes of Trump DEI ban

Following the Trump administration's DEI ban, the FDA's move to scrub webpages has ensnared many pages focused on ensuring diversity in drug trials.

www.statnews.com

Sam Harper @sbh4th.bsky.social · Jan 21

Really great to see this productive exchange around a difficult study question. Many of these issues (especially clarity on whether questions are 'causal' or not, and what that implies for the credibility of assumptions) are relevant to other disciplines. Great initiative.

Reposted by Sam Harper, Andrew K Przybylski, John Hilton , and 2 more Sam Harper, Andrew K Przybylski, John Hilton, Kris Hardies, Paolo Brunori

ERROR @error.reviews · Jan 20

New report! Hehman et al. (2018) "Disproportionate Use of Lethal Force in Policing Is Associated With Regional Racial Biases". Based on the review by @conjugateprior.org, we find a Major Error that affects a core conclusion. We recommend the authors seek a correction.
error.reviews/reviews/hehm...

Hehman et al. (2018)

ERROR is a bug bounty program for science to systematically detect and report errors in academic publications

error.reviews

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