Dan Major-Smith
@djsmith90.bsky.social
Recovering Evolutionary Anthropologist/Accidental Epidemiologist/Cat fosterer
PostDoc at Aarhus and Senior Research Associate at Bristol
Interests: cooperation; religion; causal inference; cohort studies
Site: https://danmajor-smith.netlify.app/about
PostDoc at Aarhus and Senior Research Associate at Bristol
Interests: cooperation; religion; causal inference; cohort studies
Site: https://danmajor-smith.netlify.app/about
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
"Modeling Uncertainty around Free-list Cultural Salience Scores" by @rcc-au.bsky.social's @djsmith90.bsky.social and @bgpurzycki.bsky.social OnlineFirst up now at Field Methods journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #AnthroTools #quantethnography
October 21, 2025 at 10:15 AM
"Modeling Uncertainty around Free-list Cultural Salience Scores" by @rcc-au.bsky.social's @djsmith90.bsky.social and @bgpurzycki.bsky.social OnlineFirst up now at Field Methods journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #AnthroTools #quantethnography
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
Double whammy just out with RCC's @djsmith90.bsky.social Longitudinal projects and causal inference!
Religion and trauma: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Climate change concern and mental health: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
Religion and trauma: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Climate change concern and mental health: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
Does concern regarding climate change impact subsequent mental health? A longitudinal analysis using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) | Royal Society Open Science
Climate change is having a substantial—and increasingly severe—impact on our planet,
affecting people’s health, security and livelihoods. As a consequence, the concept
of ‘climate anxiety’ has recentl...
doi.org
August 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Double whammy just out with RCC's @djsmith90.bsky.social Longitudinal projects and causal inference!
Religion and trauma: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Climate change concern and mental health: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
Religion and trauma: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Climate change concern and mental health: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
I am devastated because our cat Trasno is critically ill and needs urgent treatment to survive, but it’s financially overwhelming. If we’ve ever made you smile or feel supported, please consider sharing or contributing: gofundme.com/f/help-save-...
Thank you from the heart,
Alba
Thank you from the heart,
Alba
Donate to Help save our cat Trasno: Urgent treatment needed, organized by Javier Ortiz De Guinea
Help save Trasno: Urgent Treatment needed for our cat’s life… Javier Ortiz De Guinea needs your support for Help save our cat Trasno: Urgent treatment needed
gofundme.com
June 23, 2025 at 8:14 PM
I am devastated because our cat Trasno is critically ill and needs urgent treatment to survive, but it’s financially overwhelming. If we’ve ever made you smile or feel supported, please consider sharing or contributing: gofundme.com/f/help-save-...
Thank you from the heart,
Alba
Thank you from the heart,
Alba
The world may be a burning shit-storm, but we're trying to do our little bit to make science slightly better - Our new Registered Report on climate concern and mental health was just recommended/accepted at @pci-regreports.bsky.social
doi.org/10.24072/pci...
doi.org/10.24072/pci...
Climate change concern doesn't impact the subsequent mental heal...
doi.org
June 10, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The world may be a burning shit-storm, but we're trying to do our little bit to make science slightly better - Our new Registered Report on climate concern and mental health was just recommended/accepted at @pci-regreports.bsky.social
doi.org/10.24072/pci...
doi.org/10.24072/pci...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
📣 New paper by myself @djsmith90.bsky.social and colleagues published today in @royalsociety.org Proc B 📣
Grandmothers are often seen as key carers, but this isn’t always the case.
We explore why in Agta forgers reflecting on the implications of demography for evolution of grandmothering 👵🌍
Grandmothers are often seen as key carers, but this isn’t always the case.
We explore why in Agta forgers reflecting on the implications of demography for evolution of grandmothering 👵🌍
May 14, 2025 at 12:03 PM
📣 New paper by myself @djsmith90.bsky.social and colleagues published today in @royalsociety.org Proc B 📣
Grandmothers are often seen as key carers, but this isn’t always the case.
We explore why in Agta forgers reflecting on the implications of demography for evolution of grandmothering 👵🌍
Grandmothers are often seen as key carers, but this isn’t always the case.
We explore why in Agta forgers reflecting on the implications of demography for evolution of grandmothering 👵🌍
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
AnthroTools 2.0 is live! Nine new functions that propagate, plot, and summarize uncertainty around item and cultural salience values. @djsmith90.bsky.social @bgpurzycki.bsky.social @rcc-au.bsky.social
April 30, 2025 at 9:56 AM
AnthroTools 2.0 is live! Nine new functions that propagate, plot, and summarize uncertainty around item and cultural salience values. @djsmith90.bsky.social @bgpurzycki.bsky.social @rcc-au.bsky.social
Can religious beliefs shape peoples' attitudes and behaviours regarding climate change?
We explored this using data from a large-scale UK cohort study (ALSPAC)
In short: Perhaps, but it's complicated. Answer depends on generation, religiosity measure and climate question
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
We explored this using data from a large-scale UK cohort study (ALSPAC)
In short: Perhaps, but it's complicated. Answer depends on generation, religiosity measure and climate question
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Associations between religiosity and climate change beliefs and behaviours in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)
Individual actions are crucial to mitigating the impact of anthropogenic climate change. Understanding the factors shaping individuals’ climate beliefs and behaviours is therefore essential to help en...
doi.org
April 11, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Can religious beliefs shape peoples' attitudes and behaviours regarding climate change?
We explored this using data from a large-scale UK cohort study (ALSPAC)
In short: Perhaps, but it's complicated. Answer depends on generation, religiosity measure and climate question
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
We explored this using data from a large-scale UK cohort study (ALSPAC)
In short: Perhaps, but it's complicated. Answer depends on generation, religiosity measure and climate question
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Are you into free-list methods and want to incorporate uncertainty into your group-level estimates (eg Smith's S)?
Of course you do!
Then @bgpurzycki.bsky.social and I have a new preprint for your delectation!
doi.org/10.31219/osf...
Of course you do!
Then @bgpurzycki.bsky.social and I have a new preprint for your delectation!
doi.org/10.31219/osf...
OSF
doi.org
April 9, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Are you into free-list methods and want to incorporate uncertainty into your group-level estimates (eg Smith's S)?
Of course you do!
Then @bgpurzycki.bsky.social and I have a new preprint for your delectation!
doi.org/10.31219/osf...
Of course you do!
Then @bgpurzycki.bsky.social and I have a new preprint for your delectation!
doi.org/10.31219/osf...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
No clear co-causal evidence of religion and mental health! Hot off the digital press from RCC's @djsmith90.bsky.social!
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
March 19, 2025 at 9:51 AM
No clear co-causal evidence of religion and mental health! Hot off the digital press from RCC's @djsmith90.bsky.social!
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
New blog post!
Sometimes, when reviewing a manuscript, it's really unclear to me what precisely the authors are trying to do -- which makes it hard to evaluate the work properly.
So, here's some advice for how to ensure that readers don't get lost.
www.the100.ci/2025/02/17/r...
Sometimes, when reviewing a manuscript, it's really unclear to me what precisely the authors are trying to do -- which makes it hard to evaluate the work properly.
So, here's some advice for how to ensure that readers don't get lost.
www.the100.ci/2025/02/17/r...
Reviewer notes: Avoid any ambiguity about analysis aims
For any central statistical analysis that you report in your manuscript, it should be absolutely clear for readers why the analysis is being conducted in the first place – that is, the analysis goal s...
www.the100.ci
February 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
New blog post!
Sometimes, when reviewing a manuscript, it's really unclear to me what precisely the authors are trying to do -- which makes it hard to evaluate the work properly.
So, here's some advice for how to ensure that readers don't get lost.
www.the100.ci/2025/02/17/r...
Sometimes, when reviewing a manuscript, it's really unclear to me what precisely the authors are trying to do -- which makes it hard to evaluate the work properly.
So, here's some advice for how to ensure that readers don't get lost.
www.the100.ci/2025/02/17/r...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
1/ 🧵 New preprint out today 🤩
With @djsmith90.bsky.social and co we have done deep-dive into grandmothering in the Agta to unpick the role of demography in shaping the role of grandmothers in direct childcare 👇🧪🏺
#Grandmothering #demography #BioAnth #EvPsych
With @djsmith90.bsky.social and co we have done deep-dive into grandmothering in the Agta to unpick the role of demography in shaping the role of grandmothers in direct childcare 👇🧪🏺
#Grandmothering #demography #BioAnth #EvPsych
OSF
osf.io
January 21, 2025 at 3:47 PM
1/ 🧵 New preprint out today 🤩
With @djsmith90.bsky.social and co we have done deep-dive into grandmothering in the Agta to unpick the role of demography in shaping the role of grandmothers in direct childcare 👇🧪🏺
#Grandmothering #demography #BioAnth #EvPsych
With @djsmith90.bsky.social and co we have done deep-dive into grandmothering in the Agta to unpick the role of demography in shaping the role of grandmothers in direct childcare 👇🧪🏺
#Grandmothering #demography #BioAnth #EvPsych
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
📢 The final CCE seminar of 2024 is coming up soon with @djsmith90.bsky.social leading us into the 🎄 festive 🎄season with a presentation on
*Religion and mental health: a causal Christmas carol* 🎅
📆 18th Dec 2024 - 12:45 in person start with food, 13:00 online talk start
🔓Open to all
*Religion and mental health: a causal Christmas carol* 🎅
📆 18th Dec 2024 - 12:45 in person start with food, 13:00 online talk start
🔓Open to all
December 5, 2024 at 12:58 PM
📢 The final CCE seminar of 2024 is coming up soon with @djsmith90.bsky.social leading us into the 🎄 festive 🎄season with a presentation on
*Religion and mental health: a causal Christmas carol* 🎅
📆 18th Dec 2024 - 12:45 in person start with food, 13:00 online talk start
🔓Open to all
*Religion and mental health: a causal Christmas carol* 🎅
📆 18th Dec 2024 - 12:45 in person start with food, 13:00 online talk start
🔓Open to all
Did not expect my first inclusion in a starter pack to be "people named Dan Smith with PhDs"! 😅
Still, at least you now know where to find us!
Still, at least you now know where to find us!
Everybody should have a few Dan Smith, PhDs in their feed.
November 16, 2024 at 10:04 AM
Did not expect my first inclusion in a starter pack to be "people named Dan Smith with PhDs"! 😅
Still, at least you now know where to find us!
Still, at least you now know where to find us!
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
I found @djsmith90.bsky.social's figure about ethical publishing so helpful for students I added it to my guide to academic reading/writing/publishing (osf.io/p37zj)
October 8, 2024 at 2:42 PM
I found @djsmith90.bsky.social's figure about ethical publishing so helpful for students I added it to my guide to academic reading/writing/publishing (osf.io/p37zj)
New blog post I cobbled together for the Bristol Reproducibility Network
Ethical Academic Publishing: How to Make Academic Publishing Fairer, More Open and Less Wasteful
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/09/23/e...
Ethical Academic Publishing: How to Make Academic Publishing Fairer, More Open and Less Wasteful
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/09/23/e...
Ethical Academic Publishing: How to Make Academic Publishing Fairer, More Open and Less Wasteful – Open Research at Bristol
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk
October 4, 2024 at 10:57 AM
New blog post I cobbled together for the Bristol Reproducibility Network
Ethical Academic Publishing: How to Make Academic Publishing Fairer, More Open and Less Wasteful
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/09/23/e...
Ethical Academic Publishing: How to Make Academic Publishing Fairer, More Open and Less Wasteful
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/09/23/e...
Tak! Excited to start working with all the wonderful @rcc-au.bsky.social folk in Aarhus too! 🙂
RCC is happy to welcome @djsmith90.bsky.social to Aarhus! We're all looking forward to working with Dan over the next few years and excited to have him here!
October 3, 2024 at 10:50 AM
Tak! Excited to start working with all the wonderful @rcc-au.bsky.social folk in Aarhus too! 🙂
We all know that – alongside global warming, Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin and other evils – selection bias is one of the largest threats to humanity*
But how bad exactly is selection bias?
This is what we aimed to explore in our recent paper: doi.org/10.1080/2153...
*Perhaps a slight exaggeration…
But how bad exactly is selection bias?
This is what we aimed to explore in our recent paper: doi.org/10.1080/2153...
*Perhaps a slight exaggeration…
September 23, 2024 at 2:49 PM
We all know that – alongside global warming, Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin and other evils – selection bias is one of the largest threats to humanity*
But how bad exactly is selection bias?
This is what we aimed to explore in our recent paper: doi.org/10.1080/2153...
*Perhaps a slight exaggeration…
But how bad exactly is selection bias?
This is what we aimed to explore in our recent paper: doi.org/10.1080/2153...
*Perhaps a slight exaggeration…
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
📢📢📢💫 CCE's seminar series is kicking off in November with some amazing speakers lined up 💫📢📢📢
These are 🔓 open to all - in person and online - joining information shared closer to the date 📅
⏲️ Talks are scheduled between 12:30 - 14:00
@Bruneluni
These are 🔓 open to all - in person and online - joining information shared closer to the date 📅
⏲️ Talks are scheduled between 12:30 - 14:00
@Bruneluni
September 23, 2024 at 2:25 PM
📢📢📢💫 CCE's seminar series is kicking off in November with some amazing speakers lined up 💫📢📢📢
These are 🔓 open to all - in person and online - joining information shared closer to the date 📅
⏲️ Talks are scheduled between 12:30 - 14:00
@Bruneluni
These are 🔓 open to all - in person and online - joining information shared closer to the date 📅
⏲️ Talks are scheduled between 12:30 - 14:00
@Bruneluni
Interested in causality, DAGs and human evolution?
If so, then why not join the Evolutionary Human Science journal webinar on 'Causal Inference from Evolutionary Human Sciences'?
Join us October 3rd 2PM BST | 3PM CEST
More info here: cambridge-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
If so, then why not join the Evolutionary Human Science journal webinar on 'Causal Inference from Evolutionary Human Sciences'?
Join us October 3rd 2PM BST | 3PM CEST
More info here: cambridge-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
UPCOMING WEBINAR: Causal Inference from Evolutionary Human Sciences
Join us October 3rd 2PM BST | 3PM CEST
Register Now
In recent years, researchers have made groundbreaking advances in methods for drawing strong causal inferences with observational data. These advances have also revealed that some mechanisms, with so...
cambridge-org.zoom.us
September 23, 2024 at 2:44 PM
Interested in causality, DAGs and human evolution?
If so, then why not join the Evolutionary Human Science journal webinar on 'Causal Inference from Evolutionary Human Sciences'?
Join us October 3rd 2PM BST | 3PM CEST
More info here: cambridge-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
If so, then why not join the Evolutionary Human Science journal webinar on 'Causal Inference from Evolutionary Human Sciences'?
Join us October 3rd 2PM BST | 3PM CEST
More info here: cambridge-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
New paper out! "Ten simple rules for scientific code review" journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol..., in which I detailed how to use *code review* in academic research in a didactic, effective, and enjoyable manner.
Ten simple rules for scientific code review
Author summary Scientists are increasingly writing code as part of their research. Code review is a common practice in software engineering, which entails detailed and continual examination of additio...
journals.plos.org
September 5, 2024 at 9:47 PM
New paper out! "Ten simple rules for scientific code review" journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol..., in which I detailed how to use *code review* in academic research in a didactic, effective, and enjoyable manner.
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
New blog post! If you're a substantive researcher, you mainly do statistics to answer substantive questions. So let's stop putting the statistical model first.
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
Let’s do statistics the other way around
Summer in Berlin – the perfect time and place to explore the city, take a walk in the Görli, go skinny dipping in the Spree, attend an overcrowded, overheated conference symposium on cross-lagged pane...
www.the100.ci
August 27, 2024 at 1:09 PM
New blog post! If you're a substantive researcher, you mainly do statistics to answer substantive questions. So let's stop putting the statistical model first.
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
Researchers should stop paying to publish their papers. Tom Morgan and I wrote a short piece about it. (1) osf.io/preprints/os...
August 22, 2024 at 9:24 PM
Researchers should stop paying to publish their papers. Tom Morgan and I wrote a short piece about it. (1) osf.io/preprints/os...
Reposted by Dan Major-Smith
Job alert!
9m fixed-term teaching role (cover for a colleague) in Human Behavioural Ecology within the Biological Anthropology team at UCL Anthropology:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Teaching focused role but research time is included as the role spans over the summer when there's no teaching 🙂
9m fixed-term teaching role (cover for a colleague) in Human Behavioural Ecology within the Biological Anthropology team at UCL Anthropology:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Teaching focused role but research time is included as the role spans over the summer when there's no teaching 🙂
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
August 20, 2024 at 3:08 PM
Job alert!
9m fixed-term teaching role (cover for a colleague) in Human Behavioural Ecology within the Biological Anthropology team at UCL Anthropology:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Teaching focused role but research time is included as the role spans over the summer when there's no teaching 🙂
9m fixed-term teaching role (cover for a colleague) in Human Behavioural Ecology within the Biological Anthropology team at UCL Anthropology:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Teaching focused role but research time is included as the role spans over the summer when there's no teaching 🙂
Recently took part in Carbon Literacy training & my action to try and reduce carbon emissions was to share recipes encouraging plant-based foods (as lower impact vs meat/dairy). Thought I'd share here in case of interest
Gnocchi w/ tomato sauce - Enjoy! 😋
danmajor-smith.netlify.app/2024/05/20/c...
Gnocchi w/ tomato sauce - Enjoy! 😋
danmajor-smith.netlify.app/2024/05/20/c...
May 20, 2024 at 1:25 PM
Recently took part in Carbon Literacy training & my action to try and reduce carbon emissions was to share recipes encouraging plant-based foods (as lower impact vs meat/dairy). Thought I'd share here in case of interest
Gnocchi w/ tomato sauce - Enjoy! 😋
danmajor-smith.netlify.app/2024/05/20/c...
Gnocchi w/ tomato sauce - Enjoy! 😋
danmajor-smith.netlify.app/2024/05/20/c...
Here's a short blog post I wrote on 'Using Synthetic Datasets to Promote Research Reproducibility and Transparency' for the Bristol Reprpducibility Network
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/05/10/u...
TL;DR: Share your data! (But if you can't, share synthetic data) 😀
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/05/10/u...
TL;DR: Share your data! (But if you can't, share synthetic data) 😀
Using Synthetic Datasets to Promote Research Reproducibility and Transparency – Open Research at Bristol
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk
May 17, 2024 at 3:34 PM
Here's a short blog post I wrote on 'Using Synthetic Datasets to Promote Research Reproducibility and Transparency' for the Bristol Reprpducibility Network
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/05/10/u...
TL;DR: Share your data! (But if you can't, share synthetic data) 😀
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/05/10/u...
TL;DR: Share your data! (But if you can't, share synthetic data) 😀