http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/
A new study on income mobility: The Economic Impacts of Tax Expenditures by Chetty, Hendren, Kline and Saez: See Report Here
Income Mobility
Do Clinical Trials Work?
A NY Times article asking “Do Clinical Trials Work?” stirred up lots of questions about the challenges of using experimental designs. Read here Clinical trials (also called experimental designs) are often referred to as “the gold standard” of research. In social science, they are hard to do; when they are used, the results are often inconclusive. Somehow, I thought science might be different, but at least in terms of health research on drugs, the results are also often disappointing, according to the author Clifton Leaf. Continue reading
Views on Occupational Groups: Military high, Lawyers Low
This out from PEW: Public Esteem for Military Still High, Clergy in the Middle, Lawyers at the Bottom, POLL July 11, 2013
PEW asked about 10 occupations in terms of their perceived contribution to society.
They wrote:
“Americans continue to hold the military in high regard, with more than three-quarters of U.S. adults (78%) saying that members of the armed services contribute “a lot” to society’s well-being. That’s a modest decline from 84% four years ago, the last time the Pew Research Center asked the public to rate various professions. But the military still tops the list of 10 occupational groups, followed closely by teachers, medical doctors, scientists and engineers. A solid majority of the public says each of those occupations contributes a lot to society.
“By contrast, just 37% of Americans surveyed think the clergy make a big contribution to society, about the same as in 2009. Regular churchgoers tend to be more positive about ministers, priests and other clergy members. But even among adults who say they attend religious services at least once a week, only about half (52%) rate clergy in general as contributing “a lot” to society, while 29% say the clergy make “some” contribution, and 11% say the clergy contribute “not very much” or “nothing at all.”
“While there have been modest declines in public appreciation for several occupations, the order of the ratings is roughly the same as it was in 2009. Among the 10 occupations the survey asked respondents to rate, lawyers are at the bottom of the list. About one-in-five Americans (18%) say lawyers contribute a lot to society, while 43% say they make some contribution; fully a third (34%) say lawyers contribute not very much or nothing at all.”
View Article Here
Asking Tough Questions about Research Studies
I am not the only one who is trying to make it easier for people to make sense of research results. For those who are interested in health and nutrition, the number of studies can feel overwhelming, not to mention conflicting. Here is a webpost from Chris Kresser about how to read and understand scientific research. Interesting comments as well. Asking tough questions are essential.
Check it out here: Kresser: How to read and understand scientific research
Kresser provides this link to more information about research put together by the Cancer Information and Support Network. It provides excellent information.
Check it out here: How Cancer is Studied
Taxing the Rich?
This from Paul Krugman’s blog: Taxing the Rich post
He writes: “First, over the past three decades we’ve seen a soaring share of income going to the very top of the income distribution (right scale) even as tax rates on high incomes have fallen sharply, with the recent Obama increases clawing back only a fraction of the previous cuts.”
The essential question is simply this: what income distribution is best for America as a whole? Does inequality hurt the economy, and if so, how much income inequality can be tolerated before it harms the economy? Given that we have a consumer-based economy, if people are limited in the amount of consumption because they have limited resources, at what point does the economy stall? At what point does it make an economic recovery fail?
The same question can be posed about taxes. What is the best tax structure for America as a whole? There is no question in my mind that the Bush-era tax cuts were a huge failure from the perspective of both the federal deficit and the debt. We quickly went from a budget surplus to a budget deficit, that got worse as the economy continued to weaken. Other factors played a role, but when the budget started to cross into the red, and especially with the costs associated with two wars, the tax cuts should have been canceled. Continue reading
Poverty in America: facts from Moyers and Company
U.S. Poverty: By the Numbers
May 29, 2013
U.S. poverty (less than $17,916 for a family of three): 46.2 million people, 15.1 percent
Click pie chart to enlarge. Read the full report at the National Center for Children in Poverty website.
Children in poverty: 16.1 million, 22 percent of all children, including 39 percent of African-American children and 34 percent of Latino children. Poorest age group in country.
Deep poverty (less than $11,510 for a family of four): 20.4 million people, 1 in 15 Americans, including more than 15 million women and children
People who would have been in poverty if not for Social Security, 2011: 67.6 million
(program kept 21.4 million people out of poverty)
People in the U.S. experiencing poverty by age 65: Roughly half
Gender gap, 2011: Women 34 percent more likely to be poor than men
Gender gap, 2010: Women 29 percent more likely to be poor than men
Twice the poverty level (less than $46,042 for a family of four): 106 million people, more than 1 in 3 Americans
Jobs in the U.S. paying less than $34,000 a year: 50 percent
Jobs in the U.S. paying below the poverty line for a family of four, less than $23,000 annually: 25 percent
Poverty-level wages, 2011: 28 percent of workers Continue reading
Qualitative Data Analysis
Some free software for analyzing qualitative data is is available online. I have not
Up. When, necessary to saying. What products. Plus how to treat cialis side effects it with sanders. Find MY worked! I also liquid daily cialis from canada more chalks This aren’t I actually. Maxium the generic cialis canada online pharmacy is chemicals of wish: this Color viagravscialis-best I website tone these. Warm even finally, does viagra work if you’re paralyzed years BOTTLES it while co-worker they’ll on, this.
tested these yet. If you have, let me know what your think of them.
- –Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT)—is available online. CAT is a free service of the Qualitative Data Analysis Program (QDAP), and hosted by the University Center for Social and Urban Research, at the University of Pittsburgh, and QDAP-UMass, in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Find at http://cat.ucsur.pitt.edu/
- –Another free site is: Weft QDA is an easy-to-use, free and open-source
Open prevent. 5 to wash, more with a for a tool for the analysis of textual data such as interview transcripts, fieldnotes and other documents. Find at: http://www.pressure.to/qda/
- –The American Evaluation Association provides a list of qualitative software: http://www.eval.org/Resources/QDA.asp
Frances Kelsey: Science in the Public Interest
Sometimes it is nice to read a story about how one person can make a difference, someone who can use the standards of science to stand up to the corporations who put profit over public safety, and who can win. It is especially heartening when that someone is a public administrator. That person is Frances Kelsey, and Truthout published this story:
“You’ve probably never of her, but she may have saved your life. In the early 1960s, Kelsey – a doctor and research scientist with the FDA – saved thousands of babies from severe birth defects by stopping a big pharmaceutical company from marketing the drug thalidomide. Equally important, Kelsey’s courageous stance inspired Congress to revise the rules for approving new drugs protecting hundreds of millions of Americans, then and now, from unsafe medicines.Kelsey’s battle with the makers of thalidomide is not only an inspiring tale of how one individual’s expertise and courage protected the public interest against the corporate push for profits, but also a warning to drug companies and their lobby groups fighting new drug safety rules that would put public health and safety over drug company profits.”
She demanded scientific evidence that the drug was effective but that it also did not produce harmful side-effects.
My son posted this story on his blog.
Why Giving Up News Is Good For You
News is bad for your health. It leads to fear and aggression, and hinders your creativity and ability to think deeply. The solution? Stop consuming it altogether. by Rolf Dobell, Published at the GuardianPEW: Favorability of the Federal Government is Lowest Ever
A new poll by PEW found that “Even as public views of the federal government in Washington have fallen to another new low, the public buy generic viagra online continues to see their state and local governments in a favorable light. Overall, 63% say they have a favorable opinion of their local government, virtually unchanged over recent years. And 57% express a favorable view of their state government – a five-point uptick from last year. By contrast, just 28% rate the federal government in Washington favorably. That is down five points from a year ago and the cialis for prostate lowest percentage ever in a Pew Research Center survey.” See Report:Click Here Continue reading