Beer drinking scientists...vindicated?
Last week's story about the negative correlation between beer consumption and scientific productivity has brought out the cutting crew. In this blog post at "Our Daily Diary," the study is skewered:
But it was while I was switching to a magnificent Pacific Northwest microbrew porter that I saw the real problem. Looking at the graph of the 34 data points, it was clear that the entire correlation was caused by the five lowest-output scientists. Without those five data points, the remaining 29 - showing a wide range of scientific output and beer consumption habits - exhibited absolutely no correlation. Thus, the entire study came down to only one conclusion: the five worst ornithologists in the Czech Republic drank a lot of beer.
Well, that's a relief.
John Hawks Department of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin—Madison
Copyright © 2007 John Hawks