PMean: Still alive, but blogging is on hold

Someone noticed that I have not been posting recently. It’s not because I’m dead or ill or anything like that. I am migrating my blog and website to a markdown format. This is a fairly minimalist approach, but I’m hoping that it will make my site easier to maintain. Unfortunately, my work at UMKC got very busy right in the middle of the transition, so it might be a while before things get fully migrated. In the meantime, please be patient.

Recommended: Scientists’ grant writing styles vary by gender

This is a brief summary of a research paper (apparently behind a pay wall, boo!) that looked at the language used in research grants submitted to the Gates Foundation. It found differences by gender in word choices. Men are more likely to choose “broad” words versus women who choose “narrow” words. These two terms are put in quotes because what you and I think they might mean are different from how the researchers defined them. Read the paper to find out more about this. It is definitely worth reading, even if you might disagree with the authors definitions of broad and narrow. Continue reading →

PMean: Writing the methods section of a research paper

I’m teaching a class on Clinical Research Methodology and at least a few of the students are confused about what to put in the methods section of a research paper or a thesis. They’re confused? I’m even more confused than they are. Every paper and every thesis is different, so it is impossible to offer any coherent guidance. But let me try anyway. Continue reading →