How do we know which scientific results to trust? Research published in peer-reviewed academic journals has typically been considered the gold standard, having been subjected to in-depth scrutiny -- or so we once thought. In recent years, our faith in peer-reviewed research has been shaken by the revelation that many published findings don’t hold up when scholars try to reproduce them. The question of which science to trust no longer seems straightforward. More...

Science is an inherently social enterprise. Progress only occurs when new results are communicated to and accepted by the relevant scientific communities. The major lines of communication run through professional journals and the double-blind peer review process. More...

When I recently introduced a friend from college, who also spent formative years in our nation’s capital, to my politically involved husband, it was not long until the conversation turned to recent political events, leading to perhaps the best idea I have heard yet about how to solve the current strife. More...

I’ve been fascinated by the amount of public shaming in parenting community Facebook accounts around the country. Most of these  groups, formed by parents and community members, start out as a well-meaning way to connect people, often mothers, but then end up turning into a source of contention. More...

Years ago, when my daughter was first learning her math facts, I made “families” of flash cards for her. For example, in one family there were flash cards that read 2x3, 3x2, 6÷3 and 6÷2, making the relationship between multiplication and division clear to her from the beginning. More...

Many of us who study labor markets often classify jobs as “while collar” (after the shirts often worn with suits for some jobs), “blue collar” (for jobs that don’t require suits) and sometimes even “pink collar,” for jobs that are in traditionally female occupations, such as teaching, nursing or secretarial jobs. More...

The Trump Administration’s latest travel ban is yet another controversial move to limit entry to the United States. Last week, the Supreme Court, which will wade into the issue in the next year, left clear that for now the ban could not be imposed on people who “…had a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” More...

When my class wrote their “class prophecy” upon graduation, they did not imagine me as a Professor of either Math or Economics. Rather, they predicted that, at our 15-year reunion, I would be a U. S. Senator. More...