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Short (10 minute) podcast "How to question dubious statistics in just a few short steps."....it's got some very British humour (sorry), but pretty good!

just knowing facts doesn't necessarily guarantee that one's opinions and behaviors will be consistent with them. For example, many people "know" that recycling is beneficial but still throw plastic bottles in the trash. Or they read an online article by a scientist about the necessity of vaccines, but leave comments expressing outrage that doctors are trying to further a pro-vaccine agenda. Convincing people that scientific evidence has merit and should guide behavior may be the greatest science communication challenge, particularly in our "post-truth" era. Luckily, we know a lot about human psychology - how people perceive, reason and learn about the world - and many lessons from psychology can be applied to science communication endeavors.

Some advice on evaluating claims made on data Bergstrom believes that calling bullshit on data, big or otherwise, doesn't require a statistics degree-only common sense and a few habits of mind. "You don't have to understand all the gears inside a black box in order to evaluate what you're being told," he said. For those who were unable to enroll in INFO 198/BIOL 106B this spring, here is some of his and West's advice:

What do you take from this hypothetical headline: "Reading the Research Digest blog is associated with higher intelligence"? How about this one: "Reading this blog might increase your intelligence"? According to science writing guides like HealthNewsReview.org, taking the first correlational finding from a peer-reviewed article and reporting it for the public using the second wording, implying causation, is a sin of exaggeration, making a relationship appear more causal than the evidence suggests.

9 helpful tips to stop yourself from sharing false information.

Nice set of short videos on some fallacies from PBS. Moving the Goal Posts Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:05 The Fallacy Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:13 The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:40 The Strawman Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:12 The Ad Hominem Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:23 The Black and White Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:05 The Authority Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:02 The "No True Scotsman" Fallacy | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios by PBS Idea Channel 2:22 3 Fallacies For Election Season! by PBS Idea Channel 11:50