[Triumf-seminars] TRIUMF Colloquium today at 14:00

[TRIUMF Seminars]

Date/Time: Thu 2020-04-30 at 14:00

Location:  Virtual colloq      

Speaker:   Scott Oser (UBC)

Title:     Blind Analyses, or "The Answer's Not in the Back of the Book!"

Abstract: Remote talk - connection information is listed below.

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When I was an undergraduate, I was once startled to hear our instructor announce that the answer given in the back of our textbook to a problem was wrong.  When I protested that I had got exactly the same result as the textbook, the instructor wryly remarked "It's amazing how easy it is to get the answer you expect to get, even when it's the wrong answer."  This effect, which goes by the general name of "bias", is surprisingly common in physics and astronomy.  I will review several examples of bias affecting the result of an experiment, including cases where bias resulted in entirely incorrect results. I will then discuss the motivations and methodologies for "blind analysis". Blind analysis is a technique in which the result of a measurement is hidden from everyone, even the analyst, until publication.  I will show how blind analysis can reduce if not eliminate bias, and argue forcefully that blind analysis techniques should become standard practice in the physical sciences just as they are in for example medical drug trials.

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Phone Dial-in
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Global Numbers: https://www.bluejeans.com/premium-numbers

Meeting ID: 778 212 315


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Remote Talk!

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General TRIUMF seminar information available at http://www.triumf.ca/home/upcoming-events/about-seminars-lectures