[disgruntledphd2]

No worries, I've really enjoyed your postings on many topics, mostly around hiring techniques (and have always been a big fan of Hunter & Schmidt).

I think that I am somewhat biased, given that I started a PhD in the placebo effect around then, so I actually (sortof) know all of these people. I would argue that there are a few problems with placebo research as currently practiced.

1) clinical studies without no-treatment arms 2) Relatively small experimental studies with not completely explicit treatment protocols 3) A fascination with colourful brain images at the expense of good experimental design (though that is sadly not limited to placebo research).

Statistics is very, very difficult to get right (and I've often struggled) and the incentives are not lined up in the correct way. For instance, if I find a counter-intuitive results in an experiment, it does not benefit me to engage in rigorous fact-checking, I am more likely to benefit if I just publish it, given the demands of tenure-track. To be honest, its a wonder any science gets done at all.

And hence why I no longer work in science.

[gruseom]

That's fascinating. What did you leave science to do?

[disgruntledphd2]

I work for a tech company as an analyst. Better perks, less ethical committees, and (somewhat) more career stability.