Category: Teaching

It was a pleasure to meet Petra Vaiglova a few days ago while she was in Melbourne for an archaeological science conference. Fiona Fidler joined us for lunch–thanks to her for hosting.

Originally from the Czech Republic (Czechia), Petra has lived, studied, and worked all over the world, as you can see at her site. Her doctorate is from Oxford. Her TEDx talk outlines some of her research interests.

She arrived in Australia a couple of years ago as a post doc at Griffith University, Queensland. Soon after, she launched into organising what became a three-day online Workshop on Good Statistical Practice in Archaeology–open to anyone of any discipline.

I first learned of her enthusiasm for statistical reform and Open Science when she kindly invited me to speak at that workshop. I gave a talk on the new statistics, and another on using Bob’s new esci software in jamovi–in archaeological science, as in any other discipline. I posted about the workshop here.

Earlier this year Petra took up a lectureship at ANU in Canberra, and enthusiastically took on teaching statistics and topics in archaeological science to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

She expressed keen interest in our second edition, even volunteering to help. Over many months last year she worked through final drafts of most chapters, picking up many errors and infelicities. Later she worked painstakingly through the proofs of many chapters, picking up elusive tiny errors. She made an immense contribution to ITNS2, as Bob and I acknowledge on p. xxvii.

So last week Petra, Fiona and I had much to discuss. Petra will be at AIMOS in November (more details here), no doubt meeting many of the good folks who make the Meta-science scene in Australia so lively and multi-disciplinary.

As an associate editor of the Journal of Archaeological Science she is helping develop guidelines for that journal to encourage reproducibility and Open Science practices.

I discovered years ago that archaeological science has Open Science lessons for us all–see my post here. I wish Petra all strength for her continuing efforts towards statistical reform and Open Science!

Geoff

“A clear and accessible introduction to statistics, perfect for beginners. This book covers both the old and the new – giving students the fundamentals they need to understand their field, while equipping them with a more sophisticated understanding of the pros and cons of those established practices. The focus on open science and integration with statistical tools (e.g., JAMOVI) makes the book particularly useful for training future researchers.“

That’s the endorsement of our forthcoming second edition by Simine Vazire. Bob and I are, of course, enormously appreciative of her generous words. I recently posted (here) about her appointment as the incoming Editor-in-Chief of Psychological Science–a fantastic development imho.

The bunch of balloons on the right sketch Simine’s main research interests. Who better to write about Open Science and what’s needed to help us all–and our students–do better science? Thanks Simine.

Geoff

“If I were teaching introductory statistics to undergraduates, this is the textbook I’d use. The things that make it distinctive are first, the focus on estimation rather than p-values (though the latter are covered), second, the link with free open-source software that allows users to explore analyses and visualisations, and third an emphasis on open science practices, coupled with red flags and examples of DFY (Don’t Fool Yourself!). There are plenty of exercises, quizzes, and take-home messages, which will bring the material alive even for the most maths-phobic students.”

…so writes Dorothy Bishop about our second edition. Bob and I are hugely grateful, and chuffed, to have her generous words.

Dorothy is Emeritus Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology at Oxford University, and one of the tiny number of scholars so broadly accomplished that they can list FBA, FMedSci, FRS after their name, meaning being a Fellow of The British Academy, The Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Royal Society.

She writes an award-winning blog, numerous tweets (@deevybee), and, as “Deevy Bishop“, several detective novels.

She has long written about meta-science issues. Search her blog and find many interesting reads. She was a co-author of A manifesto for reproducible science. Since “retirement” she has become even more involved in meta-science, as recounted here.

You can see why Bob and I are so happy that she felt able to write so positively about the new edition of ITNS.

Geoff

P.S. Replying to the copy-editor is done, page proofs expected in a couple of weeks. The Routledge page for ITNS2 is here, 21 March the publication date. Note one error: full colour, not “B/W”.