Overstated and misleading claims about the scientific evidence for differences between the brains of women and men are common in the media, education, business leadership and training courses, and even in the scientific literature itself.
Noise in Neuroscience is a project aiming to tackle this by promoting responsible communication of scientific research on sex/gender and the brain.
Hosted by the Royal Statistical Society, this event will examine data issues in sex/gender neuroscience research that can contribute to these problems, such as flawed research design, and misleading uses of statistics.
It will report on efforts in the field of science communication to tackle misinformation, and include discussions with representatives from the world of publishing to consider what more needs to be done.
It follows an
earlier event with the Association of British Science Writers which focused on reporting problems in the field.
The event will take place from 6-7:30pm with a drinks reception to follow.
Speakers/programme:
Chair: Prof Gina Rippon, Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University
Pitfalls in sex/gender neuroscience research [6:00-6:30]
- General issues in sex/gender research design – Prof Gina Rippon (Aston University)
- Beyond the Binary – Prof Daphna Joel (School of Psychological Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University)
Help is out there – how to avoid the pitfalls [6:30-7:00)
- Assisting the media – Freya Robb (Press Officer, Science Media Centre)
- Noise in Neuroscience guidelines: A Touch of Magic – Katy Losse (Co-Founder, Noise in Neuroscience; part-seconded from the National Audit Office) & Simon White (Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit and Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge; RSS Statistical Ambassador)
Discussion: What more? [7:00-7:30)
- Commentary and panel discussion - discussants: Hannah Devlin (Science Correspondent, Guardian); Dr Nathalie Le Bot (Chief Life Sciences editor, Nature Communications, Nature Portfolio) plus speakers above.
Drinks reception – [7:30-8:30]
Noise in Neuroscience
Sponsored by the Royal Statistical Society, Challenging Pseudoscience @ the Royal Institution and Aston University.