In this edition of “Biggest waste of research dollars ever”, CNN has chosen to let us know about a study on how people select their mates. In a shocking revelation, the study found that men are most likely to want someone based on their physical appearance.
Has anyone else seen a study that the results made you go “Duh!”?
I personally participated in a medical study entitled “The effects of marijuana on mood and behavior change” the results of which every stoner already knew.
You mean, like when the provincial government of Ontario spent 188,000 dollars to determine that Ontarians call the beer store “The Beer Store”?
Granted, they then actually renamed the Brewers’ Retail stores as The Beer Store, but still, they didn’t have to spend that much money finding out…
One showed up on my home page news this very morning.
(from Time Magazine)
Really? I mean, I’m sorry to hear that and all, but couldn’t we have figured that out without a funded study?
My favorite was one from a few years back concluding after exhaustive study that if beer is cheap, college students drink more of it.
[QUOTE=Emilio Lizardo]
I personally participated in a medical study entitled “The effects of marijuana on mood and behavior change” the results of which every stoner already knew.
[/QUOTE]
So…
How do I get into this medical study? Are they taking volunteer’s?
Sorry I couldn’t resist
[QUOTE=etgaw1]
How do I get into this medical study?
[/QUOTE]
All yo have to do is meet the applicable criteria and live in Chicago in 1989. Can you do that?
I’m pretty sure I read about a report on “Why convicts try to escape prision.”
Talk about the obvious-still I’d do a Ph.D thesis on it…imagine how much fun the research could be!
From the quoted article
I’ve got a great idea for a research grant. Let’s see if alcohol is involved, will that certain minimum attractiveness threshold is lower or raised? The problem is getting willing participants for this study. I can only think of several million off the top of my head.
[QUOTE=Emilio Lizardo]
I personally participated in a medical study entitled “The effects of marijuana on mood and behavior change” the results of which every stoner already knew.
[/QUOTE]
Already knew… but forgot. 
Wasn’t there a Time magazine headline a couple years ago in which they discovered that men are and women are different?
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer]
From the quoted article
I’ve got a great idea for a research grant. Let’s see if alcohol is involved, will that certain minimum attractiveness threshold is lower or raised? The problem is getting willing participants for this study. I can only think of several million off the top of my head.
[/QUOTE]
“Study Finds Women Who Drink Way More Fun to Study: Researchers Say Alcohol Affects Women’s Blood Pressure, Researchers’ Interest”
[QUOTE=gwendee]
One showed up on my home page news this very morning.
Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University, whose report appeared in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, studied a sample of North American and British rock and pop stars and concluded they are more than twice as likely to die a premature death as ordinary citizens of the same age.
(from Time Magazine)
Really? I mean, I’m sorry to hear that and all, but couldn’t we have figured that out without a funded study?
[/QUOTE]
This study answers the age old question - If you are too old to rock and roll, are you really too young to die…
Actually, the study produced some interesting results. While death rates for rock stars between the US and the UK are the same for the first 25 years, after that the US stars die off a lot faster than the UK bods. There is no old rocker like an old Brit rocker.
I chatted to a friend the other day. He was telling me of some research a colleague had done regarding how much of the biomass in Alaska comes from the ocean (via salmon). For bears, it can be as much as 25%. How did he know this? He analysed bear droppings. Since he also mapped the location via GPS of said shit, his published paper title is (or maybe will be)
“Do Alaskan Bears Really Shit in the Woods”
Si
[QUOTE=Emilio Lizardo]
All yo have to do is meet the applicable criteria and live in Chicago in 1989. Can you do that?
[/QUOTE]
…maybe…
[QUOTE=Emilio Lizardo]
I personally participated in a medical study entitled “The effects of marijuana on mood and behavior change” the results of which every stoner already knew.
[/QUOTE]
Hey now, there are two possible outcomes to quantify: “stupid and easily amused,” and “stupid and easily fascinated.”
Ftttt.
These studies with seemingly obvious results have value I think, because occasionally a counter-intuitive result is found. For example, I recall reading about a study that showed that when meat prices are higher, people waste more meat.
What’s stupid is when the study has the obvious intuitive result, but they still make it front-page news. Just tell me about the ones that discover something surprising.