Joseph Sexton
@josephfsexton.bsky.social
Research tech at Vanderbilt. Critical approaches to method and measurement in social science. Suicide and related; between psychology, statistics, and STS. (he/him) 🏳️🌈
Dear void: my reading here continues. People have in fact discussed this issue for decades, but alternatives are very limited. Approaches that do allow for non-normal common factors still seem to depend on assumed normal unique factors tmk. what're we doing
Not to be a toxic methodologist, but I'm starting to consider that people just don't think about it at all. A eugenicist in 1904 said IQ is a bell curve, and now our measurements of mental illness are extremely questionable.
Genuine question for psych people: do we actually think latent variables are normally distributed, or has everyone just been pretending for the past several decades?
October 24, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Dear void: my reading here continues. People have in fact discussed this issue for decades, but alternatives are very limited. Approaches that do allow for non-normal common factors still seem to depend on assumed normal unique factors tmk. what're we doing
As NSF GRFP is in the news, PLEASE spread the word about the new EGFP program they have for past GRFP honorable mentions. Universities in eligible states can apply to get funding for HMs in the same amount as GRFP. My impression is that many depts don't know this exists and so don't apply.
September 30, 2025 at 7:15 AM
As NSF GRFP is in the news, PLEASE spread the word about the new EGFP program they have for past GRFP honorable mentions. Universities in eligible states can apply to get funding for HMs in the same amount as GRFP. My impression is that many depts don't know this exists and so don't apply.
Not to be a toxic methodologist, but I'm starting to consider that people just don't think about it at all. A eugenicist in 1904 said IQ is a bell curve, and now our measurements of mental illness are extremely questionable.
Genuine question for psych people: do we actually think latent variables are normally distributed, or has everyone just been pretending for the past several decades?
August 27, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Not to be a toxic methodologist, but I'm starting to consider that people just don't think about it at all. A eugenicist in 1904 said IQ is a bell curve, and now our measurements of mental illness are extremely questionable.
The United States of precarious research conditions and abandoned longitudinal studies. I am 24 years old and want to be a scientist. Why would I stay here?
BREAKING: The Supreme Court lets the Trump administration cut nearly $800 million in health research funding in anti-DEI push.
Supreme Court lets Trump administration cut $783 million of research funding in anti-DEI push
The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to slash hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of research funding in its push to cut federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
bit.ly
August 21, 2025 at 10:40 PM
The United States of precarious research conditions and abandoned longitudinal studies. I am 24 years old and want to be a scientist. Why would I stay here?
Sorry, but if you're in a top-tier PhD program, with a stipend of $40k+, and/or you otherwise have the material resources and clout to afford conferences -- the student travel award is 99.9% chance not for you
July 30, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Sorry, but if you're in a top-tier PhD program, with a stipend of $40k+, and/or you otherwise have the material resources and clout to afford conferences -- the student travel award is 99.9% chance not for you
Anyhow, I'm listening to AG Cook and my code is working. That's all! Thank you
July 22, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Anyhow, I'm listening to AG Cook and my code is working. That's all! Thank you
I don't think I'll ever get over how differently psychology is taught, researched, and practiced in different places. The discrepancies between eg the US, Brazil, Belgium, and South Africa in their curriculum, research methods, therapy -- a huge reality check for me
July 22, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I don't think I'll ever get over how differently psychology is taught, researched, and practiced in different places. The discrepancies between eg the US, Brazil, Belgium, and South Africa in their curriculum, research methods, therapy -- a huge reality check for me
Genuine question for psych people: do we actually think latent variables are normally distributed, or has everyone just been pretending for the past several decades?
July 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Genuine question for psych people: do we actually think latent variables are normally distributed, or has everyone just been pretending for the past several decades?
Why is socioeconomic status used in every introduction to factor analysis. I can hardly think of a worse thing to measure using factor analysis than SES
June 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Why is socioeconomic status used in every introduction to factor analysis. I can hardly think of a worse thing to measure using factor analysis than SES
Is it a breakthrough in clinical science or is it a psychologist popularizing an idea that a sociologist suggested 30 years ago
May 6, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Is it a breakthrough in clinical science or is it a psychologist popularizing an idea that a sociologist suggested 30 years ago
Wow. Researchers at the University of Zurich had LLMs infiltrate subreddit r/ChangeMyView. Models assumed personal roles including as a victim of SA, BLM protestor, and trauma counselor to enhance trust. No permissions. Community is justifiably pissed.
April 26, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Wow. Researchers at the University of Zurich had LLMs infiltrate subreddit r/ChangeMyView. Models assumed personal roles including as a victim of SA, BLM protestor, and trauma counselor to enhance trust. No permissions. Community is justifiably pissed.
Reposted by Joseph Sexton
Beyond excited to see what this edited collection becomes!
See full CFP below - we (@jeffreyansloos.bsky.social @carolinelenette.bsky.social Jennifer White + me) are working to make space for different kinds of (critical) suicide studies
#suicidecultures @d-liveability.bsky.social #critsui
See full CFP below - we (@jeffreyansloos.bsky.social @carolinelenette.bsky.social Jennifer White + me) are working to make space for different kinds of (critical) suicide studies
#suicidecultures @d-liveability.bsky.social #critsui
April 24, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Beyond excited to see what this edited collection becomes!
See full CFP below - we (@jeffreyansloos.bsky.social @carolinelenette.bsky.social Jennifer White + me) are working to make space for different kinds of (critical) suicide studies
#suicidecultures @d-liveability.bsky.social #critsui
See full CFP below - we (@jeffreyansloos.bsky.social @carolinelenette.bsky.social Jennifer White + me) are working to make space for different kinds of (critical) suicide studies
#suicidecultures @d-liveability.bsky.social #critsui
Applying to PhDs next cycle. Whatever little I have to offer the world, it feels like the universe is conspiring for me to do it anywhere else, under any flag other than the American one, for which I have been left with nothing but contempt in recent months.
A STAT EXCLUSIVE
NIH moving to ban all future grants to universities with DEI programs or Israel boycotts, document suggests
www.statnews.com/2025/04/21/t...
NIH moving to ban all future grants to universities with DEI programs or Israel boycotts, document suggests
www.statnews.com/2025/04/21/t...
NIH moving to ban all future grants to universities with DEI programs or Israel boycotts, document suggests
NIH appears to be preparing to prohibit the awarding of new grants to institutions that have DEI programs or boycott Israeli companies
www.statnews.com
April 22, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Applying to PhDs next cycle. Whatever little I have to offer the world, it feels like the universe is conspiring for me to do it anywhere else, under any flag other than the American one, for which I have been left with nothing but contempt in recent months.
The number of psych NSF GRFP awards decreased from 139 in 2023 to 49 this year (-65%). This is hard to stomach -- not even GRFP per se, but that things in general will be like this for years
April 8, 2025 at 10:25 AM
The number of psych NSF GRFP awards decreased from 139 in 2023 to 49 this year (-65%). This is hard to stomach -- not even GRFP per se, but that things in general will be like this for years
Please share this very neat volunteering opportunity -- Camp Twitch and Shout (Winder, GA, 6/29-7/4) is one of the only overnight camps for youth with Tourette's. We're looking for counselors! If you want to learn about tics and can appreciate camp, this is the place for you: 1/x
April 2, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Please share this very neat volunteering opportunity -- Camp Twitch and Shout (Winder, GA, 6/29-7/4) is one of the only overnight camps for youth with Tourette's. We're looking for counselors! If you want to learn about tics and can appreciate camp, this is the place for you: 1/x
"Solving the number of factors problem is easy, I do it every day before breakfast. But knowing the right solution is harder." - Henry Kaiser, sometime in the 1950s, personal communication to John Horn.
March 29, 2025 at 5:20 PM
"Solving the number of factors problem is easy, I do it every day before breakfast. But knowing the right solution is harder." - Henry Kaiser, sometime in the 1950s, personal communication to John Horn.
Terrible time to apply for PhD but at least we have gaga
March 8, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Terrible time to apply for PhD but at least we have gaga
Thinking of a social worker I spoke to in Trieste who’d frequently remark “maledetto Basaglia” — “damn you, you’ve left us with so much to do!” Yet he said this in jest, proud of his work compared to alternatives… community wellbeing cannot be coerced into an optimization problem
Technocratic, putatively “data” driven strategies have almost wholly displaced deeper commitments to ethics, communion, and community building. Somewhere between the 70s and now, we came to believe that rules, protocols, technology & algorithms are the way. They are not. 1/x
March 3, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Thinking of a social worker I spoke to in Trieste who’d frequently remark “maledetto Basaglia” — “damn you, you’ve left us with so much to do!” Yet he said this in jest, proud of his work compared to alternatives… community wellbeing cannot be coerced into an optimization problem
Sent with a link to Borsboom & Cramer (2013)
March 1, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Sent with a link to Borsboom & Cramer (2013)
“I’m into machine learning 😌” well Karl Pearson did PCA in 1901 and back then it was just called statistics
February 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM
“I’m into machine learning 😌” well Karl Pearson did PCA in 1901 and back then it was just called statistics
"your parents immigrated from Ireland? So can you speak any Irish phrases" no we just own dozens of religious statues and wear coats inside
December 27, 2024 at 11:17 PM
"your parents immigrated from Ireland? So can you speak any Irish phrases" no we just own dozens of religious statues and wear coats inside