Bostonia. Volume 21

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Crowdsourcing hypothesis tests: Making transparent how design choices shape research results

To what extent are research results influenced by subjective decisions that scientists make as they design studies? Fifteen research teams independently designed studies to answer fiveoriginal research questions related to moral judgments, negotiations, and implicit cognition. Participants from two separate large samples (total N > 15,000) were then randomly assigned to complete one version of each study. Effect sizes varied dramatically across different sets of materials designed to test the same hypothesis: materials from different teams renderedstatistically significant effects in opposite directions for four out of five hypotheses, with the narrowest range in estimates being d = -0.37 to +0.26. Meta-analysis and a Bayesian perspective on the results revealed overall support for two hypotheses, and a lack of support for three hypotheses. Overall, practically none of the variability in effect sizes was attributable to the skill of the research team in designing materials, while considerable variability was attributable to the hypothesis being tested. In a forecasting survey, predictions of other scientists were significantly correlated with study results, both across and within hypotheses. Crowdsourced testing of research hypotheses helps reveal the true consistency of empirical support for a scientific claim.</div

Maternal Early Life Risk Factors for Offspring Birth Weight: Findings from the Add Health Study

The aim of this study was to examine the pathways that link mothers’ early life socioeconomic status (SES) and mothers’ experience of childhood maltreatment with birth weight among their later born offspring. Data were drawn from a nationally representative longitudinal survey of school-aged respondents, initially enrolled during adolescence in Wave I (1994–1995) and Wave II (1996) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and followed-up in adulthood in Wave III (2001–2002). Data on offspring birth weight were obtained from nulliparous females (N=1,897) who had given birth between Waves II and III. Analyses used structural equation modeling to examine the extent to which early life maternal risk predicted offspring birth weight, and demonstrated that maternal childhood SES and maternal childhood maltreatment predicted offspring birth weight through several mediated pathways. First, maternal adolescent substance use and prenatal cigarette use partially mediated the association between maternal childhood SES and offspring birth weight. Second, maternal adolescent depressive symptoms and adult SES partially mediated the association between maternal childhood SES and offspring birth weight. Third, adult SES partially mediated the association between maternal childhood SES and offspring birth weight. Fourth, maternal adolescent substance use and prenatal cigarette use partially mediated the association between maternal childhood maltreatment and offspring birth weight. Finally, maternal adolescent depressive symptoms and adult SES partially mediated the association between maternal childhood maltreatment and offspring birth weight. To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify maternal childhood maltreatment as an early life risk factor for offspring birth weight among a nationally representative sample of young women, and to demonstrate the mechanisms that link childhood SES and maltreatment to offspring birth weight. These findings suggest the importance of designing and implementing prevention and intervention strategies to address early life maternal social conditions in an effort to improve intergenerational child health at birth

From quantum matter to high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides

Theoretical Physic