Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “Unintended Consequences should be read by anyone who takes for granted the superiority of progressive taxation and has not thought carefully about the trade-offs involved.” - The New Republic
  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
Upside of Inequality Oxford Unintended Consequences

AI Summary. A review of 494 peer-reviewed studies testing five happiness-boosting strategies against control groups found only 57 met basic standards for sample size or pre-registered hypotheses, and those remaining studies did not confirm that three of the five activities made people happier. The authors note that every field examining its own rigor and reproducibility has found similar problems.

Nidhi Subbaraman Wall Street Journal
Date Posted:

.@NidhiSubs cites research by @DunnHappyLab showing that most studies on happiness have lacked scientific rigor. Only 57 of 494 peer-reviewed papers evaluated met minimal standards for good research.

.@NidhiSubs cites research by @DunnHappyLab showing that most studies on happiness have lacked scientific rigor. Only 57 of...

Do studies on happiness-boosting strategies meet basic standards of rigor?

Core argument: Dunn and Folk collected 494 peer-reviewed papers testing one of five happiness strategies against a control group, and only 57 survived screening for design quality, leaving the vast majority too poorly designed to support their conclusions.

Dunn and Folk gathered 494 peer-reviewed papers, in which one of the five happiness strategies was evaluated against a control group. When they weeded out weakly designed work, only 57 studies were left. The vast majority of papers were too poorly designed to support their conclusions. The remaining subset of studies met at least one of two conditions for good science: They included sufficient numbers of study participants or the researchers committed to hypotheses or study plans before analyzing their data. These studies failed to confirm that three of the five activities made people happy. “The evidence melts away when you look at it,” Dunn said. A handful of scandals in psychology in the 2010s—including a bombshell paper that demonstrated the danger of p-hacking—sent shock waves through the field and forced researchers to re-examine the status quo. This reform isn’t limited to psychology. “Every field that has bothered to look at issues of rigor and reproducibility in their evidence has found challenges."

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. Dunn and Folk collected 494 peer-reviewed papers testing one of five happiness strategies against a control group, and only 57 survived screening for design quality, leaving the vast majority too poorly designed to support their conclusions.
  2. The 57 surviving studies, which either included sufficient participants or involved researchers committing to hypotheses or study plans before analyzing data, failed to confirm that three of the five happiness activities made people happier; Dunn said, "The evidence melts away when you look at it.".
  3. A handful of psychology scandals in the 2010s, including a paper demonstrating the danger of p-hacking, forced researchers to re-examine the status quo, and every field that has examined rigor and reproducibility in its evidence has found challenges.
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