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Hey, I'm on the telly tonight ....


Beedster
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Nice one, very interesting, and a great recognition of your work.

Having to look at sports nutrician more now for my son, fortunately the club sorts out people to come and speak to us.

Chris, can you sort some of these pills out for our Fat dads vets football team ?

Edited by lojo
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Ultra cool, Chris. Congrats!
Haven't got the footage to work yet, but will try again. (May also be they do not offer it abroad but without telling so.)

Now I always knew you had a brain, but never imagined you got there by just telling your brain that you had a brain. ;)

Edited by BassTractor
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Interesting programme. Obviously they only get a few minutes to dramatise a whole lot of research but one point that struck me during the cycling trial as shown was that there was no real control, or not one that was explained. The programme made a point of including the cyclists saying they would not normally race twice in one day so presumably there was no reference for what their second performance would have been without any pills - placebo or not. We might intuitively think they would all be slower because of tiredness, but that's not quite the same thing as a rigorous scientific trial. Against that background, was the result that about half of the riders performed better during their second race really statistically significant? I'd guess it was, otherwise why make the programme segment, but it wasn't entirely clear - to me at least.

A very interesting line of research though - especially the fully disclosed placebo trials. That really is weird!

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392675790' post='2371588']
Interesting programme. Obviously they only get a few minutes to dramatise a whole lot of research but one point that struck me during the cycling trial as shown was that there was no real control, or not one that was explained. The programme made a point of including the cyclists saying they would not normally race twice in one day so presumably there was no reference for what their second performance would have been without any pills - placebo or not. We might intuitively think they would all be slower because of tiredness, but that's not quite the same thing as a rigorous scientific trial. Against that background, was the result that about half of the riders performed better during their second race really statistically significant? I'd guess it was, otherwise why make the programme segment, but it wasn't entirely clear - to me at least.

A very interesting line of research though - especially the fully disclosed placebo trials. That really is weird!
[/quote]

Agreed re controls, but in our lab work we use multiple baseline repeated measures designs that take many months to conduct, Horizon had one day to shoot a story about it. The email trail between me "we must do proper science" and them "we must make a programme that gets the message across" is, shall we say, lengthy. In fat, I applaud their patience. All things considered, they were right. Horizon isn't for scientists, it's about engaging people who aren't always able to grasp the niceties of control conditions, statistical significance, type-II error etc, but to whom the subject matter is of relevance even importance (hence Horizon's reliance on a personal case study as opposed to a population level approach).

If I'd been the producer it would have been very different programme, but nothing like as useful to the average BBC2 viewer!

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[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1392676523' post='2371601']
I missed it. If I just believe I watched it will it have the same effect?
[/quote]

Only if you believe it will. If you believe you watched it but believed it would have a bad effect, it will of course have a bad effect.

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[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1392676326' post='2371597']
Very good programme, but a real shame about Stephen Berkoff's appalling portentous voice-over. :angry:
[/quote]

It was a little too melodramatic wasn't it. Possibly preferable to Julian Clarey given the subject matter, although I think a Brunnie accent would have been good, or Jimmie Nail perhaps?

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[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1392678100' post='2371628']
Agreed re controls, but in our lab work we use multiple baseline repeated measures designs that take many months to conduct, Horizon had one day to shoot a story about it. The email trail between me "we must do proper science" and them "we must make a programme that gets the message across" is, shall we say, lengthy. In fat, I applaud their patience. All things considered, they were right. Horizon isn't for scientists, it's about engaging people who aren't always able to grasp the niceties of control conditions, statistical significance, type-II error etc, but to whom the subject matter is of relevance even importance (hence Horizon's reliance on a personal case study as opposed to a population level approach).

If I'd been the producer it would have been very different programme, but nothing like as useful to the average BBC2 viewer!
[/quote]

Yes, it must be a difficult line to tread but as you rightly say it has to be entertaining.

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392679118' post='2371641']
Yes, it must be a difficult line to tread but as you rightly say it has to be entertaining.
[/quote]

I think (hope) 'engaging' as opposed to 'entertaining'. I certainly didn't feel entertained, but did feel that at least some of the material was worth watching, especially the Parkinson's case study.

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I'll go with that - I certainly found it engaging. The Parkinson's segment was interesting for me as I was once peripherally involved in schizophrenia research many years ago, investigating the role of dopamine - which seems to crop up in many areas of brain research.

Edited by flyfisher
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[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1392678100' post='2371628']


If I'd been the producer it would have been very different programme, but nothing like as useful to the average BBC2 viewer!
[/quote]

I suppose watching any documentary where you know a fair bit about the subject is not going to impress you , it's aimed below the professional , it's nice to know that you respected the bbc team, I maybe less cynical now about documentaries where I know little.

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