“how does the study measure up”

Here’s a great example of way that an academic blog post, written for a general audience, can be a crucial supplement or starting point for a student trying to decipher the peer-reviewed literature.  From Momma Data —

Blame Mom for High School Beer Binges: The Power of a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

This post:

• describes the study
• identifies the important (and discipline-specific) concepts used by the authors
• analyzes the study design
• gives an opinion about the quality of the paper
• explains the significance of the journal to the discourse

The only thing I’d like to see is a more robust comment stream – maybe some discussion/ refinement of the ideas. But all in all, a great example and on a topic students sometimes write about too!