I...I have no words
Non-randomized, n=63,
Control: staring at desk
Active intervention: caring for plant
Outcome: tiny difference in proxy of mental health
Headlines:
Non-randomized, n=63,
Control: staring at desk
Active intervention: caring for plant
Outcome: tiny difference in proxy of mental health
Headlines:
Study is here: journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/…
Here is that massive, glorious difference that has people the world over buying pot plants:
It's just absurd
If your control is "doing nothing" and your active intervention is "doing something" IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT YOU SEE A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE
If your control is "doing nothing" and your active intervention is "doing something" IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT YOU SEE A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE
There's also this delightful gem in the Daily Mail
Statistical significance =/= practical importance
A ONE POINT DIFFERENCE IN AN 80-POINT ANXIETY SCALE PROBABLY DOESN'T MEAN VERY MUCH
Statistical significance =/= practical importance
A ONE POINT DIFFERENCE IN AN 80-POINT ANXIETY SCALE PROBABLY DOESN'T MEAN VERY MUCH
A big shout-out to whoever wrote the press release, because damn this is truly awful
Any researcher anywhere knows that this is almost certainly a meaningless study
It's probably just regression to the mean (i.e. people improving just by random variation)
And yet, the news is completely uncritical of this fact
It's probably just regression to the mean (i.e. people improving just by random variation)
And yet, the news is completely uncritical of this fact
As others are pointing out, there are lots more problems with this study
TL:DR desk plants probably don't do very much for your anxiety
TL:DR desk plants probably don't do very much for your anxiety
P.s. for all those asking, this particular study was funded by Mitsubishi, who as far as I know don't make houseplants
Blog now out on this: medium.com/@gidmk/desk-pl…
