International Beer Day and Research Update
“Although heavy drinking can have disastrous consequences on many levels…there is evidence that moderate social drinking can have benefits for wellbeing…Social drinking can help build a support network and foster a feeling of being connected with the community. The pub can be a place where men find it acceptable to talk about their feelings (Emslie et al. 2013).”
Liddon and Barry, 2021 - Perspectives in Male Psychology: An Introduction
Hello followers and subscribers of The Nuzzo Letter,
August 2 is International Beer Day. All around the world, people will be enjoying their favourite beverage (responsibly, right?). Please feel free to show your support for The Nuzzo Letter by buying me a beer! American-style IPAs are my favourite type.
To buy me a beer, click the DonorBox logo. In two simple steps, you can donate using ApplePay, PayPal, or another service.
Update on Research into Childhood Sex Differences in Strength
I also have an exciting announcement about my research project, “Muscle strength in boys and girls: a meta-analysis.”
The literature search, data extraction, and data analysis are complete!
I can also confirm that the results are robust, clear, and fascinating. They update a question that has not been reassessed in 40 years.
Thank you to everyone who donated to the associated Go Fund Me page. Your support is greatly appreciated! Thus far, over $1,200 has been raised. Without these funds, I would not have been able to dedicate as much time as I have to this project.
The research process, nevertheless, is not over. Many hours of work are still required to write the paper. Then, I will have to square off against journal editors and peer reviewers – a series of edits and administrative tasks that also take many hours to complete.
The Go Fund Me page for this project is still open. It will remain open until the paper is published in a journal. My original target was $10,000, and I’m sticking with it! Please share the link to the Go Fund Me page on social media and with anyone you know who is interested in the topic of sex differences in fitness and sports performance. You may have heard the news that biological males (transgender women) are competing against biological females in this year’s Olympics. The results of my research have implications for this topic. If you have not heard about this research project and its purpose, please see my interview with Tom Golden at Men are Good.
I can also tell you that other researchers are keeping an eye on this Go Fund Me campaign. Since launching the project, I have received personal messages from researchers who have told me that they are interested to see how well this novel crowdfunding approach to research works. Why are they interested? Because, like me, they are tired of the massive university and government bureaucracies that oversee most academic research grants. In fact, earlier this week, I received a message from a young academic who said he does not see a future for himself at the universities given their ideological bias and the exorbitant number of hours required to write research grant applications, which he is statistically very unlikely to be awarded.
Crowdfunding cuts the university and government bureaucracies out of the citizen-researcher relationship. It saves researchers hundreds of hours of admin-related time, which then gives them more time to focus on their research. Thus, many eyes are on us! Let’s show everyone that crowdfunding can be used to generate funds for research projects like this one.
My goal is to have a pre-print of the paper available online by the end of August.
Your assistance in crossing the finish line is appreciated!
Related Content at The Nuzzo Letter
Further Reading
Emslie C, Hunt K, Lyons A. The Role of Alcohol in Forging and Maintaining Friendships Amongst Scottish Men in Midlife. Health Psychology, 32: 33-41, 2013.
Gilson K, Bryant C, Bei B, Komiti A, Jackson H, Judd F. Validation of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ) in older adults. Addictive Behaviors, 38: 2196-2202, 2013.
Liddon L, Barry J. Perspectives in Male Psychology: An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell. 2021.
Men, Alcohol and Coping. Male Psychology: The Magazine.