Refinement starts before the experiment! In this episode of The Last Word podcast, Dr. Reid Landes, Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, discusses his paper 'More Power for Less Money: Statistical, Power, and Cost Analyses That Account for Intracluster Correlation in Experiments with Same-Group Cage Mates'. Dr. Landes explains why accounting for intracluster correlation—when animals housed in the same cage are more similar than those in different cages—is essential for accurate results and adherence to the Three Rs of animal welfare, particularly refinement. He shares how using more cages with fewer animals per cage can improve statistical power, reduce animal use, and lower costs, and why aligning your statistical analysis plan with your experimental design from the start is critical. Tune in to learn how thoughtful design leads to more ethical, efficient, and reliable animal research.   Key Points From This Episode: We are introduced to today's guest and the topic of conversation. Dr. Landes' education and career journey: from math teacher to statistician. The impetus for getting his paper out there. The three Rs of animal welfare.  What they aimed to accomplish with the paper: the statistics of same-group cage mates. He dives into the concept of intracluster correlation. Dr. Landes unpacks some examples of what readers might see in the paper.  He sheds light on the degree of acceptance from the research community on his idea of looking into intracluster variation.  How to approach measuring intracluster correlation. He explains how statistical analysis should flow from experiment design.  Why more cages with fewer animals per cage is a more powerful experiment.  The importance of proper planning from the very beginning. Dr. Landes introduces listeners to JASP: free open-source software for non-statisticians.  His advice to other researchers: make sure your statistical analysis plan aligns with your experiment design.   Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Dr. Reid Landes on LinkedIn 'More Power for Less Money: Statistical, Power, and Cost Analyses That Account for Intracluster Correlation in Experiments with Same-Group Cage Mates' JASP Software American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) AALAS Learning Library Email AALAS Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (JAALAS)The LASt Word: An AALAS Podcast

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