Ben Harrap
@bharrap.bsky.social
2.1K followers 750 following 830 posts
doer of data things at Yardhura Walani vice president of statsoc.org.au I do #rstats, surveys, biostatistics, #IDSov on Ngunnawal and Ngambri lands not Indigenous, non-binary (they/them) benharrap.com
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bharrap.bsky.social
Re-sharing my starter pack so I can update my pinned post

If you're a statistician, data scientist, or someone doing statsy or data sciencey things in Australia or Aotearoa (New Zealand) and want to be on the list, just let me know!

go.bsky.app/3wERdAo
bharrap.bsky.social
Validating LLM output by checking results from your google search is akin to using the same dataset for training and testing
bharrap.bsky.social
I'm not aware of your context, but not having access to funding for statisticians is one of my issues!

I wanna say your post just crystallised several of my worries about LLMs and broader issues with academia, there's no animosity on my end ❤️
bharrap.bsky.social
I clearly had a lot of thoughts/feelings from reading Terry's blog post, so I wrote one of my own

It ended up being a bit of a stream-of-thought post but I think it captures some of my worries

benharrap.com/post/2025-10...

#statssky #episky #academicsky
bharrap.bsky.social
There's been several universities across Australia that closed their units. I can't recall which ones specifically but there were enough closing that it caused led to a lot of discussion with the Statistical Society of Australia
bharrap.bsky.social
I'm not talking about your circumstance specifically. Reading your post just reminded me how difficult it can be being a statistician
Reposted by Ben Harrap
statsepi.bsky.social
Effective Business leaders: "It takes several months for new employees to become fully productive members of the team..."

Universities: EXCITING 6 MONTH POSITION REPLACING THE LAST PERSON WHO WAS HERE 6 MONTHS.
bharrap.bsky.social
It always makes me sad to see non-statistcians so readily and happily replace actual human experts with LLMs

I get that academia is a resource constrained environment, but it's doubly painful to see this kind of thinking at a time when universities are defunding their statistical consulting centres
hormiga.bsky.social
Y'all. I just got ChatGPT to do everything in R for this manuscript. I mean EVERYTHING. And it's all legit and reproducible. I'm shook.

How are we mentoring our trainees in statistics now? Who needs to learn coding in R line by line, and who doesn't?

scienceforeveryone.science/statistics-i...
Statistics in the era of AI
How do we mentor, teach, and do stats when AI can do so much of the work?
scienceforeveryone.science
bharrap.bsky.social
Yes, I did delete
LinkedIn
a waste of my time

😉
Reposted by Ben Harrap
margaritamb.bsky.social
A few weeks ago I went to Canberra to receive the Moran Medal at the lovely Shine Dome of the Australian Academy of Science (@science.org.au). It was a huge honour, and wonderful to hear talks from all corners of science and to learn about the Academy's great work supporting science
- pics below!
bharrap.bsky.social
Lmao I had this same problem - had to take the doors off both the house AND the fridge to get it in
Reposted by Ben Harrap
njtierney.bsky.social
I'm going to be giving an #rstats talk about functions in about 45 minutes - it's online!

The talk is called: "Practical Functions: Practically Magic", but could potentially be retitled, "Up and Down the Ladder of Abstraction".

Join at: www.meetup.com/slc-rug/even...
bharrap.bsky.social
Where did the name Midwest come from? As someone who knows nothing about USA history or geography, whenever I've seen the area referred to I assumed it was on the western side of the country
bharrap.bsky.social
Removing the "discover" feed from my pinned list has been a great way to not see ragebait posts
bharrap.bsky.social
Being chaotic good and telling my building strata that the hallway lights are not working by sending them a photo of the pitch black hallway
Reposted by Ben Harrap
smwindecker.bsky.social
Stopped using "X" years ago and have finally made a switch. Hope to reconnect with folks and touch back in to the social land to share and talk about open science, research software, ecology, and public health. 🙌
Reposted by Ben Harrap
Reposted by Ben Harrap
rladiesmelb.bsky.social
It's our 9th birthday and you're all invited to celebrate with us! 💜

We are partnering up with the Statistical Society of Australia to host a Social Night!

🔗 Register: www.meetup.com/rladies-melb...
📅 Thu 16 Oct, 5-7pm
📌 Father's Office

#StatSocAus #rladies #stats #rstats
R-Ladies & SSA Melbourne Social Night: Happy 9th Birthday R-Ladies, Thu, Oct 16, 2025, 5:00 PM | Meetup
**Happy 9th Birthday R-Ladies Melbourne 🎉** Come unwind and connect with like-minded people at a joint event with R-Ladies Melbourne and the Statistical Society of Austra
www.meetup.com
bharrap.bsky.social
Are you a student or early-career statisticians & data scientists in the Sydney area? Come hear from a diverse panel on their experience and career trajectories! Food and drink to follow

📅 9th Oct, 6-8pm Sydney time
📍 USyd

Registration required:
statsoc.org.au/event-6332903

#statssky #databs
Statistical Society of Australia - SSA NSW: Early Career and Student Statisticians Career Event 2025
statsoc.org.au
Reposted by Ben Harrap
dieworkwear.bsky.social
australian street style, 1973
Reposted by Ben Harrap
economeager.bsky.social
this is poetry
cassetteboy.bsky.social
New! Cassetteboy vs Keir Starmer.

This took absolutely ages, so if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/cassetteboy we'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
bharrap.bsky.social
Can potentially help in regards to survey stuff
Reposted by Ben Harrap
gdeejay.bsky.social
Hey #rstats, #statsky and #devsky

I'm looking for some short-term advisors with expertise in:
- survey design and administration;
- propensity score matching (PSM); and
- Regression discontinuity design (RDD).

If this is you feel free to share your profile via DM / here.