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Monty Python's Silly Walk: A Gait Analysis and Wake-up Call to Peer Review Inefficiencies
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Monty Python's silly walk: A gait analysis and wake-up call to peer review inefficiencies [sciencedaily.com]:
Although Mr. Pudey's walk was found to be only 3.3 times more variable than a normal walk, the research team agreed with the Minister's decision that he had a promising silly walk that was deserving of a Research Fellowship.
The team points out how bureaucratic inefficiency can be likened to that of the peer-review process associated with academic research in the health sciences, particularly when applying for funding. Applying for a federal grant is extremely time consuming and can take months to prepare. An application may require a 150-page proposal followed by a review by a panel of researchers, who are often flown in for the occasion. Peer review protocols often require that the panelists must reach a consensus of 75 percent or more to approve a proposal.
By contrast, the Dartmouth team points out how the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia pioneered a streamlined grant application process in 2013, which resulted in an estimated savings in 2015 of $A2.1-$4.9 million per year.
"The peer review research process has become rather unwieldy," said Nathaniel J. Dominy, the Charles Hansen Professor of Anthropology, who co-authored the study with Erin E. Butler, who was a postdoctoral fellow at the Neukom Institute at Dartmouth at the time the research was conducted. "If the process was streamlined and grants were awarded more quickly, researchers could start their work earlier, accelerating the timeline for research. Similarly, grant administrators would recoup time and money, which could potentially free up more money for research funding," explained Dominy.
Scientists analyze Monty Python's silly walks, determine they are indeed silly [cnet.com]:
The Ministry of Silly Walks set a new standard for absurdity when the comedy sketch first appeared on Monty Python's Flying Circus [tvguide.com] television show in 1970. But just exactly how silly were those walks? Extremely silly, new research suggests.
A team of scientists from Dartmouth College conducted a gait analysis on the walks performed by John Cleese (the minister) and Michael Palin (Mr. Pudey, a man applying for a grant to improve his own silly walk). The results appeared in the journal Gait & Posture [sciencedirect.com].
"In the spirit of Monty Python's humor, based on an actual gait analysis, a Dartmouth research team finds that the minister's silly walk is 6.7 times more variable than a normal walk," the college said in a statement on Thursday [dartmouth.edu]. Mr. Pudey's walk was found to be 3.3 times more variable than a typical walk.
A chart released with the paper illustrates just how different the Pythons' walks are from a standard gait.
"Our analysis corroborates the minister's assessment: Mr Pudey is a promising applicant and deserving of a Research Fellowship to advance his silly walk," the paper concluded [sciencedirect.com].
The researchers aren't just being silly for the sake of having a laugh. The sketch is hilarious, but it's also a commentary on the weight and wastefulness of bureaucracy. The Dartmouth team used its paper to make a point about how burdensome the grant process can be for academics in the health sciences.
The team talked about how federal grant applications in the US can require 150-page proposals and a lengthy, stringent peer review process.
"If the process was streamlined and grants were awarded more quickly, researchers could start their work earlier, accelerating the timeline for research," said study co-author Nathaniel Dominy [dartmouth.edu], an anthropologist at Dartmouth. "Similarly, grant administrators would recoup time and money, which could potentially free up more money for research funding."
That sort of progress would be worth kicking up your heels for.
Update, March 14 at 10:30 a.m. PT: This story has been updated to correct to Dartmouth College.
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