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The Pew Study Is Interesting, But It Does Not Settle Whether Synthetic Data Works – NewMR

Ray Poynter, 2 October 2026Note, this is written in my personal capacity and may not reflect the views of any other organisation. A valuable study, read too broadly Pew Research Center’s new report, Can AI Stand In for Human Survey-Takers? Not Really, published on 30 September 2026, is one of the most careful public tests… Read More »The Pew Study Is Interesting, But It Does Not Settle Whether Synthetic Data Works – NewMR

Neuroscience and Plato’s Cave: What can science tell us about the possibility of synthetic participants

Ray Poynter, 21 September 2025 For me the jury is out on the discussion about what synthetic data might be able to achieve in replicating human decisions and behaviour. I am worried by some of the overclaims and appalled by the number of people who reject the notions as being self-evidently wrong (without feeling the… Read More »Neuroscience and Plato’s Cave: What can science tell us about the possibility of synthetic participants

Synthetic Data: A Lexicon and Taxonomy

Ray Poynter, 22 September 2025 Here is my attempt at an updated Lexicon and Taxonomy for Synthetic Data. I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Synthetic data, according to the ICC/ESOMAR Code, is “Synthetic data means information that has been generated to replicate the characteristics of real-world data.” People sometimes explain the reason… Read More »Synthetic Data: A Lexicon and Taxonomy

Synthetic Data and Significance Tests: Why t-tests are Inappropriate and What to Do Instead

Ray Poynter, 19 June 2025 The statistical trap hiding in synthetic respondentsDiscussions about synthetic data are everywhere. Talking about bolstering hard-to-reach quotas, creating digital twins and replacing whole sections of fieldwork. By design, these records replicate the distributions of your original survey, meaning every synthetic element looks plausible. The problem is that this process duplicates… Read More »Synthetic Data and Significance Tests: Why t-tests are Inappropriate and What to Do Instead