From the perils of analytics-obsessed journalism to the promise of micro crowdsourcing, new research papers have furnished a wealth of insights to ponder over the past month.

Below is a sample of new thinking from various corners of the research world.

After the 1957-58 influenza pandemic caused nearly 70,000 fatalities in the United States, the Surgeon General recommended that all high-risk citizens (those with chronic illnesses, pregnant women and the elderly) receive a yearly flu vaccine. But it has not been clear how effective annual flu shots really are, and which populations benefit from them the most.