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"Altogether, 18,000 people from 134 countries made time to take part in what was quite a lengthy survey devised by Hubbub - an international group of academics,

by leksak 10y ago

"Altogether, 18,000 people from 134 countries made time to take part in what was quite a lengthy survey devised by Hubbub - an international group of academics, artists, poets, and mental health experts - showing perhaps what a pressing issue rest is in the modern world." This is a poor conclusion. For one, 18,000 people isn't sufficient to draw any conclusions on a global level. It's a tiny sample of a relatively huge population. Furthermore, I think the ~795 million people is much more so a pressing issue. If we disregard the developing world, 18,000 people is not an adequately large sample to draw any such conclusions either. I'm glad that they are using the word "might" in the article and "may" in title, but I still regard the journalistic value of this piece as being really low. "A full analysis of the data will be published within the next year. It's already clear that it holds lessons for doctors. Callard points out that when doctors prescribe rest, not every patient will interpret the word in the same way." It doesn't hold factual lessons for anyone, it's too speculative. I'm hoping that people will be getting more rest either way. Is there a journalist watch-dog for when poorly designed studies such as this one is covered by the media in a manner such as this that can be alerted? Especially since BBC themselves were involved in the study.

azernik 10y ago
(Random) sampling error does not very according to the size of the total population; only according to the size of the sample. A sample of 18,000 from a population of 6 billion will have the same random errors as a sample of 18,000 from a population of 100 million. And 18,000 is a BIG sample. (This breaks down a bit when the sample size and the total population size get very close, and does not include sources of sampling error other than random variation - e.g. biased sampling, which I would be more worried about in a global study like this.)
- leksak 10y ago
  That was part of my point, I was not sufficiently convinced that the sampling was conducted over a satisfying number of different living situations. Rest is simply not a luxury that a lot of people can even concern themselves with as they have no concept of leisure time (or at least not an opportunity to enjoy it). That does not invalidate the statement that being alone may be the key to rest, but it should point out that drawing the conclusions that the article alludes to about the scale of the issue is shoddy. > [...] showing perhaps what a pressing issue rest is in the modern world. Even if the concept of "modern" world precludes areas suffering from famine, I am not convinced that it should be considered a pressing issue.

by leksak 10y ago

azernik 10y ago

(Random) sampling error does not very according to the size of the total population; only according to the size of the sample. A sample of 18,000 from a population of 6 billion will have the same random errors as a sample of 18,000 from a population of 100 million. And 18,000 is a BIG sample. (This breaks down a bit when the sample size and the total population size get very close, and does not include sources of sampling error other than random variation - e.g. biased sampling, which I would be more worried about in a global study like this.)

leksak 10y ago
That was part of my point, I was not sufficiently convinced that the sampling was conducted over a satisfying number of different living situations. Rest is simply not a luxury that a lot of people can even concern themselves with as they have no concept of leisure time (or at least not an opportunity to enjoy it). That does not invalidate the statement that being alone may be the key to rest, but it should point out that drawing the conclusions that the article alludes to about the scale of the issue is shoddy. > [...] showing perhaps what a pressing issue rest is in the modern world. Even if the concept of "modern" world precludes areas suffering from famine, I am not convinced that it should be considered a pressing issue.