If you recall the time that “Eating chocolate helps you lose weight” took over the internet, the follow-up was an article by journalists explaining that they ha

If you recall the time that “Eating chocolate helps you lose weight” took over the internet, the follow-up was an article by journalists explaining that they had planted the story. What the did was take a group of college students and have them record what they did, what they ate, and various metrics like their daily weight. When the “study” was over, the poured over the data looking for some correlation. In all that data, there was sure to be some random correlation, and they found one between chocolate and losing weight. They then planted the story and watched everyone latch onto it. The follow-up story was about statistics and science, where they pointed out that given a small sample and a short time frame, and given that you are looking for a correlation, you will find one. But confirming that correlation is where science begins, by testing the hypothesis with appropriate samples, time frames, and controls.