4 ms·
That's not generally about outright fabrication, but instead due to invalid statistical procedures. Many students are still taught, in 2019, that the appropria
by gbrown 7y ago
That's not generally about outright fabrication, but instead due to invalid statistical procedures.
Many students are still taught, in 2019, that the appropriate way to conduct a multiple linear regression analysis is to:
1. Fit univariate comparisons to all your explanatory variables of interest
2. Take the significant variables and put them in a multiple regression analysis
3. Report the p-values from the regression analysis as valid and meaningful.
This is incorrect for several reasons (type 1 error rate inflation, confusion about marginal and conditional effects etc.), but people still do it. That's before we even account for publication bias, in which null results are often "shelved" or not accepted for publication.
- rscho 7y agoIndeed, I'm finishing a MSc degree in epidemiology and I was pretty surprised that they presented that as "the only correct way" (program rated 2nd worldwide for epidemiology). However, I do not agree that this is the most common problem. Ten years as a professional have shown me that the real issue is that 95% of people using statistics don't have a single clue about how the techniques they use daily really work. It's especially alarming given the booming machine learning fad.
- gbrown 7y agoYes, I was just picking out one example I've seen where even if people do what they're taught, they'll end up doing bad statistics. As you say the problems don't end there.