3 ms·
I don't think you can call multiple elements to a protocol a "confounding factor". Study: "wearing a mask and washing your hands has been shown to stop infecti
by joe_the_user 7y ago
I don't think you can call multiple elements to a protocol a "confounding factor".
Study: "wearing a mask and washing your hands has been shown to stop infection."
Critic: "This study is worthless, it can show which of these procedures was effective!"
Study: "uh, err..."
Confounding factors would uncontrollable factors that people couldn't implement themselves. People can clearly wash their hands and wear masks.
- tgb 7y agoThat's simply not what I said. The confounding factor isn't hand washing (though that also makes it impossible "model the effectiveness of respiratory masks" as the title says), it's that it's comparing one department to other departments, and those departments surely differ by more than just hand washing and face masks. Infectious disease specialists were trained differently, do different procedures, etc. They see patients with different symptoms and at different stages of their disease. Essentially the way to treat this is not a study of N doctors but a study of only n departments, which turns it more into an anecdote - albeit a compelling one.