Simpson’s Paradox and the MLB
Well, it’s October, and the World Series is under way. Good time to talk baseball I’d say. So here’s a blast from my own past on the subject: Simpson’s Paradox
MUSINGS, REVELATIONS, REVIEWS
On Mortality, Survival, Life Expectancy and Related or Unrelated Epidemiological Topics
Edward Tufte in San Francisco, 10 December 2013
Edward Tufte in San Francisco, 10 December 2013 Written by Reynolds RJ and Day SM on January 06 2014 We recently had the pleasure of attending a seminar by one
Immortal time bias: A source of bias in estimating life expectancy and other measures
One of the most important aspects of good research is proper study design; no type or amount of statistical analysis can make up for a poorly designed study. In longitudinal
Losing sleep over denominators, Part III: Explaining the error and the bias in Plioplys 1998
As we saw in Part II of this three part series, there is something wrong with Figure 4 in Plioplys et al. 1998.1 As a matter of fact, there is something
Losing sleep over denominators, Part II: The survival curves in Plioplys et al. 1998 cannot be right
We now turn our attention to 1998 study by Plioplys et al.,1 and in particular to one of the many figures in the study: Figure 4. We choose to focus on
Losing sleep over denominators, Part I: An introduction to the problem of Plioplys 1998
Full disclosure: We consult professionally in the context of personal-injury litigation. One of us (SMD) has served on more than one occasion as an expert witness opposite Dr Audrius Plioplys.
Radiation and astronaut mortality, Part 3: Dose Estimation Tool
In Part 2, I detailed how I gathered individual measurements of equivalent radiation doses for locations in outer space. Here I relate how I converted those measurements into a useful
Radiation and astronaut mortality, Part 2: Gathering the measurements
In order to estimate radiation doses in space, I had to make some basic assumptions. First, I assumed that radiation dose levels would vary by some measurable factors: altitude, orbital
Radiation and astronaut mortality, Part 1: Conceptualizing the problem
As part of my doctoral dissertation for my PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, I completed a three-phase project which asked whether the