If anyone wants to know how incorrect causal inference arises in cardiology, there's no need to do a PhD on it.
It's encapsulated in this thread. Unlike most of my threads it has a happy ending though !
First, a whole load of unsuspecting patients have PCI.
Then a bunch of cardiologists who are normally ultracompetitive decide to do something constructive for a change, instead of just doing each other down in cross-London acrimony.
How to make your
correlations correlate.
Even if they don't.
==============
A practical tweetorial for aspiring research fraudsters, cardiology fellows doing research, and others in need of a strong association when there isn't one.
Joel Giblett @joelgiblett brings up a very important question.
Where does scientific integrity come from? What makes me think I can trust papers written by him? I've never heard of him before this tweet, and I have no idea of his background.
Well, first of all, he seems genuinely curious about integrity. This is a good sign.
Second, he is scared of R&D and MHRA. This is a good sign that he tries to toe the line, pays his taxes, doesn't park in the disabled spots (unless entitled) and doesn't drop litter.
But it is not non-littering, or trembling when the R&D office sends an email, that CAUSES his research to be non-fake.
It is his own personal attitude, those of his colleagues, and the lack of tremendous incentives to fiddle.
* Some fears are one-and-done:
I get a cold which progresses to pneumonia. Will I die, or recover?
* Other things hang over us for much longer, perhaps all your life.
Will you get hit by a bus?
Get a heart attack?
There's no "sell by" date on the fear.
Practice Qs
You are walking through Hyde park, minding your own business.
Hardly causing any trouble at all.
Perhaps the odd humorous tweet.
You get a Direct Message:
"Enough of ur abuse!
You will be hearing form my agent shortly.
kthxbai
AJ Kirtane"