A note on statistical and biological communication: a case study of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic

BMC Research Notes

Hanna K Jankowski²  Jane M Heffernan¹  Jeremy Recoskie² 

[1] Centre for Disease Modelling, York Institute for Health Research, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

关键词: Influenza;    H1N1;    Reproducibility;    Miscommunication;    Statistical misinterpretation;   

Others  :  1091260
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-0500-7-939

 received in 2012-10-23, accepted in 2014-11-06,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Many academic fields contribute to medical and health research. As a result, due to the various backgrounds of these disciplines, inference and interpretation of study findings can be misconstrued.

Results

In a recent survey of the 2009 H1N1 literature we found many instances where semantic and statistical misinterpretation or miscommunication could potentially arise. We provide examples where miscommunication or misinterpretation of study results can mislead the interdisciplinary reader. We also provide some additional background on statistical methodology and theory for the interested reader.

Discussion

This work presented some examples where statistical misinterpretation or miscommunication could arise in the H1N1 literature. However, similar challenges are encountered in other subjects and disciplines. To reduce the probability of this occurring it is necessary that (1) readers consider papers with a critical eye and approach citations with caution; (2) authors take more care to present study methods with more clarity. Reproducibility of the study results would greatly aid readers in their ability to understand and interpret the given findings.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Recoskie et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 图 表 】

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