Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell is a computer scientist who works on algorithmic bias and fairness in machine learning. She is most well… more
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkGk...
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell
And then this study in 2008 that followed in the same vein, focusing on the use of acetaminophen after vaccination: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18445737
- Experimenter bias (and bad science) influences how the severity scale is constructed
- The misunderstanding of the difference between correlation and causation gives rise to a pretty incendiary conclusion
- Which will likely make tons of waves b/c public at large will miss this.
8/
- If a "severity" scale is used for this experiment where "severity" incorporates "tendency to self-harm", then people who rank "severe" will have more injuries.
- Increased injuries --> increased Tylenol use.
7/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correla...
- If your experiment, by design, links 2 things, then a result showing that they're linked comes from *you linking them*. (That's classic experimenter bias fallacy.)
6/
I.e., There is no piece of that design that accounts for the fact that the majority of people probably have taken acetaminophen. 5/
- It starts with ppl w/ autism, not the population at large. The majority of all people have probably taken acetaminophen, so, the majority of people with autism have prob taken acetaminophen. BUT, the majority of ppl *without* autism have prob taken it. 4/
1. Take group of people with autism
2. Isolate those who've taken acetaminophen
3. Rank them along a scale of "autism severity"
4. Calculate *how much* each has taken
5. Possible Result: "Increased Severity of Autism Associated with Increased Use of Tylenol"
3/
(1) Take a group of people with autism
(2) Calculate how many of them have taken paracetamol/acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol)
(3) Establish that the majority of them have
(4) Report: "Tylenol linked to almost ALL cases of Autism"
2/
by Margaret Mitchell — Reposted by Beatriz Gallardo Paúls
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell, Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio , and 25 more Margaret Mitchell, Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio, Richard S.J. Tol, Brian A. Nosek, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Garry Peterson, Joshua S. Weitz, Tom Clark, Steve Peers, Jamie Morgan, Elizabeth Stokoe, Henning Melber, Sanford F. Schram, Daniel W. Drezner, Trevon D. Logan, Smith, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Lesley Bartlett, Zen Faulkes, Kate Starbird, Henry Jones, Pauline Stafford, Jason Williams, Dana Howard, David Darmofal
Reposted by Margaret Mitchell, Colin Murray, Martin Paul Eve , and 11 more Margaret Mitchell, Colin Murray, Martin Paul Eve, Robert Black, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Robert Wolfe, Adrian Vickers, Michael D. McDonald, Ben Rosamond, Tom Stoppard, Anthony Burke, Daxton R. Stewart, Evan Roberts
