20 January 2008

Dubious Conclusions Spun From Tiny Sample . . .

. . . I should just make that a recurring post title.

Latest dubious conclusion spun from tiny sample:
Using a mobile phone before going to bed can damage your health, according to a major study.

A study of 71 people can't be considered conclusive of anything. I'd like to see the numbers, and I'd also wonder how long the study was, and whether or not they rotated which subjects got the radiation dose, and which didn't to try and factor out the possibility that some of the subjects normally had disturbed sleep.

This sort of stuff bugs me, if there's a real reason to be concerned, then follow up with a serious larger scale study, if this is just wild guesses based on a tiny sample, then don't cite a dubious study in a major news outlet.

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