Re:A review of the effects of installing air filters in clas...
by vecter on Thursday January 09, 2020 @05:22PM
(#22006544)
Thanks for posting this. The tl;dr is:
> I don’t think the correct summary of the above study is: “A large effect was found. But this was a small study, it’s preliminary data, so let’s gather more information.” Rather, I think a better summary is: “The data showed no effect. A particular statistical analysis of these data seemed to show a large effect, but that was a mistake. Perhaps it’s still worth studying the problem because of other things we know about air pollution, in which case this particular study is irrelevant to the discussion.”
> The point is that these data, analyzed appropriately, do not show any clear effect. So if it’s a good idea to keep on with this, it’s in spite of, not because of these results.
> I don’t think the correct summary of the above study is: “A large effect was found. But this was a small study, it’s preliminary data, so let’s gather more information.” Rather, I think a better summary is: “The data showed no effect. A particular statistical analysis of these data seemed to show a large effect, but that was a mistake. Perhaps it’s still worth studying the problem because of other things we know about air pollution, in which case this particular study is irrelevant to the discussion.”
> The point is that these data, analyzed appropriately, do not show any clear effect. So if it’s a good idea to keep on with this, it’s in spite of, not because of these results.