Re:Iceland radically cut teenage drug use
by thaumasiotes on Saturday March 14, 2020 @06:21PM
(#22579167)
> The total population matters only when you measure effects that change when the scale changes.
> I see no reason why small cities and countries can't be used as examples in youth health.
This is not correct; you're assuming that every location always expresses the average of every effect.
In reality, small absolute populations mean more variance in the measurement/expression of everything. This is why the top and bottom of lists of statistics per capita are always dominated by small populations. Doesn't matter what statistic you're measuring.
This makes it very dangerous to try to generalize from a finding in an anomalously small population.
> I see no reason why small cities and countries can't be used as examples in youth health.
This is not correct; you're assuming that every location always expresses the average of every effect.
In reality, small absolute populations mean more variance in the measurement/expression of everything. This is why the top and bottom of lists of statistics per capita are always dominated by small populations. Doesn't matter what statistic you're measuring.
This makes it very dangerous to try to generalize from a finding in an anomalously small population.