A major investor & leader in healthcare that shall remain unnamed had a book "How to Lie with Statistics" in a public reading list. It's a good book & a quick read. Highly recommended.
It's interesting that it takes an editorial to make people suspicious of statistics, how statistics can be abused, & the conflicts of interests that many people who utilize statistics have. Sample bias needs to be treated as deliberate dishonesty rather than a simple mistake. These people who make these mistakes are professionals and should know better. Their code of conduct should penalize them harshly for making these sort of mistakes.
A strict code of conduct with harsh professional penalties are necessary to remove bad actors who hide behind subtle lies that have a major impact on public policy & public opinion. A slap on the wrist means it's always worthwhile to lie with statistics. A removal of license & banishment from the profession on the 1st or 2nd offense would quickly remove the bad actors. This code of conduct should also extend to the peer review process. If the peers pass bad statistics, the peers need to be held accountable as well.
It's interesting that it takes an editorial to make people suspicious of statistics, how statistics can be abused, & the conflicts of interests that many people who utilize statistics have. Sample bias needs to be treated as deliberate dishonesty rather than a simple mistake. These people who make these mistakes are professionals and should know better. Their code of conduct should penalize them harshly for making these sort of mistakes.
A strict code of conduct with harsh professional penalties are necessary to remove bad actors who hide behind subtle lies that have a major impact on public policy & public opinion. A slap on the wrist means it's always worthwhile to lie with statistics. A removal of license & banishment from the profession on the 1st or 2nd offense would quickly remove the bad actors. This code of conduct should also extend to the peer review process. If the peers pass bad statistics, the peers need to be held accountable as well.