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Previous Volume 329:1196-1199 October 14, 1993 Number 16 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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"If you torture your data long enough, they will tell you whatever you want to hear" has become a popular observation in our office. In plain English, this means that study data, if manipulated in enough different ways, can be made to prove whatever the investigator wants to prove. Unfortunately, this is generally true. Because every investigator wants to present results in the most exciting way, we all look for the most dramatic, positive findings in our data. When this process goes beyond reasonable interpretation of the facts, it becomes data torturing. The unfortunate result of torturing data is the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Opportunistic Data Torturing

Procrustean Data Torturing

Clues to Data Torturing

P Values and Confidence Intervals

Can Data Torturers Be Stopped?

References

Related Letters:

More on Torturing Data
Stryer D. B., Browner W., Newman T., Dix D., Schneiderman M. A., De Geeter F., Mills J. L.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1994; 330:861-862, Mar 24, 1994. Correspondence

Guns and Homicide in the Home
Litaker D., Blackman P. H., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108 , LeClaire J. E., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108 , Gillette R. D., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108 , Baranello P., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108 , Beckmann C. R.B., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108 , Pipas J. M., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108 , Kellermann A. L., Somes G., Rivara F. P., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108 , Kassirer J. P., Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO 63108
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1994; 330:365-368, Feb 3, 1994. Correspondence

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