Study Shows One Third of All Studies Are Nonsense

SydShamino writes "CNN has a report on new research to confirm claims made in initial, well-publicized studies. According to the new study, about a third of all major studies from the last 15 years were subsequently shown to be inaccurate or overblown. The study abstract is available."

Obviously flawed

[__aaahtg7394]

There's a new study to be published next week showing that only one quarter of all studies are overblown, including this one.

Irony meter!

[mister_llah]

What... are you guys trying to blow up our heads?

I think it is possible this is the most amusingly ridiculous piece of "legitemate" news I've read in awhile...

Anyone got anything to beat it? Post it, I need to shock my brain a little more ;)

Next story

[terminateprocess]

I can imagine the next headline:
Study finds that previous study is also nonsense

ERROR 0x381F

[omarius]

This study will cause an infinite loop..PLEASE SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATELY. 0x381F

Oblig. Futurama quote

[dancingmad]

Zapp: Kiff we have a conundrum!

Re:And this study is not nonsense...

[Jeet81]

Because this is from the other 2/3rd studies talking about the other 1/3rd studies.

This is just silly! Far too silly!

[mister_llah]

Well, it says 1/3 of the studies are inaccurate, so let us rank that on a percentage scale, say the study is inaccurate, we give them a 0 value.

Accurate studies, lets say 100 (I know nothing is 100% accurate, and I know most studies even if they are somewhat accurate probably don't exceed 70% probability even in the specific environments they are enacted in, but lets just be over-generous since this whole thing is rather ridiculous anyway) ... *GASP FOR AIR* ... okay... so you have 66% chance of that particular study being at least somewhat accurate...

Right? ... (rolls percentile dice)... OOOOHH! Man, rolled a 72, looks like I can't believe it.

Rats.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:more like

[yotto]

all studies are biased and show exactly what the person who is doing
them want. much like stats, you can make anything prove anything
through working the #'s and asking the right questions


Can you prove this with a study? If not, I'll not believe you. I asked 100 people if they thought studies were overblown, and 33 of them said 'yes.' Where's /your/ proof? :D

Slashdot Paradox

[nick13245]

What a nice paradox this story presents. "I am lying."

Re:And this study is not nonsense...

[jameszhou2000]

it was published three times?

Studies are wrong because...

[Alpha27]

four out of three people have problems with fractions.

Overblown

[nick_davison]

According to the new study, about a third of all major studies from the last 15 years were subsequently shown to be inaccurate or overblown.

The actual figure turns out to have been 26.4% - much closer to 1/4 than 1/3.

Oh yeah!

[JeiFuRi]

I did my own study and it shows that one half of all studies are nonsense.

Re:Next story

[Anonymous Coward]

The people responsible for the previous study have been sacked.

Re:More nonsense studies:

[Anonymous Coward]

Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day (does beer count?)

Depends. One would have to calculate the water content of beer versus the rate of dehydration produced by the alcohol content. Following through, one would conclude that 8 glasses of beer would fall short of the goal of 8 glasses of pure water, with the only recourse being to drink more beer.

This, kids, is a practical demonstration of how to make science work for you.

Re:Obviously flawed

[MrFlannel]

I heard that 68% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

[insert mindless banter and 30 seconds here]

Oh, did you hear? 46% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Re:Irony meter!

[currivan]

Turkish shepherds look at dead sheep in the town of Gevas, near the city of Van, eastern Turkey, Thursday, July 7, 2005. First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, according to the Turkish media reported on Friday July 8, 2005. In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher.
Yahoo link [yahoo.com]

The study proves itself!

[Frenchman113]

See subject

Re:Obviously flawed

[Draigon]

It's not that boggling when you consider 62% of all Insightful's are Overrated and 83% of all Funny's are Redundant.

Study shows 66.6% chance that 1/3 of studies ....

[frovingslosh]

Correction: Study shows 66.66% chance that 1/3 of studies are nonsense.

Re:nice

[Draigon]

"when is a good time for an airplane full of people to crash into a residential neighborhood?"

When the passengers of that airplane are terrorists and that residential neighborhood is al-Qaeda's? or maybe when the passengers are kittens and that neighborhood is actually a big pile of yarn that coushins the fall. awwww, so cute.

Re:ObSimpsons

[kahanamoku]

Actually, I believe the statistic was Forfty Percent.

Another one C/o Homer:

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!

Obligatory Monty Python quote

[Flashpot]

Ordinary decent people are sick and tired of being told that ordinary decent people are fed up with being sick and tired. Well I'm certainly not, and I'm sick and tired of being told I am!

Re:The topic is stated toooo broadly!

[iminplaya]

Ahhh, academic research... only there can you get paid well to tell us absolutely nothing...

Evidently you've never visited Washington DC.

Re:nice

[d34thm0nk3y]

Thats a pretty good one, my favorite was this one from the CNN news ticker:

"Public split on whether Bush is a divider."

Re:Irony meter!

[jd0g85]

most amusingly ridiculous piece of "legitemate" news[...] got anything to beat it?

Well, from The Daily Show yesterday: a high schooler was charged with asault after he vommitted on his teacher.

Does that count?

concluding..

[tinkerton]

a quick study shows that one third of all slashdot headlines are nonsense.

And another third is inaccurate or overblown.

How Many Statisticians does it take to ....

[Stephen Samuel]

Q: How many statisticians does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: 3.215 ± 3%
. . . 95% of the time.

Re:nice

[GanryuMVP]

CNN is great, my favourite is there comment about the terrorists having "veteran suicide bombers".

If you're a suicide bomber long enough to become a veteran I think there's a good chance you're doing something wrong.