As we begin our journey through the abortion/breast cancer literature it is useful to define a few terms that will be in constant use. If there are any questions about the terms, their usage, etc. please feel free to request a clarification.
I ask that all questions be asked here on the blog, and not on facebook, as there are readers from several forums, and it benefits all if the Q&A is at the source. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
So here they are, just a few definitions. For the math phobes reading, this is very basic stuff. Reading it once or twice will get the job done. In every posting, I shall link back to this list of definitions, and may add one or two as we go along.
First Full Term Pregnancy (FFTP)- The first pregnancy a woman brings to term.
The following are from Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 27th Edition.
Parous- Pertaining to Parity
Parity- The condition of having given birth to an infant or infants, alive or dead; a multiple birth is considered as a single parous experience.
Nulliparous- Never having borne a child.
The following are from Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition by Nelson and Williams.
Case Control Studies- A group of persons with a disease—the cases—is compared with a group of persons without the disease—the controls.
Relative Risk (RR)- The relative risk (RR) is the attack rate among those exposed to the risk factor divided by the attack rate in those who were not exposed. If those who ate hors d’oeuvres were no more likely to become ill than those who did not, the attack rates would be equal and the RR would be 1.
{Gerry’s note: In this example if 15 out of 100 who ate the hors d’oeuvres got sick and 15 out of 100 who did not eat them got sick, then the formula would be RR=.15/.15, (15 % divided by 15%) which when divided comes out to 1. Therefore the hors d’oeuvres could not be implicated in the illnesses}
If those who ate hors d’oeuvres were more likely to become ill than those who did not, this ratio would be greater than 1 and the hors d’oeuvres would be a risk factor for illness.
{Gerry’s note: If 20 out of 100 who ate hors d’oeuvres got sick and 15 out of 100 who did not eat them got sick, then the formula would be RR=.20/.15 (20% divided by 15%) which when divided comes out to 1.333. This is .333 above no risk, which is 33% increased risk because of the hors d’oeuvres.}
Statistical Significance- To determine whether the association is statistically significant, the epidemiologist must be able to demonstrate that the results are unlikely to be explained by chance alone. Epidemiologists commonly use the 95% Confidence Interval.
95% Confidence Interval (CI)- (5% of the time the relative risk (RR) will be between the upper and lower limits of the CI if the experiment were repeated.
{Gerry’s note: In other words, the researcher is confident to within 95% that the results are repeatable and not explainable by chance alone}
Beginning with tomorrow’s post, we shall see that some researchers will establish relative risks within 95% confidence intervals —which is the benchmark used for statistical significance— then dismiss the results as statistically insignificant in their discussions. Dr. Louise Brinton does this in a 2009 paper while simultaneously referring to abortion as a known risk factor for breast cancer based upon RR and CI data that she simultaneously embraces and disowns.
Thus the mental illness of abortion apologetics and its corrosive effects on all that it touches, including scientific integrity.
[...] case-control, nulliparous, parous, relative risk, confidence interval, etc.) and their significance here. Please consult it as often as is necessary and ask questions [...]
[...] written a brief glossary of the terms used in these studies here. If you see a term with which you are unfamiliar, you’ll find it in [...]
[...] confortable with the jargon (I hope). For ease of newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very [...]
[...] confortable with the jargon (I hope). For ease of newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] confortable with the jargon (I hope). For ease of newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] confortable with the jargon (I hope). For ease of newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] confortable with the jargon (I hope). For ease of newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
Holy Cow, Gerry, I went to law school because I wanted my clients to pay experts like you to interpret these statistics for us! : – )
After reading your examples, I am not sure I am ever eating at a cocktail party ever again. My confidence level has significantly dropped. ar ar ar
Statistics play an important role in genetics. For instance, statistics prove that numbers of offspring is an inherited trait. If your parent didn’t have any kids, odds are you won’t either.
Hey Chuck,
Don’t pay me. Make a donation to the people who’ve already done the heavy lifting:
Karen Malec-Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Dr. Angela Lanfranchi/Dr. Joel Brind- Breast Cancer Prevention Institute
Dr. Chris Kahlenborn- Polycarp Institute
They all need our $upport
[...] confortable with the jargon (I hope). For ease of newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] confortable with the jargon (I hope). For ease of newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] ease newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] ease newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] ease newcomers following along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] 7, 2010 by Gerard M. Nadal For easing newcomers along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]
[...] easing newcomers along , please consult the glossary of terms that I’ve written to make the terminology very understandable. Also, consult the post that [...]