and

Error

Bias (FA12 p56) (FA13 p53) (SU13 p41)

Statistical distribution (FA12 p57) (FA13 p54) (SU13 p42-43)
Null hypothesis (FA12 p57) (FA13 p54) (SU13 p43)
Error (FA12 p57) (FA13 p54) (SU13 p43)
Power (FA12 p58) (FA13 p55)

B ias

Bias and Error

3 Question Warm-Up
1. Which hormones share a common alpha subunit? (SU13 p143)

2. What is the difference between a case-control study, a cohort study, and a clinical
trial? Which studies use odds ratios, and which use relative risks?
(FA12 p52) (FA13 p50) (SU13 p41)

3. Which neoplasm is most commonly responsible for each of the following hormone
paraneoplastic syndromes? (FA12 p255) (FA13 p223)
ACTH Cushing syndrome
PTH-related peptide hypercalcemia
Erythropoietin polycythemia
ADH SIADH

4. Examples of Bias:

MEDICINE IN SOCIETY

Selection bias The referral centers for a trial of a new anticancer drug have more patients
with end stage disease than early stage, so more patients with end stage disease are
referred for the trial than early stage disease.
Berksons bias Studies performed on patients that have been hospitalized type of
selection bias
Recall bias Parents of autism patients having a more detailed recall of events and illnesses
in their childs first two years of life compared to parents of healthy controls.
Sampling bias A study performed in China may not be generalizable to the US population.
Late-look bias Sending a survey out to people diagnosed with a fatal illness 5 years after
diagnosis will preferentially sample those with a low grade disease (or few comorbidities)
Procedure bias The positive benefit of a new drug during a study simply may have been
due to the fact that study participants were required to attend clinic monthly, where they
received extra disease education and counseling compared with the controls.
Confounding bias Are asbestos miners more likely to have cancer because they mine
asbestos or because they are more likely to smoke?
Lead-time bias While test PSA-xyz may detect prostate cancer before it is detected by a
traditional PSA, early detection using PSA-xyz does not increase cancer survival compared
to traditional PSA.
Pygmalion effect An orthopedic surgeon investigator who finds statistically significant
benefit of arthroscopic surgery when compared to non-invasive therapeutic strategies. A
chiropractor-led study that finds significant benefit of the effects of cervical manipulation
when compared to traditional medicine strategies.
Hawthorn effect When studying the effects that infection control education has on
physicians, the investigator notes that both the experimental and the control groups
improve their hand hygiene.

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Error
and

B ias

End of Session Quiz

5. Study X shows that vitamin C can prevent Coronavirus infections, but 10 other
studies show no benefit. What type of error is found in study X?
(FA12 p57) (FA13 p54) (SU13 p43)

6. Study Y shows that aspirin administration during an MI offers no improvement in

patient morbidity or mortality. What type of error is present?
(FA12 p57) (FA13 p54) (SU13 p43)

7. What is the difference between the mean, median, and mode?

(FA12 p57) (FA13 p54) (SU13 p42)

8. What does it mean to say that a statistical distribution has a positive skew?
(FA12 p57) (FA13 p54) (SU13 p42)

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