login

Multiple comparisons and association selection in general epidemiology

International Journal of EpidemiologyPublished 3 May 2008Open access
Sander Greenland
Citations86
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.69
SNIP2.48
View PDF

TL;DR

Comments here are intended to clarify some points and outline connections of his discussion to broader problems, describing how methods such as Wakefield’s can be appropriate in epidemiology beyond genetic research.

Abstract

In this issue of the journal, Prof. Jon Wakefield provides a contribution to the complex topic of screening genetic associations. My comments here are intended to clarify some points and outline connections of his discussion to broader problems, describing how methods such as Wakefield’s can be appropriate in epidemiology beyond genetic research. I will also comment on a few aspects of his presentation related to technical issues. I will assume (as does Wakefield) that the reader is familiar with the terminology of Bayesian statistics as well that of conventional (frequentist) statistics. I will start with a comment on interpretation of P-values, and then turn to the issue of multiple comparisons.

Keywords

MathematicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology