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George BJ, Beasley TM, Brown AW, Dawson J, Dimova R, Divers J, Goldsby TU, Heo M, Kaiser KA, Keith S, Kim MY, Li P, Mehta T, Oakes JM, Skinner A, Stuart E, Allison DB. Common scientific and statistical errors in obesity research. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2016; 24:781-90. [PMID: 27028280 PMCID: PMC4817356 DOI: 10.1002/oby.21449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2015] [Revised: 12/04/2015] [Accepted: 12/07/2015] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
This review identifies 10 common errors and problems in the statistical analysis, design, interpretation, and reporting of obesity research and discuss how they can be avoided. The 10 topics are: 1) misinterpretation of statistical significance, 2) inappropriate testing against baseline values, 3) excessive and undisclosed multiple testing and "P-value hacking," 4) mishandling of clustering in cluster randomized trials, 5) misconceptions about nonparametric tests, 6) mishandling of missing data, 7) miscalculation of effect sizes, 8) ignoring regression to the mean, 9) ignoring confirmation bias, and 10) insufficient statistical reporting. It is hoped that discussion of these errors can improve the quality of obesity research by helping researchers to implement proper statistical practice and to know when to seek the help of a statistician.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon J. George
- Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - T. Mark Beasley
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - Andrew W. Brown
- Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
- Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - John Dawson
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409
| | - Rositsa Dimova
- Department of Biostatistics, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260
| | - Jasmin Divers
- Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157
| | - TaShauna U. Goldsby
- Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
- Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - Moonseong Heo
- Department of Epidemiology & Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467
| | - Kathryn A. Kaiser
- Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
- Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - Scott Keith
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Biostatistics, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107
| | - Mimi Y. Kim
- Department of Epidemiology & Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467
| | - Peng Li
- Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - Tapan Mehta
- Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
- Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - J. Michael Oakes
- Department of Epidemiology & Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454
| | - Asheley Skinner
- Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Elizabeth Stuart
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205
| | - David B. Allison
- Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
- Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
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Allison DB, Bassaganya-Riera J, Burlingame B, Brown AW, le Coutre J, Dickson SL, van Eden W, Garssen J, Hontecillas R, Khoo CSH, Knorr D, Kussmann M, Magistretti PJ, Mehta T, Meule A, Rychlik M, Vögele C. Goals in Nutrition Science 2015-2020. Front Nutr 2015; 2:26. [PMID: 26442272 PMCID: PMC4563164 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2015.00026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2015] [Accepted: 08/14/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- David B Allison
- Office of Energetics and Nutrition Obesity Research Center, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, AL , USA ; Section on Statistical Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, AL , USA ; Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, AL , USA ; Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, AL , USA
| | - Josep Bassaganya-Riera
- Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, VA , USA
| | - Barbara Burlingame
- Deakin University , Melbourne, VIC , Australia ; American University of Rome , Rome , Italy
| | - Andrew W Brown
- Office of Energetics and Nutrition Obesity Research Center, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, AL , USA
| | - Johannes le Coutre
- Nestlé Research Center , Lausanne , Switzerland ; Organization for Interdisciplinary Research Projects, The University of Tokyo , Tokyo , Japan ; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - Suzanne L Dickson
- Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden
| | - Willem van Eden
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University , Utrecht , Netherlands
| | - Johan Garssen
- Faculty of Science, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University , Utrecht , Netherlands
| | - Raquel Hontecillas
- Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, VA , USA
| | - Chor San H Khoo
- North American Branch of International Life Sciences Institute , Washington, DC , USA
| | | | - Martin Kussmann
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , Lausanne , Switzerland ; Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences SA , Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - Pierre J Magistretti
- Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology , Thuwal , Saudi Arabia ; Laboratory of Neuroenergetics and Cellular Dynamics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - Tapan Mehta
- Department of Health Services Administration, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, AL , USA
| | - Adrian Meule
- Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg , Salzburg , Austria
| | - Michael Rychlik
- Analytical Food Chemistry, Technische Universität München , Freising , Germany
| | - Claus Vögele
- Research Unit INSIDE, Institute for Health and Behaviour, University of Luxembourg , Luxembourg , Luxembourg
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