Abstract
From the medical literature one might gain the impression that data analysis is not much more than a matter of choosing the right estimators and making the appropriate adjustments for confounders. Yet the process of data analysis has important ethical and practical dimensions that are less apparent from reading research papers. In analyzing data, there are interactions among multiple persons, and critical decisions must be made for the calculation and selection of outputs for reporting. Even if the analysis plan is very well designed, each step in the analysis process is liable to becoming a source of bias, irreproducibility, inefficiency, poor documentation, disrespect for confidentiality, and even fraud. This chapter explores the causes of analytical deviances and strategies to prevent them. These topics are contextualized with discussions of the importance of ethical data analysis and the responsibilities of analysts involved in a research study.
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Van den Broeck, J., Brestoff, J.R. (2013). The Ethics of Study Analysis. In: Van den Broeck, J., Brestoff, J. (eds) Epidemiology: Principles and Practical Guidelines. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5989-3_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5989-3_26
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