Applying Quantitative Bias Analysis to Epidemiologic Data

摘要

Virtually all epidemiological textbooks insist on the importance of quantitative bias analysis for observational studies but none has offered so far a simple and systematic guide on how to do it. Applying Quantitative Bias Analysis to Epidemiologic Data aims at changing the state of things by 'collecting] existing methods of quantitative bias analysis, explaining] them, illustrating] them with examples and link[ing] them to tools for implementation' (page 3). Chapter 1 uses evidence from evolutionary psychology to show that epidemiologists, as all human beings, have intrinsic sources of bias and that 'debiasing', i.e. the sometimes promoted attitude of reducing one's enthusiasm about the study results, simply will not work.