Posted by gary g (208.133.217.147) on November 18, 1999 at 23:55:25:
In Reply to: How many hours did you work under the lights back then? posted by Rose on November 18, 1999 at 16:26:31:
Hi Rose -
was there with the lights on 730-600 - 10 1/2 hrs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BUT
I wonder:
where does this magic 11 1/2 number come from ?
I've seen it mentioned, but always in a general way, without specific research or protocol references
why I ask is this:
(1)
NO such number/quantity is ever fixed that close, for individuals, in nature
(you SEE that sort of proclamation LOTS of times - and it's usually either a grave significant figure error, or a misapplication of group distribution #s to individual casesit's called error in significant figures),
avg numbers usually apply to the distribution in a group only - they DO NOT set a valid detail for a given individual
one of the most SERIOUS errors in science writing & statistical interpretation is to apply avg #s or % of occurence to the individual, that were drawn from numbercrunching a group's total results
Stephen J. Gould wrote a GREAT essay about the pure foolishness common in applying specific #s and epimdemiology type percentages to individual cases - a common practice among docs, unfortunately - the gist is that if 78% of a group of were found to have a particular characteristic, it DID NOT mean that each patient had a 78% chance of having it - each patient either has it or doesn't ie: 100% OR 0%
(it's online somewhere, in a web site re: melanoma, but I'll be damned if I can find it again)
sorta like the old gag about the "average" in a group of 10000 army hospital patients being 1.95 legs, 1.94 eyes, and 1.875 arms - and then stating that a soldier with 2 legs, 2 eyes and 2 arms was therefore abnormal
(2) is the information specific to cluster headache ?
if so - from somebody's theory or from the results of properly controlled, large sample group, research ?
if not - what basis do we have for transferring it to cluster headache?
as far as I have been able to dig out - the connection between CH and light cycles is a very new concept - at least in general discussion -
and I personally am convinced it is an IMPORTANT connection
BUT
if there is a body of properly researched, replicated & confirmed, peer-reviewed, literature dealing with SPECIFIC details of exactly HOW this connection works, and how such fine detail can be drawn from it, I'd sure love a suggestion of where to find it !