Airbourne cocaine levels cause cancer
That got your attention didn’t it? The article Are You Inhaling Secondhand Coke? certainly got my attention when I read it on Slashdot but more in the kind of “correlation being misinterpreted as causation” way.
To be fair to the scientists in the study, they do actually say this, but the journalist who wrote it up did not find it necessary to include that information until the reader is about three quarters of the way through the article.
Somebody should nominate this for Stat of the Week.
James Curran's interests are in statistical problems in forensic science. He consults with forensic agencies in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He produces and maintains expert systems software for the interpretation of evidence. He has experience as an expert witness in DNA and glass evidence, appearing in courts in the United States and Australia. He has very strong interests in statistical computing, and in automation projects. See all posts by James Curran »