Joe Murphy (jemurphy5730@gmail.com) is a Senior Advisor at Compliance Strategists, SCCE’s Director of Public Policy, and Editor-in-Chief of CEP Magazine.
No, a new study does not prove anything. A new study is just a data point. It’s a reason for you to do some thinking and some digging.
Recently I was a reading an interesting and provocative book: The Data Detective by Tim Harford.[1] It gives insight into how various kinds of studies can go off track. Being inspired, I drafted one of my fire-breathing pieces, taking aim at lots of studies I had seen. But having learned a lesson about this over the years, I sent the draft to three very smart friends. Each in their own wise way challenged what I was saying. Like the book, their feedback made me think.