Neat article on how a persuasive but flawed study led to the conclusion that left-handed people die nine years earlier than right-handed people. The research was published in top journals (Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine) in the late 1980s/early 1990s: . From the article:
"[The researchers] took a list of the people who had recently died and contacted their families, asking whether or not their relative had been right- or left-handed.
Looking at 2,000 cases, they saw that the average age at death of the left-handers was about nine years younger than of the right-handers. On that basis, they concluded that left-handers died earlier.
At first glance, that seems persuasive. What did the researchers do wrong?"
Can you guess what they did wrong? For the answer, read the article in the BBC.
"[The researchers] took a list of the people who had recently died and contacted their families, asking whether or not their relative had been right- or left-handed.
Looking at 2,000 cases, they saw that the average age at death of the left-handers was about nine years younger than of the right-handers. On that basis, they concluded that left-handers died earlier.
At first glance, that seems persuasive. What did the researchers do wrong?"
Can you guess what they did wrong? For the answer, read the article in the BBC.
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