Please which one of these correct and if you think you need D Scientific questio
ID: 5327 • Letter: P
Question
Please which one of these correct and if you think you need DScientific questions
4. Which of the following is/are true?
A. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
B. Evidence of absence is not absence of evidence
C. Evidence of evidence is not absence of absence
D.
Many of the questions below refer to the following article
Explanation / Answer
answer . A. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence The non-equivalence of statistical significance andclinical importance has long been recognised, but this error ofinterpretation remains common. Although a significant result in alarge study may sometimes not be clinically important, a fargreater problem arises from misinterpretation of non-significantfindings. By convention a P value greater than 5% (P>0.05) iscalled "not significant." Randomised controlled clinical trialsthat do not show a significant difference between the treatmentsbeing compared are often called "negative." This term wronglyimplies that the study has shown that there is no difference,whereas usually all that has been shown is an absence of evidenceof a difference. These are quite different statements. we are told that "there is no evidencethat A causes B" we should first ask whether absence of evidence means simply that there is noinformation at all. If there are data we should look forquantification of the association rather than just a P value. Whererisks are small P values may well mislead: confidence intervals arelikely to be wide, indicating considerable uncertainty. While wecan never prove the absence of a relation, when necessary we shouldseek evidence against the link between A and B--for example, fromcase-control studies. The importance of carrying out such studieswill relate to the seriousness of the postulated effect and howwidespread is the exposure in the population.