Improving the Quality of Statistics in Psychiatric Research

Abstract

David Hand: The paper by McGuigan in this issue of the BJP examines the frequency of errors in statistical methods presented in papers published in the BJP in 1993. In that year, 248 papers appeared, 164 contained numerical results, and 65 of these contained statistical errors. So, one might infer, some 26% of the papers in the BJP draw potentially doubtful conclusions. Moreover, the level of misunderstanding implied by some of the examples McGuigan cites is frightening.