Healthy And Unhealthy Statistics: Examining The Impact Of Erroneous Statistical Analyses In Health-Related Research

Sound statistical analyses are essential to the advancement of medicine. Although certainly not always the case, far too many publications are based on weak or inappropriate statistical methodology, leading to questionable results. Statistical reporting guidelines and standards for research are being introduced which should help curb this problem. Wide recognition of the need for statistical methodologies aligned with research questions and study designs, and the impact when this is not the case, would help prevent this problem. In this thesis, I illustrate the consequences of erroneous statistical analyses on data from an observational study on Multiple Sclerosis and I investigate the impact of inappropriate survival analyses through a simulation study