If a systematic review finds only small, poorly-done studies on a topic but they have mostly null results should it conclude #EpiTwitter
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Also, should note - I'm not saying that calling for no more studies means that we think the question is closed, just that it doesn't seem worth pursuing with more research
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Depends on who cares about the topic. If it's children dropping dead in the street, onwards. If it's some deeply obscure quasi-metaphorical psychological bollocks, bin it. You didn't say anything about the MECHANISM. Gimme a prior.
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I think most of the examples I've seen are unimportant possibly bollocks. I don't think I've ever seen an SR on something killing children that hasn't included bigger studies because that shit attracts funding
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I think the answer depends on the importance of the topic. If there's only one poor study on the psychological aesthetics of Pantone 217 vs. 243, who cares? If a mediocre study suggests that methane emissions above 60° latitude are underestimated, that's a different story.
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Well a nice example of this is vaccines and autism in the post Wakefield era. I think recent studies have still looked at this despite hundreds disproving it already. But I guess there is still need as the anti vac crowd continues to grow
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You need an "it depends" button!! I once saw a SR looking for associations between yoghurt and a health outcome (prospective cohort studies), concluded "More research needed" with >100,000 participants and a p-value of 0.14. At that level I think you can say "no association"
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Nah I'm not talking about SRs with large cohorts, I'm talking about n=200 from 9 studies most of which were at high risk of bias. What then? Do we call for more research or consider the question no longer worth pursuing?
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Depends on the plausibility, prior probability of the intervention. If zero (or very low), no more studies!
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