Depression Incidence and Vitamin D Concentration in NHANES Survey Data

A Case Study in Collaboration and Causal Inference



Julia Piaskowski & Yimin Chen

October 10, 2024

https://jpiaskowski.gitlab.io/talks/nhanes-magic/

Watch from 5:20-6:10 to see some neat card tricks.

Statistical Consulting

Frequently

  • linear model -> ANOVA -> p-values
  • correlation -> coefficient of correlation
  • t-test -> p-values
  • test every column in a spreadsheet

Problems with this Approach

  • Single-minded focus on p-values and/or correlation at the expense of understanding systems or correctly reporting results.

  • An underlying assumption that statistics (magically) extracts meaningful results.

  • Fishing for any pairwise association without fully considering the implications of that relationship