“True Believers” or Numerical Terrorism at the Nuclear Power Plant

Walter Krämer and Arminger Gerhard ()
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Arminger Gerhard: Arminger, Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftstatistik, Fachbereich B Wirtschaftswissenschaft, Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstrasse 20, 42097 Wuppertal, Germany

Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), 2011, vol. 231, issue 5-6, 608-620

Abstract: For decades, there has been a heated debate about whether or not nuclear power plants contribute to childhood cancer in their respective neighbourhoods, with statisticians testifying on both sides. The present paper points to some flaws in the pro-arguments, taking a recent study prepared for the political party “Bündnis 90 /Grüne” as a specimen. Typical mistakes include an understatement of the size of tests of significance, disregard of important covariates and extreme reliance on very few selected data points.

Keywords: Significance; data mining; overrejection; Significance; data mining; overrejection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2011-5-604 (text/html)

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Working Paper: "True Believers" or Numerical Terrorism at the Nuclear Power Plant (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:231:y:2011:i:5-6:p:608-620

DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2011-5-604

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