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Re: "Are you a statistician?"
Oh well. Another *plonk* Norm was lonesome I'm sure. The question "are
you a statistician" is still open but I won't see the answer.
The conspiracy of ignorance masquerades as common sense.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Nelson" <nelsonjima@HOTMAIL.COM>
Cc: <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 1:16 PM
Subject: RE: "Are you a statistician?"
> Mr. Dukelow,
>
> We will indeed need to agree to disagree. I think papers by Field and
Smith
> are very persuasive. It looks like other scientist who adhere to the
> "scientific method" feel the same way. I see this posting at the Iowa
> website http://www.cheec.uiowa.edu/misc/radon.html confirms my beliefs.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
>
> COMMENTS FROM OTHER SCIENTIST
> "The Iowa Radon Lung Cancer Study, conducted by Drs. R. William Field,
> Charles F. Lynch and colleagues represents by far the most substantial
study
> of residential radon health effects accomplished to date. By rigorous
> analysis of radon exposures for women with lung cancer and matched
controls,
> this study has shown a clear association between lung cancer and radon
> exposures in homes.
>
> A major advantage of this study was the high radon levels found in Iowa
> homes, which showed about a 50% increase in lung cancer risk at the EPA
> action level of 4 pCi/L. The Iowa lung Cancer Study is a major milestone
for
> confirming lung cancer incidence due to radon exposures as predicted by
the
> National Academy of Sciences BEIR VI report. The researchers should be
> highly commended for this definitive study showing substantial lung cancer
> risks due to radon exposures in homes."
>
> Raymond Johnson, Certified Health Physicist
> (Past) President, Health Physics Society
>
> I would be glad to discuss this directly with you after you unpack and
check
> the assertions I made. Please email me directly.
>
> Jim Nelson
>
>
> >"Are you a statistician?" Ah, the subtle appeal to authority. I am as
> >much of
> >a statistician as the average epidemiologist. My education is in
> >mathematics
> >and nuclear engineering, with an MA and ABD in Math and an MS in Nuclear
> >Engineering. In my career in the nuclear business I have worked
primarily
> >as a
> >risk and safety analyst. Risk analysis, of course, is essentially
> >probabilistic
> >and statistical. Before my mid-life crisis and switch to nuclear
> >engineering, I
> >taught math full- and part-time in universities and colleges in the U.S.
> >and
> >Venezuela. Since 1986, I have been on the adjunct faculty in Computer
> >Science
> >at the local campus of Washington State University -- and more recently
> >adjunct
> >faculty in Mathematics, teaching on the order of 12-15 courses during
that
> >time
> >-- all of them mathematics, sometimes lightly disguised as computer
> >science. I
> >have taught Baby Statistics and upper division Probability and Statistics
a
> >number of times.
> >
> >That said, I consider myself a mathematician and engineer rather than a
> >statistician. I know enough statistics to be dangerous to myself and
> >others and
> >have, on various occasions, demonstrated both sides of that assertion.
> >
> >I am familiar with Bill Field's Iowa radon study and with his criticisms
of
> >Cohen's work and have discussed both with him. I am unpersuaded. For
the
> >moment, I think we are agreeing to disagree.
> >
> >You make an interesting assertion about Cohen's data that I cannot check
> >immediately, as I am in the process of unpacking my office from a recent
> >carpet
> >replacement. My strong impression/memory of his papers is that his
control
> >for
> >confounding is very strong, much more so than any of the papers Field's
> >cites,
> >including his own.
> >
> >Are you a statistician, Mr. Nelson?
> >
> >Best regards.
> >
> >Jim Dukelow
> >Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
> >Richland, WA
> >jim.dukelow@pnl.gov
> >
> >These comments are mine and have not been reviewed and/or approved by my
> >management or by the U.S. Department of Energy.
>
>
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