Re: Alternate explanations

["R. William Field" <bill-field@uiowa.edu>]

Dale,

Now that you waded in, you stated "    ",


"Dr. Cohen's data show the bodies are missing to a high degree of precision."

How does his data do that?  What do you mean by precision?


"Random confounding factors can only dilute the effect not invert it."

Why do you think the confounding factors are random?  

Dale, I would suggest you get a copy of a paper by Hal Morgenstern,
American Journal of Public Health, Uses of Ecologic Analysis in
Epidemiologic Research, Volume 72(12)1337-1343, 1982.  

"A long time ago I took age adjusted cancer deaths from the 1985
American Cancer Society pamplet and plotted them against mean
state altitude.  To a very great degree the cancer death rates were anti-
correlated with mean altitude and therefore background exposure."

Did you adjust the rates for smoking?

Regards, Bill Field
bill-field@uiowa.edu