Talk:Anecdotal evidence

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[edit] Gripe about Sample Size Equals One statement

I believe this statement misrepresents the reason anecdotes don't make good statistical models. Small sample size is an issue, but a sample size of one is an unbiased estimator of a population parameter IF the individual was selected at random. In my view the problem with anecdotes is self-selection bias so maybe I'll add something to that effect. The 'get an F' thing is funny, though. Jorge 19:54, 16 February 2009 (EST)

[edit] Lemon

Even though we're supposed to be "de-CPing" it seems a shame not to have the crowning Andy anecdote:

Chief Justice Warren Burger, who later lamented hostility to religion, wrote the Lemon decision for the Court but admitted privately in a dinner conversation with Andrew Schlafly in late 1991 that Burger never intended for it to be applied in the broad manner that it was.
Footnote 9 Burger/Schlafly dinner conversation
06:08, 14 June 2010 (UTC) SusanG Toast

[edit] Error

I'm not entirely sure what this is meant to say, but I suspect it's some kind of error. It's 2AM, so it might be caused by my fatigue, but here it is:

"Therefore, if someone who is on the medication dies, you cannot tell if they would have died anyway without it - you can't prove that the medical intervention worked, or not, from the one case study."

Here the anecdote is related to the anecdote. If you understand the medication, why it works and how it works, then you can be rather sure that no medical intervention certainly would have lead to death in this case, if the patient apparently was unable to survive the injury/illness despite the medical intervention. -195.240.170.18 (talk) 00:13, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

[edit] Move

Aside from the completely unnecessary opening sentences, this is entirely about anecdotal evidence. As such, I think it should be moved to "anecdotal evidence". ЩєазєюіδWeaselly.jpgMethinks it is a Weasel 01:28, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

I concur. B♭maj7 (talk) Member of the Kara Duhe fan club since 2010 01:38, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
Yes.--Кřěĵ (ṫåɬк) 15:24, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Testimonial

I think this should be merged with testimonial.--Кřěĵ (ṫåɬк) 15:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Too medical

This article focuses almost exclusively on anecdotal evidence in relation to medical matters, but includes nothing about its use in non-medical contexts. I realize this is mostly my fault, but I don't really know how to go about expanding the article.--Кřěĵ (ṫåɬк) 09:56, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Possible topics include:
A) Anecdotes relating to the effects of various measures (like gun control or light pollution reduction) on crime levels
B) Global warming anecdotes ("It's freezing outside, the coldest it's been in years! How can the earth possibly be warming up? Idiots.")
C) Relation to stereotypes and prejudices ("All the black people I've known have been violent criminals", "Jews are crooks", etc.)

--Кřěĵ (ṫåɬк) 10:34, 24 August 2014 (UTC)

[edit] Valid uses of anecdotal evidence

There should be at least 'a nod' that there are #some# valid uses of anecdotal evidence - as a starting point for research, and eg the 'don't drop it on your toes' pharmacopeia which notes isolated instances with drugs ('young person consumed x pills - no harm resulted' and similar). 82.44.143.26 (talk) 15:08, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

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