Schwartz S, Carpenter K M
Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Am J Public Health. 1999 Aug;89(8):1175-80. doi: 10.2105/ajph.89.8.1175.
This study examined the impact of assessing the causes of interindividual variation within a population when the research question of interest is about causes of differences between populations or time periods. This discrepancy between the research focus and the research question is referred to as a type III error, one that provides the right answer for the wrong question.
Homelessness, obesity, and infant mortality were used to illustrate different consequences of type III errors. These different consequences depend on the relationships between the causes of within- and between-group variation.
The causes of inter-individual variation and the causes of variation between populations and time periods may be distinct. The problem of examining invariant causes deserves attention.
本研究探讨了当感兴趣的研究问题是关于不同人群或不同时间段之间差异的原因时，评估人群内部个体间变异原因的影响。研究重点与研究问题之间的这种差异被称为III型错误，即对错误问题给出了正确答案。
以无家可归、肥胖和婴儿死亡率为例，说明III型错误的不同后果。这些不同后果取决于组内变异原因与组间变异原因之间的关系。
个体间变异的原因与不同人群和不同时间段之间变异的原因可能不同。研究不变原因的问题值得关注。
