Re: All fMRI studies are not created equal
I'll second the reference to John Ioannidis. Please do read some of the articles about him.
In addition to the publicized (in the popular press) larger review of "the most referenced medical articles" that found serious problems with many of them, I believe it was he that long ago, as an exercise in statistics and medical referencing, had a class look back to the most referenced foundational assertions of modern medical science (thus 1800's thru early 1900's). I don't remember the numbers, but a few fundamental assertions had never been verified/duplicated, others were accidentally contradicted, and others more than subtly modified in experimental results.
In medical practice, you (the patient) hope that treatments are evidence-based and results-checked. In medical research, you (the researcher) hope the studies are and continue to be funded. Too careful adherence to the factually medically beneficial is often not 'rewarding' to the researcher.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
