July 6, 2014

Living in a 
 Nuclear World ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Size Matters

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! ! Plan for Future III, Page 1

July 6, 2014

“Small sample sizes will reduce the power of a study; however, large sample sizes in each group will practically assure statistical significance between the two groups.” jorthod.maneyjournals.org/content/30/2/99.full!

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“…all else being equal, large sized sample leads to increased precision in estimates of various properties of the population.”! http://explorable.com/sample-size!

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"Consequential research requires an understanding of the statistics that drive sample size decisions." www.qualtrics.com/blog/determining-sample-size/!

! Considerations for assessing scientific research studies! !

Abstract! Introduction! Background! Purpose! What are the inherent limitations of this type of study?! Does the research design fit the stated purpose of the study?! Has the author omitted from the Background section important points that could affect the study design or interpretation of the results?! Peer review! Methodology! Could the study be interpreted to conclude something else?! Are there any methodological flaws in the study that should be considered when making conclusions?! How does this work fit with the body of research on the subject?! Randomness in Selection and Assignment! Sample Size! http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expid/Understanding-scientific-studies/!

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Not everyone has had the opportunity to learn how to conduct research that results in consequential data and conclusions. But, with a little information in hand, almost anyone can spot poorly conducted research. This is important especially when research results being presented have wide ranging impacts, especially when it comes to foods eaten by large numbers of people from all over the world. !

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Research of food derived from the world’s oceans must be comprehensive, must provide history to establish a sense of “normal” conditions and baseline attributes of the specimens presented in the research. Without these attributes, a report on seafood, by the Alaska Department of Environment and Conservation and the Food and Drug Administration (DEC/FDA), for example, is nothing more than a small slice of the whole picture. Such a report lacking a large specimen selection, use of a small number of collected specimens, and which is not conducted over a

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July 6, 2014

long time frame is not deep enough to be considered consequential and as such ought not be professed to be conclusive about the subject being studied. News outlets showcasing such a study are pushing a poorly designed, inconsequential report.!

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The recent DEC/FDA study, found here: http://dec.alaska.gov/eh/Radiation/Docs/Radiation %20Not%20Detected%20in%20Fish%20Charts%2006-27-2014v2.pdf lacks sufficient data. Only three radionuclides were selected for discovery and analysis. One of those isotopes, I-131, is short-lived and would not likely be found in samples taken. See radionuclides expected to have emitted from Fukushima here: http://www.countercurrents.org/hamer160511.htm and here http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/1425/2013/acp-13-1425-2013.pdf and here http://rt.com/opedge/chernobyl-fukushima-crisis-catastrophe-715/.!

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There are not many other aspects that can be discussed about the scope, methodology, and import of the DEC/FDA study because the study itself lacks sufficient information to analyze. !

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Size matters - research studies on seafood requires long time lines, larger sample pools, a larger selection of different specimens, and background information provided by other research to provide comparative and historic data. !

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See Alaska invertebrates list: 
 http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=animals.listinvertebrates ! See Alaska Fish list: 
 http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=animals.listfish!


 We must give earth, peace, and science a chance.

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