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Study "Proves" Parachutes Ineffective

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 23 2018, @03:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the Science-Interpretation-Guide dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k5094

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/22/679083038/researchers-show-parachutes-dont-work-but-there-s-a-catch

A study has been done, and the surprising result is that parachutes are no more effective than a backpack in preventing injuries when jumping out of an airplane.

It's "common sense" that parachutes work, so it has been a neglected field of science. This surprising and counter-intuitive result is an excellent example of the importance of doing science.

... or maybe it's a perfect example of how top-line study headlines can be mis-representative, especially when portrayed by the mass-media, and how understanding study scope and methodology is important.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @12:59AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @12:59AM (#777969)

    This is exactly how NHST is commonly used:

    Our groundbreaking study found no statistically significant difference in the primary outcome between the treatment and control arms. Our findings should give momentary pause to experts who advocate for routine use of parachutes for jumps from aircraft in recreational or military settings.
    [...]
    Should our results be reproduced in future studies, the end of routine parachute use during jumps from aircraft could save the global economy billions of dollars spent annually to prevent injuries related to gravitational challenge.

    https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k5094 [bmj.com]

    So if they keep getting "no significance", then people should stop using parachutes when jumping from aircraft.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @01:10AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @01:10AM (#777970)

    *When that aircraft is resting on the ground and motionless.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @01:40AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 24 2018, @01:40AM (#777981)

      Billions of dollars are spent annually on people jumping from landed motionless airplanes with parachutes?

      I don't think they meant to avoid extrapolating to flying airplanes, but even if they had meant to limit the conclusion to stationary ones it would still be fallacious reasoning.