Nelie - Well said. Be assured that you need not protect my students. We teach nothing close to the absolutes of babies tossed with bathwater. Critical thinking is the very heart of the matter.

This began with a few 'stranded' statistics about the "causes" of H/N cancers. My fear is that too many people read a statisitic, or a table filled with numbers and thereby feel fully informed - the romance and importance of numbers in action.

My issue here is this: A study about drinking behaviors in relation to cancer is not necessarily helpful to a survivor trying to make a decision about drinking. So many factors play in this complex issue that real controls for bias would be extremely difficult. Rather than choose a new behavior from this study, I would prefer the reader find additional studies before making a personal decision.

The presence of qualified researchers and lots of impressive tables in one study - any study - is likely not going to fully inform an individual's decisions. There is too much respect given to statistics by people who may not understand them. Proof of this is in the highly specialized process of peer review. Science among scientists is wonderful. Raw science in the hands of a non-scientist is an invitation for mis-interpretation and potentially poor choices.

Thank you for clarifying these issues for me. I learn everyday. Tom