Towards sound epistemological foundations of statistical methods for high-dimensional biology
Tapan Mehta1, Murat Tanik, David B Allison
1Department of Biostatistics, Section on Statistical Genetics, Ryals Public Health Building, Suite 327, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Boulevard, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA.
Abstract:
A sound epistemological foundation for biological inquiry comes, in part, from application of valid statistical procedures. This tenet is widely appreciated by scientists studying the new realm of high-dimensional biology, or 'omic' research, which involves multiplicity at unprecedented scales. Many papers aimed at the high-dimensional biology community describe the development or application of statistical techniques. The validity of many of these is questionable, and a shared understanding about the epistemological foundations of the statistical methods themselves seems to be lacking. Here we offer a framework in which the epistemological foundation of proposed statistical methods can be evaluated.
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