Top Secrets of the Scientific Method

    A hot debate in the healthcare and research worlds has followed Claudia Wallis’ accusations of irresponsibility by Michael Waldman and his colleagues. The economics professors pointed out a statistical correlation between “…reported autism cases, cable TV subscription data and weather reports. Yes, weather reports…” as Wallis sneers in her Time.com article, “A Bizarre Study Suggests that Watching TV causes Autism.” 

   Obviously, she assumes that the reader will see immediately the ridiculous nature of this claim. In fact, you’re probably thinking, “Sure, that’s seems ridiculous to me.”  It's true, as Wallis excitedly points out, that there is currently no known scientific mechanism for TV watching to cause autism.  That's where research comes in - to determine whether or not such a claim is, in fact, plausible.

   "Wait," you say, "didn't he already do the research?"  We all learned the Scientific Method in grade school. Repeat it with me: “Observation, Hypothesis, Prediction, Experimentation.” So in order to suggest that autism and television watching are connected, Waldman followed this simple formula and reached his conclusions, right?