I am wary of models that use more obscure variables or combinations of variables that happen to "fit" the past data better but that will produce overconfident forecasts when applied predicatively.
Some political scientists have tried to explain these exceptions by resorting to an alphabet soup of economic indicators, conjuring obscure variables like R.D.P.I.P.C. (real disposable-personal-income per capita), which they claim can predict elections with remarkable accuracy.
After much obscure (and variable) music, a lighthearted concluding program, "The Cult of the Child" on Sunday evening, came as a relief.
They argue leadership is too socially/culturally embedded and explanations taken from outside the local social culture may be reductionist or translations that obscure important variables.
In summary, we controlled some important factors, such as antiretroviral agents, which may affect the pharmacokinetics of methadone severely and confounded (or obscured) related variables that may have an impact on the methadone plasma concentrations and treatment responses.
There will generally be one or two variables, obscure volcanoes or odd abbreviations squeezed in to make it work.
Two design principles are used frequently in clinical trials: 1) A subject is "matched" or "paired" with a similar subject to reduce the chance that other variables obscure the primary comparison of interest.
A small sample size, and an exclusively categorical approach to ADHD may also have served to obscure associations between variables of interest.
Pre-progression rates are not assessed -- yet imbalances across the treatment groups in this important variable could obscure true treatment differences, or could create apparent differences when there is no drug effect, especially in long duration clinical trials.
The effects lingered into the 1980s.Once just an obscure statistical method, instrumental variables are now popping up all over the place.
