An investigator finds that countries with higher average chocolate consumption win more Nobel Prizes and concludes that eating chocolate makes individuals more likely to win. What is this erroneous inference called?

• A Overmatching
• B Simpson's paradox
• C Regression dilution bias
• D Ecological fallacy ✓

Explanation

An ecological study compares group-level aggregates, and a correlation observed between groups need not hold at the individual level. Applying the group-level association to individuals is the ecological fallacy. Simpson's paradox describes reversal of an association after stratification by a confounder, regression dilution refers to attenuation of associations from measurement error in exposure, and overmatching occurs in matched designs when matching on a variable linked to exposure but not disease reduces the observable association.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 26th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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