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Rapid response to:

Research Christmas 2014: Going to Extremes

The Darwin Awards: sex differences in idiotic behaviour

BMJ 2014; 349 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7094 (Published 11 December 2014) Cite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g7094

Rapid Response:

Sir,
I found the publication of this study astonishing.
If a woman crashed her car because she was applying her makeup while driving, would we the take this as evidence of a trait of self-destructive vanity in all women? Or might we understand that few men wear make-up and so are less likely to be in that position?

Simply adding a few of the many caveats that might influence your outcomes into an article does not justify publishing as science a vast extrapolation of a small amount of highly selective anecdotal "evidence".

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to document the genetic tendency to suicide in Sauropods. After all, there a none of them around any more.

Competing interests: No competing interests

14 December 2014
Steve J Deeley
Lawyer
3 Sandwood Close, Sparcells, Swindon, SN5 5FA