There are some great cartoons about epidemiology and population health out there. Here are some of my favourites…
1. ‘Correlation’ by xkcd
As any epidemiologist will tell you, correlation (or association) does not always mean causation! For example, having grey hair is associated with higher mortality but most readers will realise there is an alternative explanation for this association. Austin Bradford-Hill published a famous list of things that might suggest an association is causal in 1965.
2. ‘Correlation or Causation’ by Bloomberg is fun and deals with the same issue.
3. I like this South African cartoon about the importance of keeping things in perspective. I don’t know who drew it.
4. The cartoonist Zapiro has brilliantly chronicled the recent history of AIDS in South Africa. This cartoon attacking the late Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, is, I think, particularly good. For those unfamiliar with the back-story, there is a brief account under the cartoon and a longer account here.
5. I’ve just started a PhD and was pointed towards this visual representation of the process, which I thought elegant. Keeping things in perspective, again!
If you know of other good cartoons on epidemiology or population health, I’d love to hear from you.
Enjoy!
Hi Tom,
Here’s a few more to add to your collection:
1) Another causation/correlation one – http://www.blacktriangle.org/blog/?p=2397
2) Good example of Bradford-Hill’s temporality… http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics-24-mistakes-in-the-direction-of-causation/
Best wishes
David
My friend Laurie pointed out this nice cartoon about the difference between Bayesians and frequentists – http://xkcd.com/1132/. Definition of a Bayesian – someone who expecting a horse finds a donkey strongly concludes that it is a mule!
As an ID epidemiologist working in HIV clinical trials research within a university biostatistics department run by a Bayesian, I found all of this absolutely delightful!