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Analysis Of A Newspaper Reserach Article

Analysis of a Newspaper Research Report
Cathy Jaco
University of Phoenix
NUR 438: Statistical Applications
Valerie Opher, BSN, RN, MAS, DM
March 11, 2007


Analysis of a Newspaper Research Report
The well-known saying "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics," attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and popularized in the U.S. by Mark Twain, illustrates the extent to which the pubic can be confused by newspaper articles highlighting research statistics. (Rumsey, 2003, p. 17). Simply by opening a newspaper, readers find results of studies, announcements of breakthroughs, statistical reports, forecasts, projections, charts, graphs and summaries of research. Although Disraeli's and Twain's comment may not be directed solely at newspaper research reports, the importance of detecting errors and possible exaggerations in the media cannot be overlooked. This paper will describe a research study funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and published in The New York Times on January 25, 2007. Observations will be made about the statistical procedures used, the study findings and conclusions, and the appropriateness of these findings.
Background of Research Study
In March 2003, 613 hospitals involved in a quality-benchmarking database, known as Perspective, agreed to participate in the CMS-Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID), a multiyear collaborative of hospitals with the goal to "determine if economic incentives are effective at improving quality of inpatient care" (Lindenauer et al., 2007, p. 3). The impentus for the study was based on both CMS' and Congress' fundamental concern over the current payment system. The intent of the study was to measure how public reporting and pay-for-performance accelerate improvements in hospital care. The study measured changes in adherence to10 individual and four composite measures of quality over a two-year period with additional comparisons between...