Simpson’s paradox
Simpson’s paradox An article in the British Medical Journal [“Comparison of treatment of renal calculi by operative surgery, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy” (1986, Vol. 82, pp. 879–892)] provided the following discussion of success rates in kidney stone removals. Open surgery had a success rate of 78% (273/350) and a newer method, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PN), had a success rate of 83% (289/350). This newer method looked better, but the results changed when stone diameter was considered. For stones with diameters less than 2 centimeters, 93% (81/87) of cases of open surgery were successful compared with only 83% (234/270) of cases of PN. For stones greater than or equal to 2 centimeters, the success rates were 73% (192/263) and 69% (55/80) for open surgery and PN, respectively. Open surgery is better for both stone sizes, but less successful in total. In 1951, E. H. Simpson pointed out this apparent contradiction (known as Simpson’s par