Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
Patterns in wireless phone estimation data from a cross-sectional survey: what are the implications for epidemiology?
Redmayne M, Smith E, Abramson MJ. · 2012
View Original AbstractEMF health studies may be unreliable because people systematically misremember their phone usage, potentially masking true radiation risks.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied how accurately teenagers remember and estimate their cell phone usage by surveying 373 students about their texting and calling habits. They discovered that people think about phone usage on a logarithmic scale, meaning they round numbers heavily (like saying 20 instead of 17, or 200 instead of 180) and become less precise with larger numbers. This finding is important because many EMF health studies rely on people accurately recalling how much they used their phones, but this research shows those estimates may be systematically flawed.
Study Details
Self-reported recall data are often used in wireless phone epidemiological studies, which in turn are used to indicate relative risk of health outcomes from extended radiofrequency exposure. We sought to explain features commonly observed in wireless phone recall data and to improve analytical procedures.
Each of the 16 schools selected a year 7 and/or 8 class to participate, providing a representative r...
The nature and extent of number-rounding, and the distribution of data across each order in recall d...
Adolescents’ estimation of their cellphone use indicated that it was performed on a mental logarithmic scale. This is the first time this phenomenon has been observed in the estimation of recalled, as opposed to observed, numerical quantities. Our findings provide empirical justification for log-transforming data for analysis. We recommend the use of the geometric rather than arithmetic mean when a recalled numerical range is provided. A point of calibration may improve recall.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2012_patterns_in_wireless_phone_3324,
author = {Redmayne M and Smith E and Abramson MJ.},
title = {Patterns in wireless phone estimation data from a cross-sectional survey: what are the implications for epidemiology?},
year = {2012},
url = {https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/5/e000887.short},
}