The Dougherty lab recently shared its new preprint, “Erroneous inference based on a lack of preference within one group: autism, mice, and the Social Approach Task.” In the paper, the lab argues using statistical principles and data simulations that “EWOCs,” or Erroneous Within-Group Only Comparisons, can be misleading. The lab coined the term to refer to when one draws incorrect conclusions about a difference between groups but only does statistical analysis within groups.
Kayla Nygaard, a graduate student in the Dougherty lab, is first author on the preprinted paper. Susan Maloney, Ph.D., Instructor in Psychiatry and a member of the Dougherty lab, is also an author. Dr. Joe Dougherty, Associate Professor of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is senior author on the preprint.