As others have pointed out, the Oxford study also states:
Quote:
|
Unfortunately, the authors of L1 have not released the data that would be necessary to allow researchers to make an estimate of violent deaths, let alone put a confidence interval around such an estimate. However, they did make public a central estimate of 57,600 violent deaths for all of Iraq excluding Anbar governorate.5 We hope that the authors of L1 will place the L1 dataset in the public domain so that the figure of 57,600 can be checked and a confidence interval placed around it. At a minimum the authors should provide their own confidence interval.6
|
Thats really all anyone needs to know about the validity of the Lancet study. Contrary to accepted practice, the authors did not make public the data necessary for independent validation of their work. A degree in statistics or epidemiology is not required to understand that unless or until they do, their work should not be accepted at face value. It should be taken into consideration with appropriate caveats, yes, but their results should not be accepted as definitive nor reliable.