Scott Alexander criticizes a study on e-cigarette effectiveness for quitting smoking, explaining potential sampling bias that could skew the results.
Longer summary
Scott Alexander critiques a study claiming e-cigarette users are no more likely to quit smoking tobacco after a year than non-users. He explains why he's skeptical of the study's methodology, using a hypothetical world analogy to illustrate potential sampling bias. Scott suggests that the study might be capturing more unsuccessful e-cigarette users due to their longer period of dual use, skewing the results. He ends with a brief, unrelated mention of his addiction-medicine teacher appearing on Fox News to discuss marijuana.
Shorter summary