From single studies to systematic reviews: how scientific evidence gets combined
What happened
In 1976, statistician Gene Glass proposed meta-analysis, pooling more than 370 psychotherapy studies and starting a method for systematically synthesizing evidence. The report also uses the FDA's 2025 warning on acetaminophen and autism as an example of a warning that ignored more complete evidence. In the report picked up by Hacker News on October 7, 2026, science journalists examine why relying on single studies often produces contradictory health news, and trace the path from individual studies toward systematic evidence synthesis.
Written by AI from the coverage · updated 2 hours ago
Coverage
Follow the reports to see the story from different sides.
- Hacker News front pageHow to Assemble Science
科学记者探讨了为何单一研究常导致矛盾的健康新闻，并以2025年FDA对乙酰氨基酚与自闭症警告为例，说明其忽视了更全面的证据。1976年统计学家Gene Glass提出元分析技术，通过整合370多项心理治疗研究，开创了系统性合成证据的方法。
Heat over time
Not enough continuous observations to draw a trend yet.