A Parent Heard Some Celebrities on Television Stating There Was

Essay

A parent heard some celebrities on television stating there was a study published in 1998 that asserted a connection between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)vaccine and the onset of autism in children.The celebrities went on to say that after the MMR vaccine replaced the old simple measles vaccine in 1988 there was a 273 percent increase in autism rates during the next 11 years.The celebrities,however,did not reveal that the study published in 1998 included a sample size of 12 children who were already known to have some form of autism or similar developmental difficulties.They also did not present the evidence from hundreds of studies conducted since 1998 that show no connection between vaccines and the onset of autism.What was the hypothesis,regarding vaccines and autism,implied by the celebrities? Did the evidence they presented show a correlation or cause-and-effect relationship between vaccines and autism? State at least two obvious problems with the structure of the 1998 study.