Maybe I should have gone into why everyone puts anecdotes at the bottom of the evidence hierarchy. I don’t disagree that they belong there, especially if all else between the study types is equal. And even if the studies are quite different, the hierarchy is a decent rule of thumb. But it becomes a problem when people use it to disregard strong anecdotes and take weak RCTs as truth.
I think so too! A strong anecdote can directly illustrate a cause-and-effect relationship that is consistent with a certain plausible theory of the underlying system. And correct causal understanding is essential for making externally valid predictions.
Yep, I agree.
Maybe I should have gone into why everyone puts anecdotes at the bottom of the evidence hierarchy. I don’t disagree that they belong there, especially if all else between the study types is equal. And even if the studies are quite different, the hierarchy is a decent rule of thumb. But it becomes a problem when people use it to disregard strong anecdotes and take weak RCTs as truth.
I think so too! A strong anecdote can directly illustrate a cause-and-effect relationship that is consistent with a certain plausible theory of the underlying system. And correct causal understanding is essential for making externally valid predictions.