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Looking back at the responses for last week, I did not realize how many issues the Pew study contained.  I actually went back and read the methods.  I think all the criticisms were fair and led me to read that study with a grain of salt.  The article on Simpson’s Paradox I found especially interesting because it relates to my thesis topic.  I am writing on how (if) economic conditions affect opioid and heroin fatalities.  So far, this question has only been directly evaluated on a national level.  The goal of my thesis is to break-out the paper’s national level into more sub-groups and evaluate regions of the U.S. with variables that are more pertinent.  I don’t necessarily think the relationship will be reversed when looking at my sub-groups, but the magnitude of the relationship might change.  Reading this paper, at least, made me realize there is some merit to what I am doing.