Your results may. . .
• Confirm your hypotheses – gratifying but doesn’t
mean you are a better epidemiologist than if they
• Refute your hypotheses – annoying, but not a
cause for shame or mourning
• Be inconclusive – may be embarrassing unless you
knew in front that your dataset had limitations
(e.g., small sample size, narrow range of
exposures, etc.)
• Surprise you – report surprises as hypothesis
generating . . .