I think that word does not mean what you think it means

[aroraborealis]

Today, in Wow, But People Suck:

A Silenced Drug Study Creates An Uproar

Within the company, meanwhile, officials explicitly discussed misleading physicians. The chief of a team charged with getting articles published, John Tumas, defended "cherry-picking" data.

"That does not mean we should continue to advocate" selective use of data, he wrote on Dec. 6, 1999, referring to a trial, called COSTAR, that also produced unfavorable results. But he added, "Thus far, we have buried Trials 15, 31, 56 and are now considering COSTAR."

Can you still call it data after it's been cherry-picked?

Comments

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

As of last September, the Clinical Trials Database (ClinicalTrials.gov) has required reporting of results, specifically to counteract this problem.