As a programmer myself, yes if I want a fake result I put it inside the code so no matter what comes in (even if valid data) I still get exactly the output that I want:-)
I actually read the paper. Their methodology is reasonabley sound if the base data, cell phone use, is correct and complete.
“We document three key results. First, using anonymized smartphone data from
SafeGraph, Inc., we demonstrate that non-resident cell phone pings rose in the census block
groups where the Sturgis events look place over the 10-day period of the rally relative to other
census block groups within South Dakota and in border states to South Dakota.”
The cell data was traced to the areas where the participants came from and tied that to CDC records of those areas. I the only real issue is, if folks don’t care if they were infected, why should anyone else.....other than the people who they are around. If you know someone is getting back from Sturgis, you don’t need some study to tell you to be careful around them.
Of course the spikes in the target areas could be from other issues, but the researches simply assume it is from Sturgis.
Very interesting, my FRiend.
With apologies for an unrelated aside, have you been able to examine any of the climate models? If so, we'd love to hear your observations and opinions.