Friends and Stars

reproduced from Aurametrix blog

Over hundred people agreed to participate in our study. Half of them went through all the steps and let us see results of all their test kits (last digits of their IDs are listed next to the image of a star with thumbs up). Over a dozen submitted questionnaire with one or two samples - which was also very helpful. And almost half did not do anything (listed next to the red thumbs down sign). We understand that unforeseeable things happen, and  commitments may be difficult to fulfill. Still, it is worth to look if there is anything in common among those who did not submit samples and QoL questionnaires. Were those mostly our "new friends"? 

The answer is kind of, but it's not that simple.                                                                    

The figure shows when participants of our trial were registered with MEBO - before or after the first stages of our uBiome study. Percentage of those who did not return any samples was 30% for those who participated in prior MEBO activities vs 40% for newly signed individuals. (The ratio of our Study "Stars" vs those who did not return the kits to those who returned all kits and answered associated QoL questions was 60% for "old friends" vs 80% for "new friends"). Yet, the figure shows that "stars" (green circles) and "no-shows" (red squares) tend to "cluster", and possibly associate together.  Perhaps associations are indicators of the values we value? Show me your true friends and I'll tell you who you are?