The Case material presented in the paper by Kennell and Rolnick in this issue of Pediatrics illustrates some of the problems encountered in a project for the study of child rearing, particularly in reference to the unanticipated high incidence of cases in which the survival of a newborn infant was threatened by a health complication. In a way, the project might be said to have had bad luck in encountering such complications in two out of three cases, rather than in one out of five, as might have been expected. However, tile statistical mischance, which would have tended to correct itself as the number of cases in the sample increased has served a useful purpose by calling attention to a problem that is becoming more and more important for pediatric training and practice, as well as for studies in normal child development.
The mediatization of self-tracking
