====== 🚫 Conceptual Overreach ======

**Definition:**  
*Conceptual overreach* occurs when a study’s **claims, interpretations, or conclusions exceed what the data or design can legitimately support**. It often involves stretching limited findings to make broad, unjustified theoretical or clinical assertions.

===== ⚠️ Common Signs =====
  * Drawing **causal conclusions** from correlational data
  * Extrapolating results from **narrow or artificial settings** to general populations
  * Using surrogate endpoints (e.g., flow velocity) to make **clinical predictions** without real-world validation
  * Framing exploratory findings as **definitive or guideline-changing**
  * Overstating the novelty or impact of minor observations

===== 🧠 Why It Matters =====
Conceptual overreach can:
  * Mislead clinicians and policymakers
  * Undermine scientific credibility
  * Promote ineffective or unvalidated interventions
  * Distort the direction of future research

===== 📚 Related Terms =====
  * [[methodological weakness]]
  * [[causal inference]]
  * [[rhetorical inflation]]
  * [[surrogate endpoint fallacy]]