Red flags I've seen in 100+ vendor reviews — need advice

One thing that is still open after Dr.SleepRoch’s answer:

How would you tell the difference between that and the alternative explanation?

stefan_berlin said:

Give anything pharmacological four weeks before you judge it, and give anything measured weekly a four-point rolling average before you call it a…

I read this differently from stefan_berlin, on substance rather than tone. Not convinced. The evidence being cited is consistent with the conclusion and also consistent with two other conclusions nobody has ruled out.

stefan_berlin said:

Give anything pharmacological four weeks before you judge it, and give anything measured weekly a four-point rolling average before you call it a…

Correct as far as it goes. The part it does not cover is what to do when the honest answer is "not enough data", which is more often than anyone likes.

stefan_berlin said:

Give anything pharmacological four weeks before you judge it, and give anything measured weekly a four-point rolling average before you call it a…

Saving this. It is the first explanation that did not require me to already understand it. Adding it to my notes with a link back to this thread.

Closing the loop on my own question.

Update — I was wrong in the opening post, specifically about the direction. Correcting it here rather than editing it away.