Final answer:
Studies falsely claiming a link between vaccines and autism have been retracted, and a large body of peer-reviewed research has found no causal relationship between the two. The scientific consensus confirms that vaccines are safe and do not cause autism.
Step-by-step explanation:
Erroneous data used to support the assertion of a link between vaccine use and autism include studies that have been retracted due to flawed methodologies or incorrect conclusions. One of the most notable retractions involved a study that suggested the MMR vaccine was linked to autism, which has been thoroughly debunked and declared an 'elaborate fraud' by a British journal. Additionally, the perception of a link between vaccines and autism is sometimes based on correlation rather than causation, such as the concurrence of autism diagnosis with the timing of the MMR vaccination, which various large-scale epidemiological research has shown to be coincidental and not a causal relationship.
Despite the myths, the consensus within the scientific community is clear. A long list of published studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals, including meta-analyses, have consistently found no link between vaccines and autism. Notable sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with numerous well-controlled studies, all conclude that there is no causal association between vaccination and autism spectrum disorders.