What evidence would it take to convince us that it's the schools, not other factors, that are responsible for the outcomes of private school students? Photo: Image Source / Alamy Stock Photo A large study has compared the outcomes of children who've attended private schools to those who've attended public schools. A journalist summarized the …
Category: Multivariate Studies
Delay of gratification (marshmallow study replication)
Her school achievement later in life can be predicted from her ability to wait for a treat (or by her family's SES). Photo: Manley099/Getty Images There's a new replication study about the famous "marshmallow study", and it's all over the popular press. You've probably heard of the original research: Kids are asked to sit alone …
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Engagement with Disney Princesses
The study's results showed that the more children were engaged with Disney Princess media, the more they adhered to stereotypically female play later on. Photo: Shutterstock There's a lot to think about in a recent study on Disney Princess Media. The study was covered by the Huffington Post here, and by another source in Oregon. …
Social lives of the rich
The wealthier people were, the more likely they were to spend time alone. Photo: Shutterstock In some earlier entries on this blog, I've posted stories about how money is related to (or can even change) people's social behavior, such as here and here. This week, the Washington Post ran a story about the association between money and socialization patterns. Let'sl= …
Happiness and longevity: What about mediators?
One hypothesis is that healthy habits mediate the relationship between happiness and longevity. Could you draw that mediator argument? Photo: Canon Boy/Shutterstock When I teach multivariate correlational designs, students always end up asking, "What's the difference between multiple regression and mediation?" Here's the better question. What they should be asking is, "What is the difference …
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“Turn off the TV, save your brain?”
Photo: Shutterstock Pacific Standard does a great job covering social science in the news. Here's a nice example of multiple regression analyses, in a study they headlined, "Turn off the TV, Save your brain?" The basic story comes from a large study that found the amount of TV people watched in their young-adult years was …
Correlates of economic disadvantage in girls and boys
Why might boys be more vulnerable to the psychological correlates of poverty? Photo: Albina Tiplyashina Shutterstock Some psychologists and sociologists are interested in how children from different socioeconomic conditions develop psychologically. One recent press report in Yahoo started with this sobering but unsurprising summary of past research, namely: For children, the effects of poverty can …
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“Screentime drags down grades”
Photo: VGstockstudio/Shutterstock Several news outlets picked up on a study about high school students' screentime and their grades. The Huffington Post headlined their story, "One Hour Of Extra Screen Time Drags Down Teenagers' Grades" The summary of the study read like this: Teenagers who spend an extra hour a day surfing the internet, watching TV …
A mediator in the news! Political party affiliation, self-control, and free will
The researchers used a Stroop test like this one to operationalize self-control in their study. Photo: Poornima Venkataraman/Chttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stroop_task.jpg This story in the Pacific Standard covers an empirical investigation of political conservatism, self-control, and free will. Political conservatism is usually associated in the U.S. with the Republican Party, and is contrasted with liberalism (which is …
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Using Twitter posts to gauge the emotions of a community
Scientists used the words people used on twitter in different counties to measure the counties' emotional tone. © Christin Gilbert / AGE Fotostock Researchers have used twitter posts to assess risks for cardiovascular disease in different communities. How did they do it? Here's a summary of some of the methods, as summarized …
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