Oops - yes I did not reread with sufficient care. Still interesting that the NY Times discusses the original authors should have included. Sometimes science journalists do get it right (although frequently not). Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013, [cid:[email protected]] (717) 245-1562, [cid:[email protected]] (717) 245-1971 Office Hours: Tues and Thur 9:30-10:30, Wed 10:30-11:45 http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/psych/helwegm ****************************************************
From: Jonathan Mueller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 12:01 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Social network effects: for real? It doesn't appear that the authors of the happiness study are quoted as saying that, but rather the authors of the acne study. Here's the passage from the NYT article: A study also to be published Friday in BMJ, by Ethan Cohen-Cole, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Jason M. Fletcher, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health, criticizes the methodology of the Christakis-Fowler team, saying that it is possible to find what look like social contagion effects with conditions like acne, headaches and height, but that contagion effects go away when researchers factor in environmental factors that friends or neighbors have in common. "Researchers should be cautious in attributing correlations in health outcomes of close friends to social network effects," the authors say. All the quotes from the authors of the happiness study show no sign of reservation or caution. Jon =============== Jon Mueller Professor of Psychology North Central College 30 N. Brainard St. Naperville, IL 60540 voice: (630)-637-5329 fax: (630)-637-5121 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu<http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/> --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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