Well said Chris.
Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. [email protected] http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: mbritt On May 21, 2012, at 11:38 AM, Christopher Green wrote: > > > > > > > > It is sad to see the NYT fall into the old "tell both sides" scheme that has > been exploited by political operatives so skillfully for the past couple of > decades on issues like evolution and climate change. Here, the Times writes: > "In fact, the randomness of the survey is precisely what makes the survey > scientific, statistical experts say." The last three words are critical, > making it seem like there's a serious debate about that, and encouraging > readers to think that there is a "side" they can take (usually depending on > what conclusion they favor at the outset). A decade ago, we foolishly thought > that these were just ill-informed politicians who would back down after > things had been explained to them by those who spend their lives and careers > figuring this stuff out -- scientists. By now, however, it is clear that it > is calculated political strategy that like-minded ground-troops will rally > around, encouraged by the usual media sources, creating a fake public debate > that successfully distracts from the actual issue. Until mainstream news > organizations stop hobbling themselves with the "theater of objectivity" (not > to be confused with the real thing) and are willing to straightforwardly call > a diamond a diamond, this political tactic will be used again and again until > no one knows what is what anymore. > > Chris > --- > Christopher D. Green > Department of Psychology > York University > Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 > Canada > > [email protected] > http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ > ========================== > > > > On 2012-05-21, at 9:33 AM, Helweg-Larsen, Marie wrote: > >> And on the same issue from the New York Times >> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/sunday-review/the-debate-over-the-american-community-survey.html >> >> Marie >> >> Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. >> Associate Professor l Department of Psychology >> Kaufman 168 l Dickinson College >> Phone 717.245.1562 l Fax 717.245.1971 >> http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Christopher Green [mailto:[email protected]] >> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 10:37 PM >> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) >> Subject: [tips] GOP Rep Daniel Webster Bashes Census Survey As "Random" >> Rather Than "Scientific" >> >> Apparently certain members of Congress are about to start misusing the word >> "random" to sow confusion about public opinion surveys in much the way they >> successfully misused "theory" to sow confusion about evolution. Stats >> teachers beware. You may well be the next target of political funny business. >> >> http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/05/20/gop_rep_daniel_webster_bashes_census_survey_as_quot_random_quot_rather_than_quot_scientific_quot_.html >> >> Chris >> ....... >> Christopher D Green >> Department of Psychology >> York University >> Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 >> >> [email protected] >> http://www.yorku.ca/christo >> --- >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a4468797f&n=T&l=tips&o=17933 >> or send a blank email to >> leave-17933-13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a44687...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> >> --- >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=17943 >> or send a blank email to >> leave-17943-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13405.0125141592fa9ededc665c55d9958f69&n=T&l=tips&o=17950 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-17950-13405.0125141592fa9ededc665c55d9958...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=17955 or send a blank email to leave-17955-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
