Comments for #Damn: Boodaying on the bayou at http://www.theind.com , comment 1 to 1 out of 1 comments http://www.theind.com Mon, 20 May 2013 20:33:42 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.theind.com/news/indreporter/12953-damn-boodaying-on-the-bayou#comment-27716 This supposed “study” is another example of pure, unmitigated “Yankee bias”. It conjures up images of “socially laden biases” substituted for “objective research”. Like a question on an elementary achievement test a number of years ago. The section of the test was aimed at “testing” the childrens “social skills” and went something like this” Coffee is drank in the A)spring, B) summer, C)fall, D) winter? E) all of the time. Of course, being from Louisiana, the children—and I mean 100% of them—all answered “E”(all the time) and 100% of the children got the answer wrong. Wrong! Why? Because the test was designed/developed by a company filled with Ivy League graduates(in particular Dartmouth) and, as such, the correct answer was “C”(winter). It also calls to mind a quote a quantitative business statistics professor made in one of my first courses: “the greatest liars in the world are statistics and statisticians, and that's a fact”! Anytime I read an article were “statistics” are quoted, a loud warning goes off in my head, “warning Will Robinson/warning Will Robinson” at which point I proceed with “extreme” caution and “deliberate” due diligence. - Greg Foreman Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:05:17 +0100