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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND YOU KNOW FUCK ALL ABOUT STATISTICS

Ah, college. I remember those brain cells fondly...

I certainly have my doubts about whether AnonymousPoster is really Virginia_1776, but one thing I have no doubts at all about is that AP is a fucking moron. In this post AP had this to bleat about the article in Science about attitudes toward evolution:

I too read JC's article and have to wonder how he based his frazzled opinion on one chart he found posted on someone else's liberal blog. There is no statistical control data listed as to who was polled or how many were polled. There is no data at all about any educational level of those polled or their political affiliations.

Fascinating. And by fascinating, I mean I am fascinated by how lazy and ignorant some people can be. It took me all of 5 minutes looking through the links from the newspaper article, to the magazine article, to find this link (PDF) to the actual Materials, Methods and Results of the survey. You'd expect that if AP wanted to try and slice at me over not having my data ducks in a row, that you'd, I don't know, make sure the data isn't right fucking there, for all to see?

Right away, AP seems to be heaving around some weighty terms, in an effort to make the reader think she has some expertise. It happens a lot when someone knows just the tiniest sliver about a topic, and wants to bluff that they have more. Anyone who spends time on Paltalk will be more than familiar with the "PT Professor." AP, my little friend, control groups are used in experimental designs, not in correlational surveys. Experiments depend on differences between groups. Correlations depend on the interactions of different variables within the same sample.

In the Supplemental Materials you'll see a description of all the surveys, including the number of participants for each survey. Further on, you can see that the surveys included data on age, gender, educational level, religious belief, pro-life beliefs, political ideology, knowledge of genetics, as well as attitudes toward evolution and science & technology. They used a simple regression model to find the degree of effect of each independent variable on the dependent (attitudes toward evolution), and lo and behold found a significant negative correlation for religious belief, pro-life beliefs, and political ideology. It also comes as no surprise that having knowledge of genetics is positively correlated with acceptance of evolution.

Of course, it goes without saying that correlation does not equal causation, and variables can have an interactive effect, but it seems like the data supports the idea that the more religious and conservative you are, the less likely you are to accept evolution. You see how easy this is when you actually bother to do your homework?

JC

10 comments:

S_LINK90 said...

You can rest assured, THAT 1 THING VACREEPER WILL NOT DIE FROM IS TESTICULAR CANCER.

Unknown said...

Although it is undeniably true that S_LINK90 is a moron, that comeback was pretty funny. It's false, and of course publicly I would have to shake my finger and glower in disapproval, it still made me laugh. So link gets points for that. Redeem them for valuable prizes!

AnonymousPoster said...

Vacreeper's comment was funny.

SLink's was even funnier!

The fact that Livid gets his "news" from the comedy channel? Priceless.

AnonymousPoster said...

Hhmm No matter how much he protests, the fact remains he gets his news from the Comedy Channel. And they say Fox News isnt real news! HA

Livid has a brain, but the wizard forgot to tell him how to use it.

AnonymousPoster said...

HA! Livid... funny.


Fact remains. You get your news from Comedy Central. LMAOOOOO Thats just too good!!!

Michelle said...

The Daily Show Rocks! It is great to see that people can still see some humor in the obvious mockery Bush has made of the White House and Congress. The sad part of it all is that the clowns in this administration write Mr. Stewart's scripts. He doesn't need to create the jokes, they are the joke. This guy has enough material from these bozos that he can have a show and do a ten year run on the comic circuit(and still not run out of material). BTW, Mr.Bush , Mr. Cheney, and Mr. Rove think they are comedians. When they are confronted with real issues or someone has a different view from themselves, they laugh it off and make jokes. At the expense of Americans and the world. Luckily, their audience is growing very bored and many are not buying tickets to this circus act.

AnonymousPoster said...

Aww Livid, thanks for giving me credit for Virginia's blog, but that I cannot take. The genius is hers.

Im sure you only go to the blog "now and then" and don't really care about it, but isn't it amazing that you have ESP and know immediately when something new is posted?

Again, You get your news from Comedy Central! HAHAHAHAHHHAAA It's just too good to let go!!!

AnonymousPoster said...

Ohh not YOU too vacreeper!!!! OMG All things are becoming clear now.

You get your news from Comedy Central! HAHAHHHAHHHAHAAAAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

oh you guys have GOT to stop.. my sides are hurting! ROFLMAO

Michelle said...

Referring to VAcreeper's comments about "faux news", it is so true. Recently a local Fox TV station was named one of the 77 stations around the country being investigated for video that was produced by private companies and their public relations firms.

Story here:
FCC Investigates 77 TV Stations

From WKOW-TV Madison, Wisconsin, August 17, 2006


The Madison based watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy turned the tables on television newsrooms across the country and investigated the investigators. John Stauber says they found widespread use of VNR’s, aired without revealing the video clips were produced by private companies and their public relations firms.

”What we’ve been able to do is blow the whistle on a worsening corruption that’s been hidden and goes back 20 years.” Stauber said. ”The audience has a right to know if what it’s watching is journalism and news, or what we call a fake news story passed on as news.”

VNR’s often look and sound like real television news stories, and some even use actors as reporters. WKOW News Director Al Zobel said 27 News does not air them, except in rare cases, with full disclosure.

”We have no editorial control over it.” Zobel said. ”Number one, we can’t vouch for any of the information, plus, the purpose of a VNR from a company producing it is to get some free advertising for their product. We’re not here to give people free advertising. We’re here to report facts and the news.”

After a ten month investigation, CMD turned its findings over to the FCC, which launched an investigation into 77 stations across the country, for using VNR’s without identifying the source. Stations could face fines of more than $30,000 per violation.

The Milwaukee WB station, which no longer produces newscasts, is the only Wisconsin station identified by the group, but Stauber says they only had access to 1% of VNR’s, and if they had more, they could have identified more violators.

”It’s going on in every station.” Stauber said.

Two of the stations under identified by the watchdog group and under investigation by the FCC are owned by Quincy Newspapers, which also owns WKOW.

Was I surprised by these actions? No. Am I surprised it took so long? No, actually I am surprised these stations that produce such propaganda are being reprimanded right before a crucial election. We witnessed an example of ridiculous propanganda gone wild during the Kerry/Bush campaign. It is about time that the FCC did it's job. News stations and their affiliates need to be responsible for the dumbing down of Americans.
The investigation is the result of a study, “Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed,” done by the Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization that monitors the public relations industry. Story Here

Livid, Sir, you need to stop worrying about what that group of people are doing or saying. You are a very good writer and thinker. I know it is too easy to make fun of people that are not quite bright, but really, to move forward, you need to leave something behind. I suggest, for your growth, don't worry about Slink, Virginia, or AP. It is apparent their agenda is to stay where they are. You know what happens to water that sits. It becomes stagnant. If they are happy with their lives or situation, so be it. If they need to deny the truth or facts to help relieve their guilty conscience, so be it. If they do not want to question authority, so be it. Will I still fight for their rights? Sure, always.

FRisson1 said...

I try to watch the Daily Show, everynight as well as Hardball, and CNN's 360 and Faux News (not Oreilly or Hannity and Colmes). and one thing I have to say is I don't see teenagers watch Bill O'reilly, other Faux news or MSNBC, CNN or network news, but a hell of a lot of them watch the Daily Report. At least our young people are getting a liberal point of view. Those kids remeber what is said a lot longer when presented in a comical venue than as dry old conservative rhetoric.

Oh buy the way isn't Oreilly's show a comical review???? It sure makes me laugh!!!

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