In article
<8d74d2fb-7bec-4f44-8d81-755a36865980@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Pubkeybreaker <pubkeybreaker@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On May 13, 11:48=A0am, kev...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Beth Kevles) wrote:
>> Citing "The Bell Curve" makes me suspect everything else in those
>> posts... "The Bell Curve" is really NOT good science. =A0It's based on
>> ideas that lost respect after World War II (and for good reason)!
>Might this "good reason" be that it is not politically correct???
>Please substantiate your claim that it is not good science.
This is very definitely the case.
>The Bell curve *is* good science. I base my claim on the Central
>Limit Theorem. The sum of any set of iid random variables MUST
>be approximated by the bell curve.
This is not as good as it seems. The Central Limit Theorem
holds for independent, but not identically, distributed
random variables, but the approximation is nowhere near as
good as you seem to think it is. Even worse, the educationists
transform their data so that what they get is normal.
Also, a mixture of two different normal populations is
never normal. But one can still get a bell curve.
>And if one does not know what the CLT is, or how it is derived, or how
>it is
>applicable in statistics, then I claim that that person is not
>qualified to
>have an opinion. And anyone who tries to claim that statistical
>measurements
>of intelligence (or any other measurement of human performance)
>are not meaningful is living in LaLa land.
But the educationists think that being with one's age
group is far more im****tant than learning. Also, they
use multiple choice tests because the grading does not
vary from one grader to another.
>And yes, I have read the Mismeasure of Man.
I have not read it, but I have read some statements from
it. Gould claims that one cannot increase the intelligence
of a group by selection, as this cannot raise the IQ by
more than 6 points in a generation. This is not true, but
even granting the 6 points, in 5 generations one could have
half the population meeting the present requirements for
Mensa, which is now the upper 2%.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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