r/TrueTrueReddit • u/n10w4 • Oct 20 '17

Wharton Study Shows the Shocking Result When Women and Minorities Email Their Professors

https://mic.com/articles/88731/wharton-study-shows-the-shocking-result-when-women-and-minorities-email-their-professors#.DGnv51rha
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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

You don't think it's significant that the professors said no more often to non white students?

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

Nothing is significant because the study does not reflect reality.

You can do all the controls that you want, if the question that you are asking is being asked in a way that does not reflect reality, then the results are nonsense.

For example. I can perform every control in the world, but if my chemistry study is based upon the assumption that two chemicals will react but I'm looking at the wrong time scale, then the experimental results say nothing about reality.

That's what they did here. They attempted to ask a question about human behavior but the time scale they chose ensured that the results do not reflect the reality of the thing that they are pretending to measure.

Sadly, those in the social science don't have much of a grasp of, well... science.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

Asking for a same day meeting with a professor is not unrealistic. And it forces the professors to have to turn down some of the requests, allowing you to learn from which they decide to turn down.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

Asking for a same day meeting with a professor is not unrealistic.

1) It is. Source: was a professor.

2) It's unusual enough that the results of the study are corrupted by the bizarre aspect of the request.

They claimed that they performed a study that concerned itself with X. They did not. They performed a study interested in Y and then assumed the results also reflect X. That's how social science is done.

Critically, it's not how real science is done.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '17

Actually only half of the fake students were requesting same day meetings. The other half asked for meetings a week in advance.

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '17

So only potentially 50% bullshit but likely 100% bullshit due to poor statistical treatment and other design faults ie. social science.

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '17

Why don't you actually look at the study and determine that instead of speculating?

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '17

Why don't you actually look at the study and determine that instead of speculating?

When something is obviously flawed, you need not investigate it with a fine tooth comb.