John King
Forum Pro
Gidday Tony
However I am speaking of statistical populations, not individual cases. I, of all people, know how much an single individual can differ from the norm, or ±1 standard deviation from the mean; ±2, if you really want to stretch things. Many attributes that have been measured for me indicate more than +3 sd from the mean, and one runs to more than +7 (reaction time delay in vigilance study) - this is really way out on the bell curve (fallen off the end of it, perhaps? lol.). Do I constitute a "normal" person? Yes. Am I a representative sample? No.
I tend to rely on very large sample material (like the Harvard Nurses Study) where there are huge numbers involved, well above the limits calculated for statistical relevance.
Mortality statistics are one such. If one removed childbirth deaths, I would suggest that these figures would favour women even more than they currently do. Not many men die in childbirth ...
Increasing of knowledge is about making hypotheses, testing them, rejecting the ones that do not allow the rejection of the Null Hypothesis, and moving on to the next set of hypotheses. Cronbach's "Essentials of Psychological Testing" is probably the best treatise I have personally read on this subject, having regard both to psychology and epistemology in general. Cronbach stresses the importance of always checking any proposed test back against real life experience and absolute, not relative, measurements.
There will always be exceptions to any rule. Most men are far stronger than most women; but I have known at least two women who were far stronger than most men, and one of them was eventually divorced by her husband as he lived in terror of her beating him up! Which she did frequently. Now how often does that happen? Not very, I would suggest. Most physical abuse in relationships is by the male, perpetrated against the female (about 90%+).
The other was the heart and soul of gentleness and sweetness as a person, and was a good mate, at second remove. She was a scientist, who mixed with a group of scientists among whom I had several very good, close friends.
Regards, john from Melbourne, Australia.
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The Camera doth not make the Man (or Woman) ...
Perhaps being kind to cats, dogs & children does ...
http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/main.php
Bird Control Officers on active service.
You are quite right. Of course the problem with all generalisations applies: "All generalisations are wrong, including this one".But life and humanity is so rich and varied. You can find so manyAnother of my particular specialty interests in psychology is
male/female differences. I have reduced an adult lifetime of study
and contemplation into that one throw-away line, which nonetheless
encapsulates what I have learned.
guys who are very feminine; or many ladies who are strong and
masculine. The characteristics traditionally given to each sex now
crosses over and is even stronger in the other sex in some cases.
In my own life, I would not view this as a fact. A generalization,A few facts:
Women are more emotionally and mentally stable than men, even though
given to expressing their emotions more freely. This latter is a
plus, not a minus ...
maybe.
I would say I am more emotionally and mentally stable than my wife. I
would probably also say I could express my emotions better too.
I do agree males and females are different physically, but when it
comes to emotions and mental faculties, personally, I think it is not
so clearly defined where you can make a statement of facts.
Regards,
Tony
However I am speaking of statistical populations, not individual cases. I, of all people, know how much an single individual can differ from the norm, or ±1 standard deviation from the mean; ±2, if you really want to stretch things. Many attributes that have been measured for me indicate more than +3 sd from the mean, and one runs to more than +7 (reaction time delay in vigilance study) - this is really way out on the bell curve (fallen off the end of it, perhaps? lol.). Do I constitute a "normal" person? Yes. Am I a representative sample? No.
I tend to rely on very large sample material (like the Harvard Nurses Study) where there are huge numbers involved, well above the limits calculated for statistical relevance.
Mortality statistics are one such. If one removed childbirth deaths, I would suggest that these figures would favour women even more than they currently do. Not many men die in childbirth ...
Increasing of knowledge is about making hypotheses, testing them, rejecting the ones that do not allow the rejection of the Null Hypothesis, and moving on to the next set of hypotheses. Cronbach's "Essentials of Psychological Testing" is probably the best treatise I have personally read on this subject, having regard both to psychology and epistemology in general. Cronbach stresses the importance of always checking any proposed test back against real life experience and absolute, not relative, measurements.
There will always be exceptions to any rule. Most men are far stronger than most women; but I have known at least two women who were far stronger than most men, and one of them was eventually divorced by her husband as he lived in terror of her beating him up! Which she did frequently. Now how often does that happen? Not very, I would suggest. Most physical abuse in relationships is by the male, perpetrated against the female (about 90%+).
The other was the heart and soul of gentleness and sweetness as a person, and was a good mate, at second remove. She was a scientist, who mixed with a group of scientists among whom I had several very good, close friends.
Regards, john from Melbourne, Australia.
-----
The Camera doth not make the Man (or Woman) ...
Perhaps being kind to cats, dogs & children does ...
http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/main.php
Bird Control Officers on active service.