When big data aren’t the answer
Year: 2019
Type: letter
Abstract: In PNAS, Greenberg, et al. (1) use data collected using 4 surveys from over half a million people to support the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) theory of autism and the Empathizing–Systematizing (E-S) theory of sex differences. Large sample sizes are—all other things being equal—better than small sample sizes. However, the most serious criticisms of these 2 theories (see ref. 2) are not addressed by increasing the sample size.
The questionnaires used by this study were all developed with reference to autism, and are measuring not independent, but interrelated, constructs (3⇓⇓–6). Historically, it has been taken as a given that there is increased prevalence of …
[↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: Kelsey.perrykkad{at}monash.edu.
[1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Authors: Kelsey Perrykkad, Jakob Hohwy
Institution: Monash University
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems and Management
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Australian Research Council
OpenAlex ID: W2955640557