http://themoderatevoice.com/20993/predictably-conventional-dan-ariely-refuted/ An Internet hub for moderates, centrists, and independents, with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, and right Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:48:33 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://themoderatevoice.com/20993/predictably-conventional-dan-ariely-refuted/comment-page-1/#comment-149674 pacatrue Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:26:40 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/society/business/consumerism/20993/predictably-conventional-dan-ariely-refuted/#comment-149674 Just to address the sample bias bit, the importance of this really depends upon the behavior under study. For instance, if you are studying, say, visual pattern recognition, it really might make little difference if you study all MIT students or all farmers in Kansas in their 40s. The visual system is the visual system. (Of course, children and seniors are very likely different cases and there might be differences between "adults", but they are smaller differences than in many other areas of research.) Other topics might be very likely to have differences based upon education, age, background, etc. So the criticism that it was just MIT students may or may not be super-relevant. One would have to know more about differences that have popped up in other studies between populations on this particular topic of behavioral economics. Just to address the sample bias bit, the importance of this really depends upon the behavior under study. For instance, if you are studying, say, visual pattern recognition, it really might make little difference if you study all MIT students or all farmers in Kansas in their 40s. The visual system is the visual system. (Of course, children and seniors are very likely different cases and there might be differences between “adults”, but they are smaller differences than in many other areas of research.) Other topics might be very likely to have differences based upon education, age, background, etc. So the criticism that it was just MIT students may or may not be super-relevant. One would have to know more about differences that have popped up in other studies between populations on this particular topic of behavioral economics.

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