So much for that theory

[yendi]

Remember a few years ago, when an economic study was released showing that liberals and progressives were more ignorant about the economy than libertarians and conservatives?

Turns out it was run with a huge confirmation bias, and a follow-up study by the same (libertarian) researcher shows that conservatives and libertarians are just as ignorant.

I fully expect this to get just as much attention at National Review and other sites as the original study.

Comments

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

First: Thank you. I remember the original study, and I'm frankly surprised at the results of this follow-up (especially as I aced it).

Second: when even groups like ThinkProgress refuse to trumpet the results, and instead calmly congratulate the author on the retraction, I'm afraid that expecting a reaction of similar magnitude (acceptance or denial) would be naive. The fact is that these results are not earth-shaking to either audience, while the originals were.

An interesting thought experiment would be to consider the media's reaction had the second batch of questions been released first, followed by the ones which made the original headlines.

Third: I think this entire episode deserves a chapter in the book You Are Not So Smart. (http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Not-So-Smart/dp/1592406599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322602112&sr=8-1)