Daniel Ginsberg’s Post

In the Quant UX Blog today, I discuss the common assumption that there is a latent "true score" that is probed in survey research. ❓ Analysts and stakeholders often assume that there is a "real value" out there, that respondents can report for product preference, willingness to pay, job satisfaction, electoral voting, and the like. Under that view, survey respondents are viewed as malicious or bad when they don't report "the truth". 💡 I argue instead that survey responses are motivated in many different and understandable ways. Our job as survey authors is to align our goals with those of respondents, to ensure that results are maximally useful for our decisions. Under this view, there is (almost) no "bad respondent" ... but only suboptimal survey design and analysis. I don't promise to answer every issue. I hope instead to raise awareness of the assumption! For more, check out the post at: https://lnkd.in/g5ZTHsUz #quantux #uxresearch #surveyresearch #mrx

We're thrilled to announce the winners of the AAA's #AnthroDay Unessay Contest! The winners were chosen out of a record-setting 90 submissions. We encourage you to check out the winners and runner-up submissions. Grades 6-8 winner: Choices by Reet Gupta https://ow.ly/tmpa50QThvr Grades 9-12 winner: Digital Water Flows to Everyone by Xinyu Zhou https://ow.ly/v44950QThvm Grades 9-12 runner-up: From Darkness to Infinite by Hanyi Zhou https://ow.ly/S9hO50QThvn

Spread the word or join us for the Virtual Graduate School Fair on April 22, 2024! This is a half-day online event where prospective graduate students will learn more about the graduate school application process and the options they have for their next steps. In addition to department tabling, where you can chat with representatives from anthropology MA and PhD programs, the fair also includes two panel discussions. Register today: https://ow.ly/VbEY50QQchS #Anthropology #GradSchool

Aaron Leo, PhD, Assistant Director of Research at NYKids, discusses his participation in a workshop session entitled “Beyond the Anthropology Department” at the 2023 AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting in Toronto. The purpose of the event was to describe the pathway he took to his current position with NYKids, a state-funded research group housed in the School of Education at the University at Albany. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eYjVBKVH

There has long been an argument that students should have a broad liberal arts education to prepare them for the world, but recent decades have shifted the focus almost entirely to STEM education. And why not? Doctors and engineers earn much more than others and solve meaningful problems in the world. Surely we should dispense with the ill-defined vision of a well-rounded citizen and focus instead on startup founders and the human capital they need. …right? I’m a scientist and would never steer anyone away from an education in the sciences or skills base in math or engineering. My own research, however, suggests that the differences between those with STEM degrees and other grads predate their degrees. If you control for deep meta-learning factors (e.g. base cognitive, social, and emotional skills), history majors earn nearly as much as engineering majors. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so focused on STEM uber alles, and instead look again at a broader understanding of the world. I spent my undergraduate at UCSD’s Cognitive Science department with classes in neuroscience, psychology, machine learning, programing, philosophy, math, and more. At CMU, I spent my PhD taking classes from 12 different departments in preparation for a dissertation crossing machine learning, psycholinguistics, cochlear neurophysiology, and not a little information theory. This interdisciplinary (downright dilettante) background has served me incredibly well across my career. Drawing connections between disparate disciplines and finding the story that connects them all is my superpower. It turns out it is a superpower shared by my fellow dilettantes. New research leveraged machine learning to create a “text-based semantic measure of interdisciplinarity in college curriculum” that distinguishes “between what [universities] claim regarding interdisciplinarity and what they appear to actually do”. Not only is “greater exposure to interdisciplinarity...associated with increased earnings after college graduation”, but the effect is even stronger “for science majors”. https://lnkd.in/gUJNiuzc Beyond the vague notion of a liberal arts education or the false certainty of STEM, there is true value in interdisciplinarity and its obligation to admit one’s uncertainty about the world. Keep resting at https://lnkd.in/gaT6MZkh