What’s omitted is that previous research has shown ridiculous differences, including counting strictly heterosexual partnerships. The scientists in question generally know the number is wrong, and have some rather entertaining comments about it, but reporters frequently -don’t-, and treat it like it’s accurate.
This is interesting and suggests that I and the people I talk to about such things are unusual. Do you mean people don’t extrapolate from the inaccuracy of such reports, or to they find them to be not too inaccurate?
The people I have in mind say something along the lines of “But the newspaper reports are the only information we have, therefore we have no choice but to believe them”.
Mmm, yeah, but even when word-of-mouth is the only information we have, we “have no choice but to believe them” in that sense (assuming they mean something sensible by that phrase in that context).
Surely the mean number of sexual partners must be equal for both genders, unless one is numerically larger?
Edit: Or is homosexual sex is responsible for the whole difference, I suppose.
No, the study is run on heterosexual undergraduates between 18-25 years of age.
Women are more likely to have sex with older guys than guys having sex with older women.
What’s omitted is that previous research has shown ridiculous differences, including counting strictly heterosexual partnerships. The scientists in question generally know the number is wrong, and have some rather entertaining comments about it, but reporters frequently -don’t-, and treat it like it’s accurate.
That kind of stuff happens with everything. I no longer consider reporters any more reliable than word-of-mouth.
This is pretty much the default state of everybody who has read one or two media reports of events they’ve been directly involved in.
One would think so, but this hasn’t been my experience with people.
This is interesting and suggests that I and the people I talk to about such things are unusual. Do you mean people don’t extrapolate from the inaccuracy of such reports, or to they find them to be not too inaccurate?
The people I have in mind say something along the lines of “But the newspaper reports are the only information we have, therefore we have no choice but to believe them”.
Mmm, yeah, but even when word-of-mouth is the only information we have, we “have no choice but to believe them” in that sense (assuming they mean something sensible by that phrase in that context).
That’s why you would want to use the median rather than the arithmetic mean when making that comparison.
There may also be people who are still willing to lie when tied up to a lie detector, or people who realised it was fake,