Seán G. Roberts|James Winters
Linguistic Diversity and Traffic Accidents: Lessons from Statistical Studies of Cultural Traits
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics|University of Edinburgh
recent proliferation digital databases cultural linguistic data together new statistical techniques becoming available lead rise socalled nomothetic studies 18 seek relationships demographic variables cultural traits large crosscultural datasets insights studies important understanding cultural traits evolve studies fascinating good generating testable hypotheses may underestimate probability finding spurious correlations cultural traits show kind approach find links unlikely cultural traits traffic accidents levels extramartial sex political collectivism linguistic diversity suggests spurious correlations due historical descent geographic diffusion increased noisetosignal ratios large datasets much likely studies admit suggest criteria evaluation nomothetic studies practical solutions problems since studies receiving media attention without widespread understanding complexities issue risk poorly controlled studies could affect policy hope contribute towards general skepticism correlational studies demonstrating ease finding apparently rigorous correlations cultural traits despite see wellcontrolled nomothetic studies useful tools development theories