Donna L. Maney
Perils and pitfalls of reporting sex differences
Google (United States)
idea sex differences brain fascinates inflames public result communication public discussion new findings particularly vulnerable logical leaps pseudoscience new us national institutes health policy consider sexes almost preclinical research increase number reported sex differences thus risk research important area misinterpreted misrepresented article consider ways might reduce risk example employing statistical tests reveal extent sex explains variation rather whether sexes differ ii properly characterizing frequency distributions scores dependent measures nearly always overlap iii avoiding speculative functional evolutionary explanations sexbased variation usually invoke logical fallacies perpetuate sex stereotypes ultimately factor sex viewed imperfect temporary proxy yetunknown factors hormones sexlinked genes explain variation better sex scientists interested discovering understanding true sources variation informative development clinical treatments