tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post6575746945895778693..comments2024-03-22T06:05:36.544-04:00Comments on Kids Prefer Cheese: Statistical Analysis: Yer doin' it Wrong!Mungowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340064320347875601noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-82277686571723737722009-09-11T15:04:10.644-04:002009-09-11T15:04:10.644-04:00Gabriel, your argument is plausible, but determini...Gabriel, your argument is plausible, but determining whether that explanation holds should be remarkably simple: include a measure of expenditure per enrolled student in the regression. After all, your argument essentially revolves around resources devoted to student retention, which should primarily show up in the expenditure measure.<br /><br />I would assume (hope?) that Bowen would already have included this obvious regressor in the analysis, in which case the resulting partial correlations can't be explained that way. If, on the other hand, Bowen's analysis omits this variable, then all the results are suspect for an entirely different reason. Either way, Bowen's not off the hook.Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12866136113454261245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-3023006272288168602009-09-11T14:19:53.068-04:002009-09-11T14:19:53.068-04:00your explanation assumes that there is a lot of un...your explanation assumes that there is a <i>lot</i> of unobserved heterogeneity that it has strong effects. personally, i'm inclined to believe the Bowen et al study because personal experience shows me plausible micro mechanisms. <br /><br />when i was a grad student and TA at a highly selective private school we had a couple kids who blew off classes, did shoddy work, etc, and the institution did not let them fail. i don't mean this in a social promotion kind of way, but their house masters were on the look-out for problems early on and intervened to solve the students' problems. <br /><br />contrast this with the slightly less selective state school where i am now faculty. not only do we lack the kind of aggressive counseling to catch students who screw up, but we don't even provide enough resources for students who are being reasonably responsible to graduate in four years. most notably, there simply aren't enough seats to go around and most classes not only have full wait lists but a long list of less formal petitioners.<br /><br />given treatment effects like this, i don't need to believe in selection by unobserved heterogeneity. i find it extremely plausible that a student who got in to both my grad school's UG college and my current institution would be more likely to graduate if he/she chose the former.gabrielhttp://codeandculture.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com