PSY 535 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Mean Absolute Difference, Display Rules, Feminist Theory
Document Summary
Some differences between groups do not matter very much in western society: do not divide up people with freckles. Other differences matter very much: social and political consequences, represent dimensions of privilege vs disadvantage. Similarities tradition: women and men are very much alike in intelligence, personality, abilities and goals. Differences tradition: fundamental differences between women and men that should be recognized and honoured, argues that society should give more recognition to the activities, traits and values of women. There has been lack of agreement in defining difference: problems in measuring difference, issues of values and interpretation in understanding results. Variability: defined as the range or spread of scores. Statistically significant: unlikely to have occurred by chance, not the same as importance. The logic of experimental design and hypothesis testing leads psychs to put more weight on findings of difference than on findings of similarity.
