|
Banned
|
There are several charts on pages in the recent State IQ study at the link above the quote box.
If you curiousity is not aroused by the spectacle of a president who repackaged himself from a Connecticut born, silver spoon yankee, a holder of undergraduate and graduate degrees from Yale and Harvard, prepared for university at a presitigious <a href="http://www.andover.edu/about_andover/notable_alums.htm">New England boarding school</a>, into a caricature of a bible belt BA christian, a "southern man", most supporters see as approachable enough to "have a beer with...even though he is not "one of them", doesn't drink beer, and is the most secretive and unapproachable POTUS in modern history.....
.......and is still defended, by those who voted for him, and the troops who serve under him.......and taken at his word, notwithstanding his six year history of distortion and scare tactics, passed off as a "dialogue" between the POTUS and the people, and the spectacle of local support for congressmen and senators, representing the states experiencing the most economic distress, voting for bankruptcy "reform" that hobbles the sick and the many families experiencing home foreclosures and the disappearance of jobs paying decent wages and benefits, then this thread and these study excerpts probably won't interest you.
For the rest of us, there is a need for an explanation for why, Connecticut, for example, a state with the highest national per capita income, and the birthplace of George W. Bush has voted against their "native son" and against a POTUS who lowered and has vowed to keep their taxes lower, and why nearly all of the states with the highest measured average IQ and income, elected representatives to congress that voted against the bankruptcy "reform" bill, and against the tax cutting POTUS, Mr. Bush. Or why, the majority of voters, conversely, in all of the states with lowest income and lowest average IQ.....states with much higher than average, per household foreclosure and bankruptcy voted the opposite way.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache...s&ct=clnk&cd=1
Quote:
Estimating state IQ: Measurement challenges and
preliminary correlates
Michael A. McDaniel
Virginia Commonwealth University, United States
Received 12 March 2006; received in revised form 5 August 2006; accepted 21 August 200
(from page 2: )
Little research has addressed the topic of state
intelligence. An estimate of the intelligence (IQ) of a
state would involve aggregating the IQ of its citizens and
assigning the mean of the individuals' IQ as the state IQ.
Lynn and Vanhanen (2002) estimated the IQ of countries
using data from the average of various measures of
intelligence. Their IQ estimates were criticized because
of concerns about the representativeness of the samples
and the appropriateness of the measures (Barnett &
Williams, 2004; Ervik, 2003; Richards, 2002; Volken,
2003). Thus, any effort to develop an estimate of state IQ
should specifically address the representativeness of the
samples and the appropriateness of the IQ measure. It is
ironic that little research has examined the IQ of states
given that IQ or IQ-related data are collected routinely in
states. For example, college and graduate school
entrance exam data are available by state. Likewise, a
variety of cognitive ability and achievement tests are
collected in primary and secondary schools and are
potentially available. Finally, various tests are normed on
nationally representative samples and their data could be
reported by state.
State IQ can be expected to have correlates with
state-level variables given the correlations between IQ
and other variables when examined at the level of the
individual. For example, IQ is a predictor of productiv-
ity at the individual level (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998),
thus state IQ should predict productivity at the state
level as measured by gross state product. Likewise, IQ
predicts health for individuals (Batty & Deary, 2005;
Hart,Taylor, & Smith, 2005), thus state IQ should
predict state health statistics. IQ also predicts who is
likely to engage in crime (Farrington, 2005; Gordon,
1987), thus state IQ should predict state crime data.
Intelligent individuals tend to evaluate cognitively
complex information more efficiently and accurately,
thus making more informed decisions (Gottfredson,
2004; Hunt, 1995). Thus, state IQ may have correlates
with the effectiveness of government based on decisions
made by elected individuals.
(from page 8: )
3. Discussion
Most of the measures in this study were aggregates of
multiple years of data to reflect the status of states on
average. Consider gross state product. In a given year, a
state may have an unusually low gross state product due to
a natural disaster (e.g., hurricane) or economic conditions
(e.g., oil prices or terrorism leading to reduced tourism)
that affect one state more than another. Data were ag-
gregated across years which served to balance out these
kinds of effects. The reliability data reported are alpha
reliabilities of the variable across years. These reliability
statistics are best interpreted as an indication of the
stability of a variable over time. All the reliabilities were
above 0.88. The median reliability was 0.99. These high
reliabilities indicate that the rank order of the states was
extremely stable across years for any given variable.
3.1. Development and evaluation of a measure of
estimated state IQ
The first goal of this paper was to develop and esti-
mate state IQ and examine the strengths and weakness
of the measure. Reading and math tests are excellent
measures of intelligence (Jensen, 1998). Critics of the...
(from page 9: )
(continued from page 8)....NAEP reading and math data as the basis for an IQ
measure may attempt to raise a distinction between
achievement and intelligence tests. Specifically, the
NAEP reading and math test are academic achievement
tests and some might argue that they are either (1) not
exactly the same as intelligence tests or (2) nothing like
intelligence tests. This is an old debate. Coleman and
Cureton (1954) documented the very substantial overlap
in content between measures labeled achievement and
measures labeled intelligence. Cronbach (1984) noted
that the distinction “is one of point of view, more than
test content” (p. 32). In more recent times, Frey and
Dettermam (2004) have argued that the Scholastic
Assessment Test (SAT) is “mainly a test of g” (p. 273).
Koenig (2006) has made similar arguments for the
American College Test (ACT). Even when one treats
achievement and intelligence tests as distinct forms of
assessment, they are very highly correlated (Deary,
Strand, Smith & Fernandes, in press). Deary et al. (in
press) reviewed the literature and concluded that there is
substantial agreement that intelligence and achievement
are highly correlated. Thus, we offer the state IQ
estimate based on reading and math scores as a
reasonable measure of state IQ. Those who attempt to
define intelligence with less research-based definitions
of intelligence (practical intelligence, successful intelli-
gence, emotional intelligence) may criticize the mea-
sure, but it is clear that the use of reading and math as
measures of general cognitive ability is well supported
by the intelligence literature......
...Substantial research can be conducted to improve
estimates of state IQ and to identify the factors that cause
state IQ differences. Suggestions are presented below for
improving state estimates of IQ and for exploring the
causes of state IQ.
The measure of state IQ used in this study is highly
cognitively loaded, consistent with the traditional view
of IQ as a measure of cognitive capacity. The exploration
of state differences in other conceptualizations of intel-
ligence and in other important individual difference
variables is needed. For example, can the stereotypes
concerning the cordiality of Southerners and the lower
cordiality of residents New York be confirmed by data?
Are residents of Missouri, the “show me” state, more
skeptical than others?
More representative estimates of state IQ could likely
be obtained. For example, many cognitive ability tests
are normed on national samples. Although state data.....
(from page 10: )
(continued from page 9)....from a nationally representative sample are not neces-
sarily representative by state, it may be possible to esti-
mate representative values from such data. To the extent
that estimates of state IQ derived from different data
sources and different construction strategies agree, one
can have greater confidence in the quality and accuracy
of the measure of state IQ.
Research into the causes of state differences in IQ can
be informed by knowledge of the reasons or correlates of
the individual differences in IQ. At the level of indi-
viduals, IQ is clearly a function of both genetics and
environment (Bouchard, 2004). Although the specific
genetic and environmental mechanisms that cause IQ are
relatively unknown, research in these areas is on going. It
is reasonable to suggest that the genetic and environ-
mental factors that cause individual differences in IQ,
will also cause differences in state IQ......
....States might alter state IQ by influencing who lives in
the state. For example, a state might encourage busi-
nesses that rely on highly educated employees to relocate
to their state. States might also increase the selectivity of
their universities so that they attract higher IQ faculty and
students. The influx of higher IQ faculty and their
families would directly impact state IQ. High IQ college
students might be given incentives to stay in the state
after graduation. Although not tied to IQ, the city of
Kalamazoo, Michigan has started to provide free or
reduced college tuition to city residents who are educated
in the public schools (Boudette, 2006). Incentives asso-
ciated with higher education opportunities are likely to
attract families who value education. Such plans may
result in attracting higher IQ individuals to the locality.
Some ethnic groups such as Ashkenazi Jews and some
Asian populations have higher than typical IQs and
states may take steps to make their state appealing to
individuals in these groups. For example, some colleges
make their campuses Jewish-friendly to encourage more
Jewish students with high cognitive skills to attend their
universities (Wiener, 2002).
Some of these strategies (e.g., attracting those with
high IQ to move to the state) might raise the IQ of a state
at the expense of IQ in another state. As such, they may
not be reasonable policies for the nation as a whole.
(from page 11: )
3.3.4. Government effectiveness
States with higher estimated IQ have more effective
government (r=0.34; B=0.46). This may occur because
more intelligent individuals tend to vote for leaders who
can effectively manage and direct large organizations.
Another possibility is that higher IQ states have fewer
problems with respect to health and crime and greater gross
state product....
|
Last edited by host; 11-04-2006 at 01:24 PM..
|