“Duh” Statistics: Studies that help you learn nothing

“Duh” statistics are those profoundly condescending studies that are released by social scientists and university students that seek to prove something that is assumed to be self-evident. Care for an example? While reading an article in Wired about the impact of voice chat in World of Warcraft, I couldn’t help but let out a groan of frustration after reading this paragraph:

This is particularly a problem for women, because often women thrive in MMOs precisely by downplaying their sexual identity. When Krista-Lee Malone, a student at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, did a study of the impact of voice chat on online worlds, women all told her they were treated differently once other players — particularly younger men — could hear their voices. (”They got hit on a lot,” Malone says.)

Krista-Lee is a DOCTRATE student from the University of Wisconsin. I can understand that she might’ve been on a deadline for this “study” and thought to herself “Hey! Why don’t I write about my favourite MMO?” No. A search of her name brought up a study on the economics of Dragon Kill Points. Hey, Dr. Krista, why didn’t you write your thesis on how most Night Elf Hunters tend to be fat and greasy in real life? Subjects like these are filler posts for blogs, so why publish them as actual studies?

Now, I’m not picking on poor Krista-Lee just to be a mean, mean person. There are thousands of published studies out there that are counteractive to the concept of discovery and sharing knowledge. While writing this, I realised that there is another category of studies as well. “Who cares?” studies also pollute research databases with results of findings that only serve to be an amusing tidbit shared at the dinner table (ie “Why people yawn”).

There is no point to these studies other than to gain a spot on the evening news where the anchor tries to make the story interesting by saying “Believe it or not, studies show that reading helps improve vocabulary!”The sad thing is that most of these studies are done by universities using funds that could have otherwise been used to greater benefit. Ridiculousness ensues!