It seems to me that most of the studies aimed at understanding
gender differences (if any) in the way people learn have been flawed by
poor statistical design. This certainly is the case for the studies that
led to the book "Women's Ways of Knowing". The conclusions were based on
results from a very small sample population, and there is no indication
that an effort was made to ensure that the population was
representative of all women, nor was there an effort made to compare the
group of women studied with a representative comparison group of men.
Many of the conclusions reached about the inability of part of the
sample to aquire knowledge using higher order thinking skills probably
apply equally well to men and women.
Clearly, this is an area worthy of serious scholarly pursuit.
However, we should not put too much stock in the results from studies
based on flawed sampling procedures. Instead, we should encourage studies
that are carefully designed to ensure that representative populations are
studied and compared, and that are designed to minimize investigator bias.
Dr. Mark H. Shapiro
Physics Department
California State University, Fullerton
P.O. Box 6866
Fullerton, California 92834-6866