LogFAQs > #970074988

adjl posted...

That means you are grossly overestimating your own competence.

Probably... But that's what I see... And I can believe it since I can see it...

adjl posted...

If you actually read into and understand studies, competently-written ones for subjects like this usually outline different variables that they considered and break down their observations into various categories, such as race, sex, socioeconomic status, and region.

The biggest and easiest one to look for, though, is sample size: If you sample 10 people, 5 of whom were spanked and 5 of whom were not, finding that 3 of the spanked people developed problems and only 1 of the control group did not isn't an overly meaningful correlation, since on that scale random variation in other factors can indeed create correlations without there being any sort of causal relationship. If you sample 1,000,000 people, though, and 300,000/500,000 of the spanked group displayed problems and 100,000/500,000 of the control group did not, that's a very solid basis for saying that being spanked triples one's risk of developing those negative effects unless you can find another factor that's similarly correlated.

Meanwhile, self-reported anecdotal evidence from those who were spanked or have spanked their own children is largely useless. Those making the assessments are doing so from a layperson's perspective (meaning they can't necessarily recognize the potential negative effects), and the assessments carry an extreme risk of bias given that most people don't want to think that they or their parents might be child abusers.

The information you are observing is objectively without merit. Basing opinions on it is a terrible idea by every possible metric. So stop it.

I understand that have looked at the variables. But like I said, it doesn't matter as much to me since in the end, it still feels like assumptions. They don't know the spanking is what caused those things. It's just their best guess on the info they have. But even then, there could be other factors that actually caused those things. Maybe most of them would have still had the same issues without spanking, for example... The reason these studies don't really help me to see things differently is because I can't see that it's causing negative effects... Because even if I see negative effects, I can't say for sure that caused it...