One further example of why people in the media need to take a philosophy of science course…

Taller people are smarter: study

NEW YORK (Reuters) - While researchers have long shown that tall people earn more than their shorter counterparts, it’s not only social discrimination that accounts for this inequality — tall people are just smarter than their height-challenged peers, a new study finds. “As early as age three — before schooling has had a chance to play a role — and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests,” wrote Anne Case and Christina Paxson of Princeton University in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. […] “As adults, taller individuals are more likely to select into higher paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns,” they wrote.

The usual (obvious) disclaimers are often revealed eventually in the story — almost as an afterthought…

The research confirms previous studies that show that early nutrition is an important predictor of intelligence and height. “Prenatal care and prenatal nutrition are just incredibly important, even more so than we already knew,” Case said in an interview.

These disclaimers are important, because they show another problem with this type of reporting, i.e., the non-discussion of important socio-economic variables (i.e., poor people, prenatal care, and general nutrition, for starters).

I’d much rather see comprehensive studies of nutrition-cognitive-testing-correlations, and then really expand on the connections to resources available in lower socio-economic areas. The math at that point would be relatively clear — and would point to something far different from the pissant research this study provides.

Taller people are smarter? Shame on you, Princeton…