Hi,
In my last class of this semester at Harvard I asked a question to the professor -
the meta analysis of school effectiveness research (from the reading) was very confusing:
5 studies showed that teacher quality was significantly important and 7 showed that it was not significantly important. Now what do I believe?
He asked me a question in reply -- what would you as a policy analyst decide? Is teacher quality important ? Do you think it is a polpularity contest?
I repleid that if I went as per the studies I would say that Teacher quality was not important -BUT my own experience -garnered over the years tells me -- that it is very important.
So the professor -summarized - that just becos some studies how us some result it does not mean that that is the truth --unless it explains all known reality. Otherwise we conclude that NOT enough research has been done on the issue. Moreover, we have to question what assumptions and samples of the population were used while carrying out research which gave conflciting results.
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Now Media has one more bias -- it has to sell news - and there is no news like bad news.
Outlook survey shows that 39% Delhi school kids had sexual experience.
Well, when I was in Delhi University in early 1990s - a similar result was for colleges - but I do not recall hearing or seeing about any -except an odd -one in hundred nymphomaniac - cosying up with the college hunk.
I conclude , not only based on my experience- but realising that the newspaper guys only target elite school students -- and those students who have lots of free time to hang about and answer the questions put to them -- namely the rich, pampered kids. Just the upper crust (top 5% or even less) of the school age children in Delhi. They are right when they say that media is responsible as are uncaring money hungry parents for spoiling the kids.
I suppose that most Delhi kids go to middle class poor schools -- and are from families where dowry issues are there (there are only a few Nisha Sharmas). In such traditional families I do not expect girls to find time to roam around and have multiple sexual partners --unless they are the high society call girls -staying away from their parents.
What do u say?
Umesh
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