In article <v03110713b4b36afd1371@[161.32.43.155]>,
Humberto Barreto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
.................
>To me, it starts to get *really* interesting when you hear claims like:
>1) The Prob(M) is different across race
>2) The Prob(M) is different across different regions of Europe
>3) The Prob(M) varies within a family over time
If one looks at the problem logically, all of these MUST
be true; the only question is, how much is the variation?
(1) can be considered fairly well established. I believe
that if the data was looked upon carefully, (2) would be
as well. However, (3) can be confounded.
Given that there is a genetic effect, reproductive
strategies will affect any simple attempt to assess
the variation within a family over time.
I have not kept up with the literature, but I was
consulted on this problem more than 40 years ago.
There was a theory based on biological considerations
that mother's age should correlate negatively with
Prob(M). The first studies showed this.
However, when father's age was included, mother's
age disappeared! When birth order was included,
it became the dominant factor, together with
father's age and the interaction of the two.
It would be difficult to include a genetic factor,
as the variation in this would probably be larger
within populations than between. Things like this
are not easy to study; controlled experiments are
essentially impossible.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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