Hi Just a small point ... the GDP axis is NOT linear ... it is a logarithmic scale. Note the 3 values given at equal intervals are 400, 4000, and 40000, the logs of which are 2.6, 3.6, and 4.6. It is this transformation that makes the relationship appear linear. In fact there is a marked curvilinearity such that the larger the GDP the greater the increase needed to produce a change equivalent to that observed for lower GDPs. This same curvilinearity is observed in the relationship between GDP (or other measures of wealth) and Happiness or Subjective Well Being.
One implication of this is that the gap between high and low GDP countries is MUCH larger than it might seem. Only $3600 increase needed to get from step 1 to step 2, but $36,000 increase needed to get to step 3. That is, there is a lot more inequity in the world than the graph suggests, all of which needs to be overcome before we're all crowded into the upper right quadrant. Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca >>> John Kulig <ku...@mail.plymouth.edu> 14-Dec-10 1:59 PM >>> As my students would say, really cool! I was looking (eyeball only) to see if the line of best fit remained about the same through the years ... despite some fluctuations, the basic positive (sort of linear) correlation remained. Now, if we achieved what he suggested at the end - greater wealth and more equality - the correlation would automatically weaken, the old "restriction of range" issue, as everyone piles into the upper right quadrant. ========================== John W. Kulig, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Director, Psychology Honors Plymouth State University Plymouth NH 03264 ========================== ----- Original Message ----- From: sbl...@ubishops.ca To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 2:25:25 PM Subject: [tips] The joy of stats A remarkable graphical display of economic progress at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo Pretty neat, eh? More on this in David Brooks' NY Times column at http://tinyurl.com/2vyv76d Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: ku...@mail.plymouth.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13338.f659d005276678c0696b7f6beda66454&n=T&l=tips&o=7189 or send a blank email to leave-7189-13338.f659d005276678c0696b7f6beda66...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=7190 or send a blank email to leave-7190-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7192 or send a blank email to leave-7192-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
