Normal Curves: Sexy Science, Serious Statistics
Regina Nuzzo and Kristin Sainani
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Equipment Size: What is average?
Today’s deep dive: the surprisingly serious science of penis size. Using self-report surveys, objective measurements, and a healthy dose of old-school statistics, we ask: How do you get clean data on gentlemen’s goods?Along the way, we explore social desirability bias, survey design tricks, and what happens when science meets insecurity. You’ll never look at a Starbucks cup the same way again. Statistical topics Social desirability biasSelection biasVolunteer BiasDescriptive StatisticsRight-Skewed DistributionsStrategies to improve accuracy in self-report dataMethodological morals “When answers aim to please, truth takes its leave.”“Without descriptive statistics, you'll never know if you measure up.”References CROWNE DP, MARLOWE D. A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. J Consult Psychol. 1960;24:349-354. doi:10.1037/h0047358Gebhard, P.H. and Johnson, A.B., 1998. The Kinsey data: Marginal tabulations of the 1938-1963 interviews conducted by the Institute for Sex Research. Indiana University Press.Herbenick D, Reece M, Schick V, Sanders SA. Erect penile length and circumference dimensions of 1,661 sexually active men in the United States. J Sex Med. 2014;11(1):93-101. doi:10.1111/jsm.12244Johnston, L., McLellan, T., & McKinlay, A. (2014). (Perceived) size really does matter: Male dissatisfaction with penis size. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 15(2), 225–228. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033264King BM. The Influence of Social Desirability on Sexual Behavior Surveys: A Review. Arch Sex Behav. 2022;51(3):1495-1501. doi:10.1007/s10508-021-02197-0King BM. Average-Size Erect Penis: Fiction, Fact, and the Need for Counseling. J Sex Marital Ther. 2021;47(1):80-89. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2020.1787279King BM, Duncan LM, Clinkenbeard KM, Rutland MB, Ryan KM. Social Desirability and Young Men's Self-Reports of Penis Size. J Sex Marital Ther. 2019;45(5):452-455. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2018.1533905Larson, R.B., 2019. Controlling social desirability bias. International Journal of Market Research, 61(5), pp.534-547.Stodel, M. (2015). But What Will People Think?: Getting beyond Social Desirability Bias by Increasing Cognitive Load. International Journal of Market Research, 57(2), 313-322. https://doi.org/10.2501/IJMR-2015-024 (Original work published 2015) Spreadsheet with Penis Length Data Our online courses and programs: Demystifying Data: A Modern Approach to Statistical Understanding Clinical Trials: Design, Strategy, and Analysis Medical Statistics Certificate Program Writing in the Sciences Epidemiology and Clinical Research Graduate Certificate Program Find us on social: Kristin - LinkedIn & Twitter/X Regina - LinkedIn & ReginaNuzzo.com (00:00) - Introduction (02:33) - Starbucks metric and episode themes (07:17) - Men and women’s sampling frames (09:24) - Kinsey and his studies (14:59) - Statistics quiz on Kinsey penis data (22:10) - Social desirability bias (29:17) - Cognitive tricks to elicit honest survey answers (35:10) - Condoms, honest penis lengths, and another stats quiz (41:30) - Objective penis appraisers, measurement error, and reliability (46:42) - Whose penises? Volunteer and selection bias (50:27) - Mini-meta-analysis and the “answer” (52:06) - Wrap-up and methodological morals
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