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This classic column originally ran 31 July 2008. I edited it to provide a working link to the paper and to add the author’s Fig. 1.
I have no idea, but two gentlemen from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell and one from the Economics department at Purdue seem to think so. They have written a [peer-reviewed!] paper (second link) “Does television cause autism?”, which has found interest at Slate, which they boast as an “exclusive.”
Waldman’s (and others) paper, which is a couple of years old, is a prime example of how to get carried away with an idea, so it is worthwhile to review it. It’s best to download the paper so you can follow along (the paper is freely available).
The genesis of the idea was noticing that autism rates at birth in the state of California started to increase in the early 1970s, picking up pace until 2000, when their data stops (see their Figure 1).
Continued below.
www.wmbriggs.com
I have no idea, but two gentlemen from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell and one from the Economics department at Purdue seem to think so. They have written a [peer-reviewed!] paper (second link) “Does television cause autism?”, which has found interest at Slate, which they boast as an “exclusive.”
Waldman’s (and others) paper, which is a couple of years old, is a prime example of how to get carried away with an idea, so it is worthwhile to review it. It’s best to download the paper so you can follow along (the paper is freely available).
The genesis of the idea was noticing that autism rates at birth in the state of California started to increase in the early 1970s, picking up pace until 2000, when their data stops (see their Figure 1).
Continued below.
Does Watching TV Cause Autism?
This classic column originally ran 31 July 2008. I edited it to provide a working link to the paper and to add the author’s Fig. 1. I have no idea, but two gentlemen from the Johnson School o…
www.wmbriggs.com
