Having Daughters Increases Parents’ Identification with the Republican Party

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70. What evidence do you have that these two researchers are "fooling" anyone?

They are reputable scholars who got their work published in an established scientific journal. They found an 11% difference in political affiliation based on the gender of one's child. What horrible agenda are they pursuing in reporting that? Admittedly, they were analyzing results from a 20-year-old survey (although the GSS is one of our most well-regarded national surveys, being carried out by the U.S. Census Bureau on a regular basis). But they were using the best data available to them and analyzing it using the best statistical methods available.

As a sociologist myself I see nothing dishonorable in how these two researchers have conducted themselves. I am happy to see their methods questioned and their results compared to other studies which employed rigorous scientific principles. That is how scientific dialogue works. It is how we come to understand our social reality more accurately. But I am instead seeing a cascade of anecdotes, evidence-free assertions of "bullshit," and attacks on the academic integrity of two professional researchers. Why are people knee-jerk attacking them for being honest about their numbers? This is really shameful behavior on the part of people who ought to know better.