SK> -> *2   BAD BEHAVIOR IN SCHOOL:  CANADIANS BLAME SINGLE MOTHERS
SK> ->    A Canadian study concludes that young children raised by
SK> -> single mothers in Canada demonstrate higher rates of behavior
SK> -> problems and school failure than other students (Lipovenko, THE 
SK> GLOBE
SK> -> AND MAIL, 10/18).  Statistics Canada and the Department of Human
SK> -> Resources Development released the data as part of a major federal
SK> -> study on the well-being of Canada's children.
SK> ->    One in nine of the 324,000 children age 6 to 11 raised by
SK> -> single mothers had repeated a grade in school.  The paper notes 
SK> that
SK> -> the national average for repeating a grade among this age
SK> -> group is one in 16.
SK> --------------------(quoted material ends)----------------------
SK> I quoted this piece primarily because I thought it was an interesting
SK> example of statistics use (or misuse), and since the topic of valid
SK> research methods has been much discussed here recently..
SK> Note that from the observation that 1 in 6 children raised by single
SK> mothers displays some type of conduct disorder, and other similiar
SK> observations of the same type, the conclusion is somehow drawn or
SK> implied that single mothers are doing a bad job of raising children.
    I agree with you on "fuzzy" measures like how many kids are "conduct 
disordered" being unreliable to infer anything from, but I disagree with you 
on the bit I cited.  
    There's no arguing whether a kid had to repeat a grade.  And when one 
large group of kids is having to repeat a grade at a rate more than double 
that of all Canadian kids, it's a reasonable inference that kids from 
single-mom families are more likely to have school problems than other kids.
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