ABSTRACT
The first step in our quest to understand if, where, and when sex differences in cognitive abilities exist is an examination of the experimental and statistical procedures used to provide the answers. The kinds of questions we can ask about sex differences and the answers we get depend on the experimental and statistical methods used in research. The goal of this chapter is to consider the research issues that are important in evaluating the proliferating literature in the area of sex differences. Some of the issues are relevant to evaluating research claims in any area; others are unique to research about sex differences. The issues range from the basic assumptions underlying hypothesis testing to methods of integrating results across multiple studies. Readers with little or no background in statistical and research methods may have difficulty grasping some of the more technical explanations in this chapter; however, the general principles should be easily understandable to all readers. Reports of the actual research on sex differences are presented in chapter 3, and research and theories designed to explain why differences exist are presented in chapters 4 through 7. As you see in these chapters, not all of the researchers have used the techniques that are identified as desirable or necessary to reach a defensible or valid conclusion. Consumers of psychological research need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of different types of research and research practices. The validity of the conclusions from any study rests on the quality of the research from which they were generated.
