Of course, the results from this excellent analysis are rough (But don’t warrant “English majors can’t read.”).

Perhaps a more apt comparison than with flagship schools are studies testing understanding of critical information within other majors (e.g., Can psychologists interpret a p-value?…)

This is me. I grew up where the data were collected and majored in English at Kansas.

To give the kids some credit:

Modernizing 1850s Dickens is not easy. Try it.

And, the study aimed to see if students ill-equipped to comprehend complex, archaic texts picked up those skills in college.

Thanks for the catch!

The link expired but it’s back up now for 30 days.

Lastly, thanks to @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social for the idea.

Special thanks goes to my friend and fellow scientist Thornton Thompson, for sharing his OpEd with @jmoltke.bsky.social & @psmitchej.bsky.social, my incredible advisor @yukomunakata.bsky.social for the encouragement, and @ucdavispsych.bsky.social.

www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm...

I wrote an OpEd arguing against funding cuts to NIH and NSF and their devastating impact for the newspaper I grew up with, the Morning Sun, in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Keep spreading the word, wherever you can.

morningsun.net/stories/maki...

I’ll see you all there. Join!

A quick scan of the small N’s from the manuscript also suggests an error in reporting. N=59 data retained, but N=57 in reported gender and in the school year demographics.