Getting value for money in research

 

PISA has been in the news recently. It has a generous budget, a large staff, extensive offices, a skilled press division, and a smooth website, as befits a super-funded OECD organisation. Using all the resources at their disposal, they have come to the following conclusion: Vietnam has a scholastic score (all three scholastic test scores averaged) of SAS 515.67 which is almost identical to Germany whose SAS score is 515.33. So, the scholastic achievements of these two countries are nearly identical, with a very minor advantage for Vietnam, though both are better in scholastic terms than UK at 502.33.
www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-overview.pdf (p. 5)

This result is slightly puzzling, because some previous research by Jim Flynn found a Vietnamese IQ of 94, suggesting scholastic achievements in Vietnam would be lower than in Germany.

Vietnam

12/16

391

SPM

94

Flynn, 1991

In view of this, a researcher who had just published a study in Vietnam a few months ago was quite concerned that the powerhouse of the PISA machine would contradict his own findings. In his paper he had estimated an IQ of 99.43 for Vietnam  compared with an IQ of 99.13 for Germany. According to his calculations both countries were nearly identical, with a very minor advantage for Vietnam, but both were near to the intelligence levels of the UK.

Rindermann, H., Hoang, Q. S. N. & Baumeister, A. E. E. (2013). Cognitive
ability, parenting and instruction in Vietnam and Germany. Intelligence,
41, 366-377.

So, Rindermann got it right. His already published estimates were confirmed by the much larger and very much more expensive PISA study. (Incidentally, all these studies seem to suggest that the UK is punching below its IQ level in scholastic attainments).

How big was his research team? One assistant and a contact in Vietnam, one assistant and him in Germany. If you would like to send him a million dollars his details are below. You might just like to request a copy of his paper, for private study. (Incidentally, it is likely that most research is always done by very small groups of badly funded people, driven by a basic interest in their subject and following research opportunities wherever they arise. Value for money arises from lack of money, and a fundamental interest in facts for their own sake).

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should make it clear that Rindermann and I publish together from time to time, and that he is extremely productive, and very thorough. Teutonic, even. If you want to know what he thinks of American scholastic achievement, try the  chapter on “Flynn Effect in NAEP and narrowing ethnic gaps?” in the December special issue of Intelligence “The Flynn Effect Re-Evaluated”. You might also ask him for a copy of that, or at least a summary.

Prof. Dr. Heiner Rindermann
Professor f. Pädagogische u. Entwicklungspsychologie
TU Chemnitz, Institut f. Psychologie, Wilhelm-Raabe-Str. 43
D-09107 Chemnitz (Deutschland, Germany)
heiner.rindermann@psychologie.tu-chemnitz.de, www.tu-chemnitz.de/~hrin
Professor for Educational and Developmental Psychology