[quote=patientrenter]LOL! esmith and urbanrealtor: you are talking at cross-purposes. esmith says when he can’t get good stats on scholastics, but can get good stats on variables that are correlated with scholastics, he uses the other variables to estimate the scholastics.

urbanrealtor reads that esmith says that if you’re black or hispanic, or your parents are unschooled, then you’ll disrupt your schoolmates’ education. Challenges esmith to withdraw comment or be tattooed as “white male racist bigot” – and a suspected Republican to boot!

One of you needs to teach what correlation means, and the other needs to learn what it means. Good luck!
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I don’t think either of us are unaware of what correlation means.
I can’t speak to esmith’s schooling but most of his arguments seem cogent. This one did not and that is why I took issue.
Speaking of myself, I have taken several postgraduate classes in statistical correlation.
Nor are either of us talking about labels.
We simply have a difference of opinion about the significance of correlation.
My problem was that saying you cant get stats on a school flies in the face of reality. Those records are easy to get but not always online.
I don’t think either of us challenged the other to withdraw a comment.
We just disputed each other’s assertions.