Article on Women's Brains vs Men's Brains

1. What is the general point that Gould is presenting?

The issue of whether a mans brain is bigger than a women’s brain, and if that would make the males smarter

2. What is the general evidence on which that conclusion is based?

In the second to last paragraph he says, “I would rather label the whole enterprise of setting a biological value upon groups for what it is: irrelevant and highly injurious.” I think this means that he thinks that this subject doesn't need to be studied and that it could damage the relationship between men and women.

3. What is the gender of all the researchers producing those data and conclusions?

George Elliot is a girl, Broca is a man, the writer of the article is a man, Gustave Le Bon is male, Topinard was male, Ceasar was female, and Maria Montessori was also female.

4. What weaknesses or problems with those data and their interpretation does Gould point out?

The women were much older than the men, the women weren’t fighting, they were housekeepers so they didn’t need a bigger brain, Broca didn’t factor in the age, weight, stature, and height,

5. a) Name the one woman anthropologist mentioned who studied the subject of this essay. b) What did she find after proper correction of Broca's data? c) What were her conclusions from that finding?

Maria Montessori, that women’s brains are slightly larger than men’s, women were more intellectually smart and men were more physically smart.

6. What conclusion does Gould reach about the central issue?

That its impossible to accurately test the size comparatively of women’s vs men’s brains because the average woman and man do not share the same stature, height, or weight.

7. Make a general statement about the role of bias and assumptions in the collecting, processing, and interpretation of data in scientific studies.

Most of the men are bias because they thought that their brains were larger than womens brains making males smarter. This is probably why Broca didn’t factor in the ages of his test subjects, the weight, height, or even the stature. The women were also bias because they were certain that they did not have smaller brains than a man.

8. What other kinds of bias can you think of that might influence observations and interpretations in science?

A gender bias, or even money can persuade people

9. Describe your initial feelings (about the subject, the author, etc.) after reading the first 4 pages.

The author is reporting on studies that others had made and seems to be leaning in the womens favor.

10. Describe your feeling after finishing the entire article.

I think that the author definitely was leaning on the women’s side. I certainly don’t think that womens brains are smaller than that of a man’s. If everything is factored in correctly I think they should be about the same.