Quote:No, the social sciences largely are not empirical. They are largely self-reported surveys and a ton of conjecture, with very little elimination of confounding factors.
Many journals are predatory or just a joke, with a well-documented leftist political bent, and the replication crisis is most prominent in the social sciences.
Strange then that the rightwing anti-trans faction is working so hard to appear scientific and legit thru the use of official sounding "medical" organizations and the submission of pseudoscientific research papers. Why would they do this if the science is so unreliable? The study of the neurological and genetic basis of gender identity is not "social science" btw. It is hard science backed by empirical data. And all the studies I've cited prove this.
Conservatives have built a vast network of junk science organizations to oppose trans equality
A new report identifies 60 organizations spreading false claims to undermine support for trans people.
By Greg Owen Thursday, December 14, 2023
"A new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center details a vast network of junk science organizations masquerading as authoritative medical sources in the far-right’s effort to manipulate public opinion and advance legislation and legal action targeting the LGBTQ+ community:
https://www.splcenter.org/captain
The report, titled Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Through Accessible Informative Narratives, identifies over 60 groups making false scientific claims through so-called research papers, letters to the editor and testimony in state legislatures that attempt to cast doubt on the scientific consensus of legitimate medical organizations.
SPLC identifies well-known right-wing players like Alliance Defending Freedom and newer sources of junk science, including the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and Genspect, which share hundreds of connections in their effort to undermine gender-affirming care, defend conversion therapy and generate moral panic over trans people.
“We show how this network of anti-LGBTQ+ actors have built a political and PR machine that twists data and opinion from a very small minority of the medical community and positions it as mainstream,” said R.G. Cravens, senior research analyst for SPLC’s Intelligence Project.
One example of a false “scientific” narrative detailed in the report is so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” which assumes that transgender identity spreads through “social contagion” in spaces that affirm LGBTQ+ identities, like social media. This junk science, appearing in a published study and later amended with multiple corrections, itself became a social contagion spread by anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups and was used to justify anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
A blatant instance of false representation is the case of the American College of Pediatricians, identified as a fringe group by SPLC but with an official sounding name remarkably similar to a legitimate medical organization, the American Academy of Pediatricians, formed in 1930 and recognized as the premiere association of American pediatricians.
Unlike the pretender organization, which seeks to undermine gender-affirming care for minors and promotes conversion therapy, the AAP recognizes the efficacy of gender-affirming care — as do all major medical organizations.
“Disinformation from junk science is dangerous,” said Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director of research, reporting and analysis for SPLC’s Intelligence Project, introducing the report. “When anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience turns into policy, it has real-life, often life-threatening consequences for trans and nonbinary people.”
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/12/cons...-equality/
Apr 6, 2024 12:15 AM
