Abstract
This Commentary is a response to a Commentary published in the May/June 2020 issue:
 Nattrass N. Why are black South African students less likely to consider studying biological sciences? S Afr J Sci. 2020;116(5/6), Art. #7864, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/7864
 Responses to the Commentary in the May/June 2020 issue have been published collectively in a special issue of Volume 116.
Highlights
On 8 June 2020, we, a diverse group of African emerging researchers, published a response to the commentary titled ‘Why are black South African students less likely to consider studying biological sciences?’ (1) published in the South Africa Journal of Science (SAJS)
The minimal nature of the data and biased sampling present a great limitation of making regressions difficult to fully explore even for the purpose of reporting preliminary findings. It has long been discussed and demonstrated how targeted sampling is prone to determining the demographic selection and response behaviour of that select sample, leading to biased and discriminatory conclusions that might be drawn and ascribed to a population (4). The author affirms this by stating that this ‘opportunistic survey... resulted in an over-sampling of black South Africans’, and ‘the results for the total sample are in no way ‘representative’ of UCT students.’, which would in no way be representative of black South African students
This speaks to the issue of unconscious bias, which is discussed further in this rebuttal, and highlights the sample selection bias that tends to steer data collection and interpretation towards false conclusions about different races, as previously shown (Ards et al 1998)
Summary
On 8 June 2020, we, a diverse group of African emerging researchers, published a response to the commentary titled ‘Why are black South African students less likely to consider studying biological sciences?’ (1) published in the South Africa Journal of Science (SAJS). In our first response to this commentary, we questioned why this poorly conceived study was allowed to be published in SAJS. The main finding that significantly fewer black students than ‘other’ students considered studying the biological sciences (Table 1, Nattrass 2020) is flawed, which is alarming as it forms the basis of the commentary, and may account for the interpretation of the regression models presented.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
