ROGD (Part 2)

This morning I wrote about the conservative reaction to the pulling of the study by an assistant professor from Brown University on a peer-review website.

The Brown Daily Herald reported…

Gender dysphoria study faces criticism
Recent study uses parental surveys to examine ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’ in transgender youth
By MIA PATTILLO
September 4, 2018

On Aug. 22, the University published a press release on the first-ever research study to investigate “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” which was authored by Lisa Littman, assistant professor of the practice of behavioral and social sciences in the School of Public Health. Littman’s study proposed that online forums and social media have allowed transgender identities to spread among adolescents in a manner dubbed “social contagion.” Five days later, PloS ONE, the peer-reviewed journal which published the study, posted a comment on the online paper indicating that the journal would “seek further expert assessment on the study’s methodology and analyses.” The same day, Aug. 27, Brown removed the press release highlighting Littman’s findings from its website and news distribution.
[…]
Methodology and data collection
[…]
“The three websites (that Littman posted to) all have ties (to) organizations and people that promote conversion therapy and reject gender identity,” wrote Brynn Tannehill, who has written widely about transgender experiences, including her own, in a follow-up email to The Herald. “The fact that she did not acknowledge the bias of these websites, and the effects that this would have on the data, clearly distorts whatever conclusions you may find. That’s flat-out bad research,” she said.

Multiple other experts interviewed for this article agreed with Tannehill, adding that it was unfair to draw conclusions about transgender adolescents and their experiences based on parent experiences.

“The data is not presented as parents’ thoughts, feelings and perceptions of youth experience, but is extrapolated to ‘this is what happened to these youth, this is their experience,’” said Michelle Forcier, professor of pediatrics and clinician educator. “Anyone who has kids or takes care of kids knows that parent perception doesn’t accurately tell you what that adolescent’s experience is.”

Anne Fausto-Sterling, professor emeritus of biology, claimed that this research was a beginning point rather than an endpoint.

“Frankly, it’s disingenuous to attack the method when (Littman) is the first person to even try to figure out what’s going on,” she said. “I don’t think the study does any more than say this is something we need to look at.”

On another website they also question the study.

Journal Looking Into Study on 'Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria'
Inside Higher ED
By Colleen Flaherty
August 31, 2018

Brown University and PLOS ONE have distanced themselves from a controversial, peer-reviewed published study on “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” or gender identity issues that present not early and over a lifetime but quickly, in teenagers and young adults. The study, which has been criticized by transgender activists and allies as promoting the idea that being trans is a fad, and as relying on an unsound methodology, was based on anonymous survey responses from about 250 parents of (primarily female) teens and young adults who’d abruptly expressed gender dysphoria.
[…]
While the “spirit of free inquiry and scholarly debate is central to academic excellence, Marcus said, “we believe firmly that it is also incumbent on public health researchers to listen to multiple perspectives and to recognize and articulate the limitations of their work. This process includes acknowledging and considering the perspectives of those who criticize our research methods and conclusions and working to improve future research to address these limitations and better serve public health.” There is an “added obligation for vigilance” in research design and analysis any time there are health implications within a study, she added.

As one commenter on the Brown Daily Herald wrote goes to the heart of the debate,

…A shoddy research experiment with questionable methods is NOT free speech. It's dangerous and damaging. That's how we ended up with anti-vaxxers and with dangerous but preventable diseases that had almost been eradicated making a come-back.

This is not a debate of free speech or academic integrity but rather junk science, sloppy research.

Now get a load of what the author of the research paper said about the paper…

Littman, the study’s author, declined comment on Brown’s or PLOS ONE’s actions. But she said she stood by her methodology. “My study is a descriptive study,” she said via email. “And like all descriptive studies there are limitations which are acknowledged. And although descriptive studies may be one of the less robust study designs they play an important role in the scientific literature primarily because they are a first description of a new condition or population and they make it possible to conduct additional, more rigorous research.”

She added, “When analyzing the methodology of my paper, it should be done in the context of other descriptive studies, not compared to studies employing other research designs. The methodology in my study is consistent with methodologies that have been used in other descriptive research and it has similar strengths and weaknesses, which I acknowledge in the paper.”

The purpose of the study was to describe “a phenomenon that has been observed by clinicians and parents,” Littman said. “I stand by the conclusion of my study -- that more research needs to be done.”

You got that?

She even says it is not “a research paper” but just an observation that needs further study!

Then what the hell are we debating?

The paper was presented as a research paper and the stated purpose was…

In on-line forums, parents have been reporting that their children are experiencing what is described here as “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” appearing for the first time during puberty or even after its completion. The onset of gender dysphoria seemed to occur in the context of belonging to a peer group where one, multiple, or even all of the friends have become gender dysphoric and transgender-identified during the same timeframe. Parents also report that their children exhibited an increase in social media/internet use prior to disclosure of a transgender identity. The purpose of this study was to document and explore these observations and describe the resulting presentation of gender dysphoria, which is inconsistent with existing research literature.

While researchers and the trans community was questioning the methodology and the validity of the paper. The right-wing media is toting this as a study that affirms “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” however, the author says it is just a paper looking into the possibility ROGD.

Chime in on the debate what do you think?

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