Abstract

We make three points in response to Boyce, Daly, Hounkpatin, and Wood (2017). First, we clarify a misunderstanding of the goal of our analyses, which was to investigate the links between life satisfaction and spending patterns, rather than spending volume. Second, we report a simulation study we ran to demonstrate that our results were not driven by the proposed statistical artifact. Finally, we discuss the broader issue of why, in a world of big data, small but reliable effect sizes can be valuable.

View research

Citation

Matz, Sandra, J.J. Gladstone, and D. Stillwell. "In a World of Big Data, Small Effects Can Still Matter: A Reply to Boyce, Daly, Hounkpatin, and Wood." Psychological Science 28, no. 4 (March 2017): 547-550.

Each author name for a Columbia Business School faculty member is linked to a faculty research page, which lists additional publications by that faculty member.

Each topic is linked to an index of publications on that topic.