What statistical tools did Galton develop to measure human characteristics? Describe Galton’s research on hereditary genius.
Quetelet was the first one to develop statistical method to work with measurements. He defined the normal distribution curve and used it on social and biological data. The normal distribution curve had been used to work on physical measurements and errors.
It was not until Quetelet found that when the heights of 10,000 people followed a normal distribution, did he think that the same can be used to measure other variability in humans and animals.
His findings showed that in a normally distributed data, all the average data are concentrated in the middle, while the fewer ones are located at both the tails of the curve. Galton was impressed by Quetelets efforts and hoped that the same could be applied to mental characteristics as well.
Galton found that the marks obtained in university examination also followed the normal curve. Going by this observation, Galton concluded that any large set of measurements consisting of human features can be described by the arithmetic mean and the standard deviation.
Galton’s work also introduced us to correlation. He used this statistical technique to validate a test. According to him, inherited traits tend to regress towards the mean. His student Karl Pearson developed with his encouragement the coefficient of correlation. Correlation is denoted by r which is taken from the first letter of regression.
Correlation is a major tool to study behavioral and social sciences as well as physical, engineering, and natural sciences. Other statistical techniques have been developed by Galton’s work.
Galton’s work on Hereditary Genius suggested that the intelligence of a person depends upon his family history and not the environment surrounding him. According to Galton, only an eminent man can have an eminent son. That’s why; he wanted the gifted individuals to undergo selective breeding so that a fine human race can begin.
He used his statistical techniques to validate his theory. He found that eminent personalities had more chance of fathering eminent sons. He, therefore, stated that eminence is solely depended upon heredity, and could not be influenced by opportunities or an able environment.