The author of the article doesn’t know the first thing about the types of models being used. He’s assuming they’re the same as the super-simple, any undergrad can do it, models he uses. They’re really and truly not like that at all.
When a psychologist claims to know more about statistics than thousands of statisticians and econometricians, the smart bet is to assume that psychologist is wrong or doesn’t understand what the statisticians are actually doing. Does he really think statisticians don’t understand the concept of random sampling?!
As an aside, I used to teach “Statistical Methods for Social Sciences.” I.e., I was the one who taught statistics to the psychologists and the like.
Mind you, I’d make this same argument in reverse if any statistician dared to suggest that everything psychologists did was theoretically bankrupt. As a general rule, it’s not smart to assume you know more about another field than all the experts in that field.
