WHEN FACTS AND ORTHODOXY COLLIDE - THE BELL-CURVE AND THE ROBUSTNESS CRITERION

This commentary discusses the concept of ''robustness'' as a focal poi nt in evaluating controversies surrounding The Bell Curve: Intelligenc e and Class Structure in American Life (Herrnstein and Murray, 1994), particularly as it applies to the relationship between IQ variation an d school achievement. Emphasis is placed on distinguishing between the concepts of reasonableness versus robustness in evaluating alternativ e explanations for average black/white differences in scholastic achie vement.