The IQ Debate: A Selective Guide to the Literature

Over the past 20 years, one of the most bitter debates within the social sciences has centred on Arthur Jensen’s contention that American blacks are, on average, less intelligent than whites and that this alleged difference is genetic in origin. Aby’s selective annotated bibliography offers scholars a concise guide to the storm of argument and counter-argument over Jensen’s suggestion and to the scientific, legal, educational, philosophic and social issues it has raised. Aby has catalogued and described more than 400 books, book chapters, professional journal articles, newspaper and magazine articles, source documents, media materials and reference sources relating to the controversy. He begins with an overview of the IQ debate, its history and the principal participants. He then arranges bibliographic entries in chapters according to the type of source; each entry includes descriptive annotations of up to 300 words. A glossary explains technical terms that are used in the annotations and in the debate itself. This bibliography may be a valuable addition to collections in education, sociology and psychology, as well as a resource for courses on educational testing and measurement, racism, sociology of education and black education.