From Dr. Brian Ray of NHERI:
This new study is subtly a landmark one. I have said publicly, many times: Study after study shows that homeschool students do as well, and often better, than public school students in their social, emotional, and psychological development. Negative critics of homeschooling or of the research have claimed that they cannot believe this because the samples might not be representative. That is, for example, maybe only the homeschool families who are doing well participate in the studies.
Once again, research is consistent with past research and what I have reported. This time, it is another study that directly addresses the “sampling issue.”
Methods
Dr. Guillermo Montes used data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a large survey collected by the U.S. government, to monitor the health of American children and published his findings in a peer-reviewed journal.[1] He reported that using a nationally representative US data source, “… collected for purposes other than homeschooling research, is likely to provide us a source of information with little bias due to homeschooling status” (p. 2). The purpose of the study was to determine whether “… homeschooled students had better or worse social or emotional health using the NSCH 2003 social competencies and behavior problem scales, and to conduct an item analysis to determine if there were any” (p. 2).
Read more here.