There's a reason for the ratio discrepancy. I do not know that in my line of work "studies" using such outrageous ratios would not be taken seriously. The ratios speak for themselves.
What is your concern regarding the sample sizes? The researchers are comparing _weighted_ rates, not absolute. (If they were comparing absolute they would say somthing like "women are twice as violent as men".)
Do you think that the researchers are dividing the absolute instances in the male sample by the size of the female sample?
Or are you concerned that the sample sizes for the men are too small to generate sufficent confidence in their accuracy as applied to the general population?
In that case I would say both male and female sample sizes are too small for high degrees of confidence.
You'd need a sample size of 16000+ to get a 99% confidence level with a +/-1% interval, for a population as large as the US.
I would tend to agree that there were not enough respondents to draw a strong conclusion in any direction.
The best you could hope for is the statement.......a certain percentage of those who responded. But that of course would fall far short of any goal.
I am perplexed by the 2 to 1 and 3 to 1 ratios used in the posted studies. Based on the consistency of use there is a reason for it. Like I said, when you set out to prove a specific theory you can cherry pick the respondents and almost guarantee results.
It's the reason I prefer hard data.
But even that is unreliable because as we all know a man that is abused in a relationship is far less likely to press charges than a woman that is abused in a relationship.
The number of convictions of women for violent offenses does point to the fact that women are more likely to act out violently now than they have been in years past.
But then the same can be said for any group at this point. Violence in general is more widespread than it was in days before and the level of violence is now more savage than in days passed.
My advice to a man that is being abused is press charges and carry through with those charges. But then my advice to a woman in that situation would be the same. Domestic violence (and I use that term because I do not see harsh language as violence) should not be tolerated. It doesn't matter who is on the receiving end and who is dishing it out.
No excuses, no tolerance.