The title of this article is overblown, as the author uses one example to show that social science research can be poorly done, and then suggests the same is true of Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation, the book arguing that "taking smartphones or at least social media away from kids will make them happier and decrease their rates of anxiety, depression and suicide." Gray argues (and I've seen it repeated elsewhere) that the science does not support Haidt's conclusion. For example, Gray writes, one of the supporting studies (Melissa Hunt et al (2018)) is demonstrably flawed. I don't disagree with Gray, and I agree that critical analyses are important in social science, and consider this an example of why (and would have changed the title accordingly).
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