Reply:
Is That True? by Joel Best
1- Alexander Malonson : It is interesting how sociological reasoning is rooted with one idea, comparing, a researcher must clearly categorize a comparison, then define the reason of how/why the study intends to answer that comparison. (The reason is usually how/why a pattern in society behaves a certain way.) In the first paragraph of chapter 10, Best makes it clear that being able to compare aspects of social life is a key tool for all sociologists. In my understanding, this is the only analytical tool used to compare values. This practice allows sociologists “to discover and demonstrate what is happening” while remaining objective because “… their training in sociology does not qualify them to make authoritative judgment about what is fair or just” in regards to societal values (Best 113, 101).The most complicated issue sociologists must overcome when comparing is the inability to replicate the research. This is extremely difficult because of intervening variables or the inability to test the same subjects. In the words of Best, “intervening variables alter the causes’ impact on the effect”, and “there is no way to avoid this; researchers can only explain their choices and point to their evidence” (115, 127).One idea that raised questions for me was concept creep or how the meaning of a word changes over time. Best used the example of the word deviant. Todays meaning of deviant is exactly opposite of what sociologist coined it to be. Best suggests that “there is no natural end to this process”, this happens because everyone is encouraged to add on examples to the fuzzy terms (97). Is this how the meaning of deviant morphed? Are all the fuzzy terms like institution also doomed by evolving examples in the future?. Write reply….
2- Klarissa Peraza : One “big idea” that I found very insightful was the idea of Measurements. I have always seen surveys and polls being taken, but I never really payed close attention to all that is behind it. In other words, I took these questionaries to be fairly easy to come up with. But, while reading chapter 9, I realize how difficult it must be to produce results with high validity. To add, Best (2021) mentions obtaining a representative sample in order for the results to be more accurate, but even then it is not 100%. Therefore, the best way to get accurate results is to look at the answers that seem to have validity. For example, “You probably ought to ignore the responses of people in your sample who aren’t eligible to vote, perhaps because they are underage or noncitizens” (Best, 2021, p. 90). I interpreted this as Best explaining that whatever seems “irrelevant” to the study, should not even be included. This being because any little thing may throw off the results of the whole study. I found this very interesting because I began to wonder if the surveys I have taken and are as valid as I ought them to be. For example, there have been many times where I simply answered “other” on surveys. I choose this as my answer when other answers provided were not thorough enough. In addition, “Oh, and you’ll need to decide what to do with the responses of people who say they haven’t made up their minds or who refuse to respond because they figure their preference is none of your damn business” (Best, 2021, p. 90). So as I reflect on this, what do pollsters do with the results that are vague? Although “throwing them out” or placing them where they want will allow for better results, it is a totally valid result.
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