Hi It is not just sociology that suffers from excessive ideological promotion / criticism of non-experimental research. Psychology as well has many issues (theories, models, whatever, ...) that will only or primarily be examined non-experimentally. It behooves us as scholars / researchers / educators to document not only the limitations of such approaches but as well the potential. Consider Streissguth's work on maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WYC-46X4819-35&_user=1068128&_coverDate=01%2F31%2F1989&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1581697283&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000051257&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=1068128&md5=f357fe5bd837dfee51da7b30f2d041f5&searchtype=a OR http://tinyurl.com/2aromas and http://www.aamr.org/ehi/media/Streissguth%20PP%203%209%2007%20(2).pdf Essentially the research shows an effect of maternal alcohol consumption on child's intellectual abilities even controlling for numerous correlated (or potentially correlated) variables. Surely, the greater the number of competing hypotheses that are discredited by empirical research (i.e., statistical control) the greater our confidence in a causal relationship. Ideally, such non-experimental results are further confirmed by experimental studies (e.g., with pig fetuses). The idea that we can immediately arrive at a definitive study to settle some issue is perhaps one of the worst things that we can impart to students. Sound understanding only comes from prolonged and often difficult work ... no matter what ideologists might think (or pretend to think in order to undermine approaches with which they disagree, often intensely). Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca >>> "Mike Palij" <m...@nyu.edu> 16-Dec-10 11:00 AM >>> On Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:35:53 -0800, Michael Smith allegedly wrote: >But the most hillarious one is from one critics response that Allen >presents that includes: >"The evidence presented in the book is mostly a series of scatter diagrams, >with a regression line drawn through them." > >This is hillarious !!! >The reason being, of course, is that the statement is a good >description of all the results in sociology. > >I'm still laughing at that one. As someone who is familiar with the research methods literature in sociology, I am puzzled about (a) why you are laughing (outside of your being prone to laugh at things for no apparent reason) and (b) why you think regression lines and scatterplots describe all of the results in sociology. Hubert Blalock, a quantitative sociologist, is just one sociologist who has used sophisticated statistical analysis in sociological research in addition to writing/editing influential textbooks in statistical analysis for sociologists. Consider: His 1985 "Causal Models in the Social Sciences"; on books.google.com: http://books.google.com/books?id=Qvpa5n1OhRYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=blalock+%22causal+models+in+the+social+sciences%22&source=bl&ots=3b6T8vfz7C&sig=zZCkVBwPvQLBAwRgd9UBdKZHIh8&hl=en&ei=1D8KTfrVAoiosAPvsKGLCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false or http://tinyurl.com/blalock1985 Note: this books continues to be used and is available on Amazon as are other books by Blalock. I would also suggest looking at his 2007 book "Causal Models in Experimental designs"; see: http://books.google.com/books?id=Mawj7EyctSAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=blalock+%22causal+models+in+the+social+sciences%22&source=bl&ots=kMikWSiPJe&sig=pGDiycgAMpF1yQPPLyLuf5dkd-M&hl=en&ei=1D8KTfrVAoiosAPvsKGLCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=blalock%20%22causal%20models%20in%20the%20social%20sciences%22&f=false or http://tinyurl.com/blalock2007 Examination of the serial "Sociological Methods & Research" (SMR) will show that many different types of sophisticated forms of analyses are used and promoted by well-known experts in their field like Kenneth Bollen. SMR is published by Sage and the current issue (in volume #39) is available here: http://smr.sagepub.com/content/current There is also the "Journal of Mathematical Sociology"; see: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/GMAS For some background on mathematical sociology, there is a Wikipedia entry (yadda-yadda) that provides some history and background; see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_sociology So, what's the basis for the claim that sociologists only use scatterplots and regression in their research? That's claim is almost as hilarious as saying that all psychologists are clinicians. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=7252 or send a blank email to leave-7252-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7255 or send a blank email to leave-7255-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
