solved Reply: Is That True? by Joel Best 1- Alexander Malonson

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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.