Jacob Taylor
Section 312
Response #1
Option 1
The Flaw in Using One Event for Comparison Michael A. Messner develops his own research while considering an event which occurred at his son’s soccer league in his article, Barbie Girls Versus Sea Monsters. Messner states that his recollection of the event between the two soccer teams--the Sea Monsters and the Barbie Girls--is purely to provide a moment in which sociological ideas may be derived; however, Messner defies his own words by providing his own research about the context of the event in order to interpret possible causes for its occurrence. Messner’s attempt to create empirical research falls short, as his data represent only his experience in a singular moment in time and cannot be generalized without further research. Due to the nature of his data, Messner’s argument becomes mere suggestion. …show more content…
One argument Messner arrives upon suggests that boys express an inherent aggression in sports, while girls develop the same construct as they enter their teens. Messner draws his conclusion from a pattern seen that boys name their sports teams with “power”-related names while girls begin with “sweet” names at a younger ages (2000). However, this pattern could have surfaced from each gender’s view of the sport itself, such as younger girls being influenced to play for fun as opposed to be competitive. The issue, involving a failed attempt to turn numbers into fact, is only the first of the article’s many