In-Class/Homework #3

Transcription

1 Pols 20 - Pinnell In-Class/Homework #3 1) In the passages below, look over the text and then answer the following questions about the evidence used in each. Examples a) and b) are from the Browne website: a) My friends all tell me that I should break up with Steve because he's been in a lot of trouble in the past and has physically abused a couple of his past girl friends, and they think he's "creepy." And I know he has a reputation for having major mood swings. But I just have this feeling when I'm with him that he's a very different person now than the person they all think he is. I can't explain it; but when I'm in his presence, I can sense that he would never physically harm me. Conclusion: Reasons: Name the types of evidence used to support the reasons, and give examples: In your opinion, is the evidence sufficient to support the reasons? Explain. 1

2 1) b) At some point in most young peoples' lives, the idea of being a lawyer comes to mind. And of those people, most of them go to college with this idea in mind. Presently, the country is shoulder-deep in future lawyers, many of whom cannot find work. I have a cousin who graduated from law school two years ago, and she still hasn't been able to find a position in a law office. Time Magazine reports there are three times as many law students as there are lawyers in the country and that nearly 60 percent of law students will not find jobs within their major. Many people seek a law career because of its possible financial benefits. The truth of the matter, however, is that most lawyers do not make much money at all. Myron Nicole, a lawyer of 15 years who is a friend of our family, says, "I have never made more than $45,000 a year. This notion of being a high-powered lawyer in New York is totally glamorized in TV and the movies." Conclusion: Reasons: Name the types of evidence used to support the reasons, and give examples: In your opinion, is the evidence sufficient to support the reasons? Why or why not? 2

3 1) c) I don't believe that the Internet can ever be a reliable source for students to use in their work, at least as long as it remains unregulated as it is now. With so many different websites out there and no way to verify the validity of the information on them, the Internet is just too hit and miss to be of any use. It's just like a bad baseball player; if you only get a hit once in every 10 times at bat, it doesn't matter if the one you hit is a homerun the major leagues don't want you. Conclusion: Reasons: Name the types of evidence used to support the reasons, and give examples: In your opinion, is the evidence sufficient to support the reasons? Why or why not? 3

4 2) Read through the texts below, and answer the following questions regarding the research conducted, and how the research affects the argument it is meant to support. Example a) is from the Browne website: a) A 1980 study conducted by Letty Pogrebin, Growing Up Free, yielded interesting information about the nature of socialized sex roles in American society. Pogrebin's study asked 70 Wisconsin children ages three to five what they wanted to be when they grew up. The boys' list included fourteen occupations: fireman, policeman, father/husband, older person, digger, dentist, astronaut, cowboy, truckdriver, engineer, baseball player, doctor, Superman, and the Six-Million Dollar Man. Girls responded with eleven jobs: mother/sister, nurse, ballerina, older person, dentist, teacher, babysitter, baton-twirler, ice skater, princess, and cowgirl. When asked what they thought they would really be when they grew up, the girls usually modified their choices to historically traditional roles (e.g. mother.) The boys, however, tended to change to more exciting and adventurous roles (e.g. from husband to fireman). The study suggests that children, even at very young ages, have been socialized into expected roles. The children have clearly been victims of the societal propagation of sexually-unequal role conditioning. Unless something is done to alter the mindset of both current adults and those of the next generation, we can expect such attitudes to be regenerated once more with the next crop of parents and children. Study information adapted from Sociology, 2nd ed., by Ian Robertson. Copyright 1981 by Worth Publishers, Inc. How were the subjects sampled in this study? Could this sampling method affect the results? Explain. 4

5 2. a) What types of data collection methods (survey, experiment, etc.) were used to obtain the data in this study? Could the methods in this study (design, data collection, analysis of data) affect the results? In your opinion, does the research evidence support the conclusion made by the author? Explain your answer. Finally, how generalizable are the results in this study? Explain your answer. 5

6 1 2 3 b) Are people like Josef Mengele, William Calley, and Charles Graner atypical examples of how humans can abuse power and become monsters, or are they merely examples of what any human is capable of? The latter possibility was tantalizingly suggested at the close of a psychological study conducted by Dr. Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University during the early 1970s. The results of this study showed that when human beings are divided into positions where one is dominant over the other, the dominant group quickly begins to use its power to abuse and denigrate the other group, to the point that even extreme physical violence and torture could be possible. In the study, 22 male subjects (students spending the summer in the Stanford area, all Caucasians except for one Asian subject) were selected from a pool of respondents who answered an advertisement seeking volunteers for a psychological study of prison life. After extensive psychological screening, the subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the guards and the prisoners. They were then moved into a simulated prison environment, a converted basement corridor with three cells for the prisoners. The guards were directed by the Warden, a graduate student, in assigning workshifts for prisoners, overseeing meals and recreation programs for the inmates, and filing observation reports. Guards were provided with uniforms that included plain shirts and trousers, reflective sunglasses, and whistles. They were issued wooden batons. Ultimately, guards were given limited instruction for what their role was as guards, although they did receive admonitions against physical punishment of prisoners. After a simulated arrest, prisoners were brought to the simulation site. Prisoners were given loose-fitting smocks with identification numbers, rubber sandals and stocking caps. They were also issued chains that locked about their ankles and were secured at night in their cells. Almost immediately after the start of the actual test, the guard and prisoner groups began to alter their behavior. Guards became aggressive towards prisoners, subjecting them to verbal abuse through dehumanizing comments and commands. Although physical violence did not occur, non-physical abuse from the guards escalated over time. Prisoners became submissive, to the point that they began to 1. Known as the Angel of Death, due to his medical experimentation on concentration camp victims at Auschwitz during WWII. 2 One of the platoon leaders that led U.S. troops into the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. 3. One of the seven soldiers convicted of the offense of not stopping abuses at Abu Ghraib prison from

7 exhibit both mental and physical symptoms of extreme stress and depression (anxiety, crying, hives, etc.) After less than a week into the study, the increasingly hostile behavior of the guards and the effects on the prisoners resulted in the study being brought to a premature halt. This study has been called unethical due to the stress placed on the study subjects. But even given the effects on the study subjects, should we dismiss this as a poorly-planned study, or learn from its results? This study clearly shows that given an opportunity to assert power over others, human beings will seize and abuse that power, with often tragic results. Study information adapted from A Study of Prisoners and Guards in a Simulated Prison, by Craig Hanry, Curtis Banks, and Philip Zimbardo. First published in Naval Research Reviews, September 1973, U.S. Dept. of the Navy. How were the subjects sampled in this study? Could this sampling method affect the results? Explain. What types of data collection methods (survey, experiment, etc.) were used to obtain the data in this study? Could the methods in this study (design, data collection, analysis of data) affect the results? 7

8 In your opinion, does the research evidence support the conclusion made by the author? Explain your answer. Finally, how generalizable are the results in this study? Explain your answer. 8