Tim, At 09:27 PM 9/5/2005, you wrote: >>I see what you are saying, but even within an academic context, aren't there >>some limits to accepting at face value people's descriptions of themselves?<<
If a person claims to be a sociologist, but does not have the appropriate education, I might accept the individual's self-definition, but I would probably try to determine if the individual is a poser (poseur). If a person claimed to be a medical doctor or an attorney without appropriate licenses, I would have even greater doubts, i.e., because the individual is breaking the law. On the other hand, there is no special education or licensure required for religious identification; and I would generally have no empirical basis for questioning whether persons who claim to be Baha'is, but who are not members of the Baha'i International Community, are being deceptive or are lying. >>There has to be some method for validating what people say, otherwise >>unnecessary bias could be introduced into research results.<< I am not aware of any. Jehovah's Witnesses sometimes object to evangelicals being called "Christians," and the evangelicals commonly reciprocate. As a sociologist, I would accept members of both categories as Christians based on self-definition. >>Suppose you are doing research about surgeons, and you want to interview 100 >>surgeons. I don't think you would naively believe anyone who says "I am a >>surgeon." You would naturally want some evidence that the person really is >>what he says he is.<< I think I addressed that issue above. There are licensure issues connected with being a surgeon but not for having a religious identification. Via moderna, Mark A. Foster . http://markfoster.net ... since [a] word is said to be common, it can be called a universal. - Wm. of Ockham, Summa Logicae, part I Structurization Tech: http://tech.structurization.com The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by the Johnson County Community College ("JCCC") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify JCCC by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
