On 26 Nov 2002, Michelle Miller wrote: > Hello - Here is a request that will no doubt bother some of you, but > that I strongly feel will be a good addition to my research methods > class. <snip> > I think > that one way to give them some perspective and, honestly, grab their > attention would be to open with a sampling of quotes, preferably from > well-known social scientists, that are blatantly biased. For example, > I ran across the following quote by Harry Harlow: "Isolation-reared > monkeys were forever confined to a stage of infantilism, which wasn't > so bad if you were a female." I'd appreciate any other quotes in the > same vein that any of you might be able to send my way.
Harry Harlow had a big mouth. He was forever making tongue-in-cheek remarks which were used against him, even when people knew better. One of the most notorious was this one, from a satirical editorial he wrote: "Most experiments are not worth doing and the data obtained are not worth publishing" (Harlow, 1962). Remember, this came from one of the most important experimental psychologists of his day (or any other) in psychology, a president of the American Psychological Association, winner of the APA's distinguished scientific contribution award, long-time editor of the Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology (than which none is purer), and the hated author of many experimental studies on monkeys. Now imagine the devastating effectiveness of that quote in the hands of the animal rights movement. But if you want quotes illustrating blatant bias (and not just tongue- in-cheek), how about this: ��I cannot escape the notion (though I hesitate to give it expression) that for women the level of what is ethically normal is different from what it is to men. Their super-ego is never so inexorable, so impersonal, so independent of its emotional origins as we require it to be in men� �We must not allow ourselves to be deflected from such conclusions by the denials of the feminists, who are anxious to force us to regard the two sexes as completely equal in position and worth.� -S. Freud, �Some psychical consequences of the anatomical distinction between the sexes� (1925) On the other hand, how's this for bias, from an obscure Scottish poet named Robert Burns (1792)? While Europe�s eye is fix�d on mighty things, The fate of Empires and the fall of Kings; While quacks of State must each produce his plan, And even children lisp the Rights of Man; Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention, The Rights of Woman merit some attention Or this: "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." Charlotte, Whitton, Mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, quoted in Canada Month June 1963 For shame, Charlotte! That's not nice! Stephen Reference Harlow, H. (1962). Fundamental principles for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896. ______________________________________________________________ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips _________________________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
