Re: Coordinating Sex Roles

Robin Hanson (hanson@hss.caltech.edu)
Wed, 9 Apr 1997 10:55:22 -0700 (PDT)

Curt Adams writes:
>>Yes you want wide participation in the discussion, but surveys are not
>>necessily better. Consider the wide use of "focus groups" in marketing.
>
>Discussion and focus groups are often necessary if the topic is something
>people don't normally think about. But aren't focus groups often selected by
>the researcher, either to reflect a sub-population, or to gather a more
>represtentative sample, rather than self-selected?

Yes, you'd rather have a sub-population who wasn't self-selected to
discuss the topic in question. This is why this forum may be a better
place for a discussion like this than say the newsgroup soc.men.

Alan F. Barksdale writes:
>I fancy that the popularity of _The_Rules_ stems from the uncertainties many
>women feel about their sex roles. ... its sales suggest that it fills a need.

Yes, I think that in the absence of a broader discussion of these
issues, book likes these are serving a primary coordination role.
Which seems quite a shame.

Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/