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intro.psych (Psyco 105) Discussion: Group 2 Discussion Group: Reading the Research - Social Development: Can the results be used to answer the research questions?
By Daki on Tuesday, October 13, 1998 - 11:06 pm:
ANGELA, PHONE ME AS SOON AS YOU READ THIS...i'LL BE UP ALL NIGHT (if this is Connie or Patricia, don't mind this little message, it has nothing to do with the topic ;)
Yes and No. The results show that adolescent boys would prefer to date older girls and it also shows that the cultural standard, that males date younger girls was proven. Sort of. That is I felt that there was some problems with the study with the size of the group and the fact that the culture that was researched was an American one. Does this effect both prefference and actual dating patterns? We can't say unless we see all the evidence, so to speak. However, this is impossible to do since we don't know wether the culture is realy the same from one country, state province or city for that matter. And after testing everyone in the world we can say for sure what the majorities dating prefference is, meanwhile we do know that for the "average" American teenage boy or girl in this region that these results are fairly valid. And can apply them, with some limits, to similar cultures.
Since the research question extends to not only the students tested, but to people found around the world, I don't think such a statement could be made with such a small study. The fact that the study was done in a "moderate-sized city in the western United States" does not nessecarily mean the study even represents students in America in general, since a country that big will have diverse cultures, spanning from city to city.
By Angela on Tuesday, October 13, 1998 - 11:15 pm:
By Daki on Tuesday, October 13, 1998 - 11:27 pm:
HOwever, if this study was done in other countries as well as other parts of the United States, it might give a better generalization to make our assumptions on.