Shaun Kenney | Politics and Religion in Virginia's Public Square


Friday, April 28, 2006 QandO: Generalizations vs. Stereotypes Great read from Jon Henke: A little background: a generalization is "a statement about a class based on an examination of some of its members". So far, so good. Greenwald has certainly noted enough partisanship among bloggers on the right. But that’s not all there is to it, because while it is "based on a finite set of observations and experiences", it also "claims to hold true for the larger set". "Insufficient or nonrepresentative evidence often leads to a hasty generalization." And hasty generalization is a logical fallacy "committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough". Not only is Greenwald’s sample size of bloggers not large enough to draw generalizations about, e.g., "authoritarian cultists", he must ignore the instances in which those bloggers do criticize the administration in order to assign them a psychological profile. Unfortunately, the result is a subset of generalizations. Stereotype: "A generalization, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group." One of those common sense things you instinctively know, but don't fully understand until it's explained. Great post. posted by Shaun Kenney \| 4/28/2006 11:36:00 PM \| 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment Home
	RedStormPAC $ JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General? 1) John Brownlee 2) Ken Cuccinelli View Results About ShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Contact E-mail RSS/Atom Feed The Jeffersoniad Archives March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 April 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009