Comments on: “The plural of ‘anecdote’ is not data.” #LadyPornDay

By: Jessi Fischer

Jessi Fischer — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:36:52 +0000

While I agree that data are an accumulation of atecdotes, those anecdotes are collected and analyzed in (ideally) a scientific and meaningful way. I completely understand Wolfinger’s point in an academic classroom setting though. Don’t dismiss antecdotes outright, but do critically analyze what those anecdotes mean.

@Chris: I was actually unsurprised at the amount of abstentions and a little nervous about the outcome. One of the students gave a point of abstention on the floor criticizing speakers for batting about statistics and not fully presenting why porn was a “good public service” versus why porn was harmless. Each speaker only had 10 minutes and trying to simultaneously dismantle dominant negative discourse surrounding porn and discuss the social benefits in that time frame was exceptionally difficult. I actually had rebuttles prepared, unaware that we only had speeches. Much went left unsaid.

On the brightside, Cambridge students want me to come back and have a full hour or so to speak so the chance for a larger discussion should happen. Considering that MacKinnon is in residency there, I am impressed and humbled that they’d make that offer.

@Violet As soon as I get the debate video we’ll be having a private screening at my friend’s renovated church. Send you details when we hammer them out!

By: Angelika

Angelika — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:47:38 +0000

absolutely *adore rabbitwrite and ladypornday and your integrated twitter-feed *gazillion-yeah
unfortunately not much in the german blogosphere about this very important event (methinks too many political scandals)
thank you <3

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:29:45 +0000

Although I’m happy with the overall outcome of the debate, it is worth pointing out that the victory was hardly resounding. The majority of the winning vote was swamped by the number of abstentions, which means that a substantial portion of what we are assuming to be a pretty intelligent audience was unconvinced of either argument.

And on another point, data may be the accumulation of anecdotes in sociology, but in most fields it is the accumulation of (hopefully reproducible) observations. Just sayin’.

By: L.

L. — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:04:59 +0000

Just in response to your comment, Violet, that you’re unsure what trolls and/or friends are thinking/judging(?!) when they’re sometimes so-quiet? Well, maybe they agree 100% with you — I opine that you should take the silence as meaning that ‘I couldn’t have said that better myself’!

By: Darkmane

Darkmane — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:08:00 +0000

Well, I have been listening to BBC world twice a day for a while and it seem that they are fairly conservative. Listening to them talk to Wolfowitz about Obama’s foreign policy without mentioning his part in the invasion of Iraq was pretty bad.

By: violet

violet — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:49:51 +0000

I just made a formal complaint to the BBC about this:

http://violetblue.posterous.com/screenshot-i-just-lodged-a-formal-complaint-w

By: violet

violet — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:16:41 +0000

Is it really BBC standard to ridicule and laugh at the interview subjects? Anna Span is a very strong woman for dealing with this.

At the end Dines says that she lost the debate at Cambridge because, basically, the Cambridge students in attendance are young knobs off the street. As in, she calls them 18-22 male hormonal idiots.

In reality, Cambridge is comprised of the TOP university students in Britain.

By: violet

violet — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:09:07 +0000

Okay, I had to stop it at 3:30. BBC just undermined what is supposed to be their whole point which is unbiased journalism. At 3:30 Dan Damon clearly sided with Dines.

Fuck, BBC. You have failed.

Also, Dines stated at 2:45 that “there has been no move in the United States by the Republican right wing to stop pornography.”

This is absolutely untrue.

By: violet

violet — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:59:46 +0000

Weird, I’m checking it out now. I wonder why it’s on World, and why they put Anna Span on instead of Jessi? Span is British so maybe they wanted to keep it that way (she is amazing though, I’m a longtime fan).

By: Darkmane

Darkmane — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:39:42 +0000

BBC “recreated” the debate by having them both on. I am biased so I can’t really judge how either woman did but I think it was telling when the anti-porn spokesperson attacked the forum as biased and sexist.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2011/02/110218_pornography_debate.shtml

By: violet

violet — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:14:03 +0000

Thanks for the comment, by the way. On the rare occasions I let fly with an OTT rant like this and then it’s like crickets, I feel like the crazy cat blogger lady. There’s something oddly reassuring about it, either in that it means the trolls will leave the crazy lady alone, or my friends are compassionately polite and kindly look the other way when I foam at the mouth.

I’ll go back to defacing the Dr. Phil ad with a Sharpie in my copy of O Magazine now…

By: violet

violet — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:04:00 +0000

I have that book sitting in my “read next” pile. That is really interesting – I like how Jessi pushed it back at Dines in this instance. The thing is that while this is true, the other obvious bit is that statistical data is much more than selected opinions and stories, which is exactly the problem we’re seeing with Dines and Co.

By: Elf M. Sternberg

Elf M. Sternberg — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:52:14 +0000

According to Freakonomics, however, the quote, from economist Ray Wolfinger, is the opposite: “I said ‘The plural of anecdote is data” some time in the 1969-70 academic year while teaching a graduate seminar at Stanford. The occasion was a student’s dismissal of a simple factual statement — by another student or me — as a mere anecdote. The quotation was my rejoinder.” He goes on to point out the obvious: data is the accumulation of anecdotes.