A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin County Community College District. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.599.3142. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: July 10 All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be emailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Shawn Stewart, special contributor; Cody Lynch, special contributor; Dr. John Glass, special contributor; Amy Lenhart, special contributor; layout and photography by Nick Young.
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Real People, Real Life, Real Knowledge
By Dr. John Glass
Special Contributor
As a sociologist charged with the responsibility of transmitting knowledge about the social world that we inhabit, I am always cautious about ensuring that my students receive accurate, current, and relevant information.
This is especially necessary when it comes to forging understandings about cultures other than our own. Why? Because there are always opportunities to foment misunderstandings and derision when describing a group of people in general and especially when that group “differs” from one’s own familiar group in particular.
In sociology, we attempt to counter these prejudicial tendencies by relying on empirical data collected through standard social scientific methods. Occasionally, by relying on these types of data however, we run the risk of engaging in an “ecological fallacy.” This is defined as “…a widely recognized error in the interpretation of statistical data, whereby inferences about the nature of individuals are based solely upon aggregate statistics collected for the group to which those individuals belong (Wikipedia, 2006).”
Simply put, sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that when we know about the general characteristics of a social group, we inherently also know about all of the individual members of that group. Or, to put it even simpler, an ecological fallacy is essentially, “enlightened” stereotyping. With the assistance of a Collin student association, I recently found an effective way to overcome this, however.
This past semester, I taught a course (SOCI 2319) titled, “Minority Studies,” which explored the current experiences and past histories of various ethnic and racial groups in the United States. To supplement my lectures, group projects, in-class assignments, and videos, I used a standard sociological text on ethnic and racial groups. One of the “dangers” in using such a text is precisely that which I mention above – inadvertently creating and engaging in ecological fallacies. To counter this when studying the module on Arab-Americans, I enlisted the aid of the Collin Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA). Specifically, I asked about having a member of MESA come and speak to my class about his or her life as an Arab-American.
Well, MESA (through the mediation of Tatiana Shehadeh, Collin International Student Advisor) did that and more. I and my students were treated to a MESA member and two Arab-American members of our local community. Luai, Hiba, and Dina (their first names) graciously talked about marriage customs in Kuwait, Palestine, and Syria, some differences in gendered behavior in Arab countries, and the importance of providing an Arabic socio-historical context for their children here in the United States.
They also answered our questions, asked some questions of us, and joked with us about life in this day and age of global “multiculturalism.” It was a fascinating hour and fifteen minutes that could easily have been extended for another hour and fifteen minutes. What my students received was an experience of real people, talking about their real lives, exchanging real knowledge about what it means to be human in 21st century America and to be from another country/culture.
No stereotyping, “enlightened” or otherwise. By having a tangible experience of alleged “difference,” my students were able to understand the commonalities that all people share, despite cultural backgrounds or current, cultural foregrounds.
Reference Ecological fallacy. Retrieved May 10, 2006, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_fallacy
Dr. John Glass is a professor of sociology at Collin.
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