Curious if they would find the same pattern with people who enter non-college paths after high school (technical school or jobs). Control groups are for sissies.
Well, I don't think the question was "Does college cause this change?" but moreso just to test what direction the change went. Most correlational studies don't use control groups. It would be really interesting to see if this is just an effect of aging, though, and whether those who don't attend college over the same time span also see a decrease.
The assertion in the article is that going to college makes you less tolerant. My point is that this is not what this study shows at all. It shows young people getting less tolerant over a four year period. Is it because of college? age? their course of studies? Who knows. And apparently, who cares.
I'm from Florida. I don't go to FSU, but ugh so many of my friends do and I cannot comprehend how they still support their athletic games/etc. I would be up in arms all the time about it. People get super complacent. I really hope they change their mascot soon.
As pointed out at Gawker, the Seminole Nation of Florida has given their permission for the mascot to be used. The tribe actually helped the college create the mascot.
The tribe officially sanctions FSU's use of Seminoles as a nickname and Chief Osceola as a mascot. Max Osceola, the chief and general council president of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, said Tuesday that it was an "honor" to be associated with FSU.
I think this article must still be in press because I searched for it (using my all access university fancy search stuff) and can't find it. All that seems to show up is his dissertation.
Anyway, it is possible that there was a control of some kind. It is also likely that when analyzing the data, they controlled for confounding variables. Given that this guy is at U Chicago, I would hope that is a given but who knows. It is hard to know without actually reading the article because these short, pop media presses tend to over exaggerate things and summarize. I know this is really weird data, and even if the survey was poorly done, it is still worth considering. College is not some magic formula that makes people un-racist and totally open-minded. I would argue that it helps far more than this survey suggests, but then again I go to a school that is super liberally minded in the first place. I am sure there are things that every university COULD do to keep working to spread better awareness and open mindedness.
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It's important to figure out the factors of why. I have some theories, but it does matter.
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You better believe I googled that tidbit...
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The tribe officially sanctions FSU's use of Seminoles as a nickname and Chief Osceola as a mascot. Max Osceola, the chief and general council president of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, said Tuesday that it was an "honor" to be associated with FSU.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2005-08-23-fsu-mascot-approved_x.htm
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Anyway, it is possible that there was a control of some kind. It is also likely that when analyzing the data, they controlled for confounding variables. Given that this guy is at U Chicago, I would hope that is a given but who knows.
It is hard to know without actually reading the article because these short, pop media presses tend to over exaggerate things and summarize. I know this is really weird data, and even if the survey was poorly done, it is still worth considering. College is not some magic formula that makes people un-racist and totally open-minded. I would argue that it helps far more than this survey suggests, but then again I go to a school that is super liberally minded in the first place. I am sure there are things that every university COULD do to keep working to spread better awareness and open mindedness.
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