Accuracy

Matthias R. Mehl conducted a scientific experiment to prove whether the stereotype of women being more talkative than men is true or false. The findings discovered by Mehl and his researchers suggest that the stereotype is false. Although I agree with this result, the method of the research itself is inaccurate. For example, one of the big issues is that the volunteers who participated in the experiment were educated university students likely from urban areas, which affects the language of their speech in comparison to those living in rural areas. If the study was taken including a wider variety of people, the results would be more accurate. Regardless, it is nearly impossible for it to be perfect. Some of the factors are out of the researcher’s control, like participants changing the way they speak or speaking less simply because they know they are being listened to. It is also difficult to manage the types of volunteers that chose to participate in the first place.

            In actuality, this stereotype about women should not have to be researched at all. Stereotypes are invalid descriptions to label a group of people, and it should be obvious that the results of running an experiment on them will end up proving so. There will always be someone in a stereotyped group that defies what is expected of them. Everyone is distinct in their own ways. The sooner people who judge others based on stereotypes realize this, the better.