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.
