06.30.07
Writing Superheroes: Eighth Post (Further Method Concerns)
Dyson’s study is really interesting, but I have a number of issues with her methods. First of all, she herself knew nothing about superheroes when she started the study and largely relied on her student assistants to gather information about them. If she had little to no knowledge of the material herself, how can she really pull meaning from what the kids do with it? Of even more concern is her limited sample (one class) and brief time with them. She spent only the second semester of each of two school years observing the class. Why the break? Why didn’t she observe the first semester that second year (assuming she wasn’t ready to observe the first semester of the first year or some other reasonable reason)? It seems like a major oversight, and Dyson makes no remark on it, no explanation at all. If she had reasons for setting up her observation schedule that way, they failed completely to make it into the book. It makes no sense at all and is extremely frustrating!