FILL: The Serendipity Do

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 26 September 2008

Serendipity -- that's when doing one thing produces a result somewhere else than you expected. Making hand cranked ice cream helps you lose weight because of the exercise, or some such.

In preparing for a course on research methods, I am reading some articles on various kinds of measurement and surveys and so forth. One of these from 1985 by Alwin and Krosnick compares ranking -- picking the most and least important items -- with rating -- giving each one a selected level of importance. Hohum stuff, capable of putting even academics to sleep. However, their experimental survey fascinated me because it is a measurement of parental evaluation of the qualities of children -- what do parents think are the most important qualities for a child to have? Of course, the results are buried in this dry academic comparison of measurement methods.

Before I go into their results, take a minute and consider for yourself which of these qualities you consider most important or least important for a child to have:

1. That he has good manners
2. That he tries hard to succeed
3. That he is honest
4. That he is neat and clean
5. That he has good sense and sound judgment
6. That he has self-control
7. That he acts like a boy (she acts like a girl)
8. That he gets along well with other children
9. That he obeys his parents well
10. That he is responsible
11. That he is considerate of others
12. That he is interested in how and why things happen
13. That he is a good student

You might also want to consider what you think parents in the 1980s would have considered most important or least important.

I took it upon myself to really look at their results. Two thirds of the parents consider honesty as being one of the most important qualities. That's two out of every three parents. The next cluster is down around one third of the parents -- one in three -- and includes obedience to parents, good sense and sound judgment, responsibility, considerate, and self-control. The next three are in the high 20s and include good manners, tries hard to succeed, and interested in how and why things happen.

Then down at the bottom, with about 25%, or one in four parents, there is neat and clean, acts like a boy or girl, and gets along well with other children. And with just 23.6%, there's being a good student. The least important item on the list is being a good student.

Incidentally, ranking does change this a little bit. In that case, the three most important are honesty, good sense, and responsibility. The three least important are being neat and clean, being a good student, and the very least important is acting like a boy or a girl.

Either way, I think these are interesting results. I think it's too bad they didn't ask the children what they thought the parents believed -- that would've made a wonderful comparison. Still, cleanliness, gender-appropriate actions, getting along with others, and being a good student aren't important to parents? Honesty, good sense, responsible, considerate, self-control -- this is what parents want?

As Mr. Spock would say, fascinating. And they published those results in a study on measurement methods. Serendipity!

EXERCISE: who's that screaming?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 27 September 2008

So we're about to get into the Halloweenie season, and start cranking out stories? Sounds like a plan.

Tell you what, pick a number from one to six. Come on, you know you want to. Pick one now.

No, you can't go on until you pick a number. Now pick that number.

Good. You have chosen:

1. You hear a woman screaming in the parking lot behind your apartment building. Do you try to help?
2. On a cold winter day, you notice a bum who has passed out on the sidewalk. No one else is around. Do you try to help him?
3. You're driving alone on a highway at night. A desperate looking person tries to flag you down. Do you stop?
4. Waiting at a bus stop in a downpour, you see a blind man attempting to cross the street. You are in a rush and see your bus coming. Do you offer to help?
5. A man on the street says he and his wife (who is standing nearby) are stranded and have no money for food. He asks for anything you can spare. You won't miss a five dollar bill. Do you give one to him?
6. You're driving at night and hit a dog. Do you stop and see that the dog gets medical attention?

Six little moral dilemmas, courtesy of A Question of Scruples, the game that makes you think.

Now, you might want to use these as the basis for a Halloween story. I think any of us can pretty easily imagine how these scenarios could get worse. In any case, take your dilemma, and make a list of five ways for things to go wrong. You might want to consider different alternative responses -- going to help or not going to help, either one can turn into complications and contusions. You might want to think about some different background stories. For example, what if there's a demon involved? Or perhaps just a run-of-the-mill terrorist? What about your local psychopathic murderer? Or maybe . . . well, pick your own horrifying characters, and consider how they might be involved in the scenario that you are developing.

Add some motivation, raise the stakes, think about the crucible, ticking clock, maybe some other complications -- double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn . . . oh, you remember. Well, put your fenney snake in, and make that cauldron shake!

Write.