Grievance

Today was by far the most painful stats class yet. We're already two chapters behind in the reading list, so what does our prof do? Give long, drawn out examples of things that are self-explanitory, of course.

What I think he was trying to get at was something about how when asking people survey questions, you should make sure you word them in a way that they would understand what you mean the same way that you do.

So he started talking about how someone had to do a study on communication and sailors in the navy. They wanted to know who people would talk to if something bothered or irritated them, so they asked and ended up with really wonky results because of the way that they worded the question. What they had asked was "who do you go to when you have a grievance?" which to some people means a complaint, and to others with a good solid union background (such as myself) means a serious complaint against your employer, and the formal process that the union takes to advocate for your rights.

So far so good. Fairly relevant and on topic, until he continued:

But by "grievance" the researchers meant something more like: "I hate breakfast on this boat." "The coffee is always cold."

Good examples, those.

"And it tastes like mud."
"They must have made it out of dishwater or something."
"And the eggs."
"Are there really any eggs in those things?"
"Sure, they're yellow and all..."

Got the picture a long time ago. But wait, there's more!

"But they have the same texture as oatmeal."
"Oatmeal that has been boiled every day for three months."

And on and on and on only to get into an argument with our ta about how he was wasting time, and then breezing through all sorts of things that really badly needed more explanation.

And now we're three chapters behind schedule. Joy.