Which of the Two have Higher Suicide Rates?-Women vs Men: On average, men are happier than women & have higher suicide rates. Reason- it is largely due to choosing more lethal tools or methods more likely to take one’s own life.

‘Men the age 65’ have a likelihood of suicide. & ‘Women the ages of 45-54’ have a likelihood of suicide. Done having kids, their children are going to college/leaving the house, the kids are all grown up.

Which of the Two have Higher Suicide Rates?-Single vs Married: single men have no one to lean on for support & suffer from loneliness. Reason- married men have a partner to turn to.

Which of the Two have Higher Suicide Rates?-Less than college vs College degree: those with a degree have higher suicide rates than people who do not have a college degree. Reason- The issue is with failed expectations, stress, frustration…

Which of the Two have Higher Suicide Rates?-Black vs White: higher suicide rates than black. Reason- expectations & more individualism in communities.

Which of the Two have Higher Suicide Rates?-Poor vs Wealthy: take for granted the things they have access to. Wealthy are happier than poor and have higher suicide rates than poor. Reason- appreciate having less than the rich.

Egoistic Suicide: suicide related to lack of integration.

Altruistic Suicide: suicide related to too much integration.

Anomic Suicide: suicide related to lack of social regulation.

Fatalistic Suicide: suicide related to too much social regulation.

Anomie: occurs when big changes that alter our meaning, or our rules, giving us limitless options with no clear direction or end point.

Three ways we can deal with Statistics: (#1) Naïve, (#2) Cynical, (#3) Critical

Naïve: we see a number that fits our worldview & we accept it without asking important questions.

Cynical: we see a number that challenges our worldview & we reject it.

Critical: one determines how a statistic was arrived at in terms of sample, measurement, based on whether or not it confirms or challenges one's worldview.

What are the 5 Sources of Bad Statistics: bad guesses, descriptive definition & misleading measures, mangled or transformed, N.R.C.S samples & representative samples, and faculty causation & spurious causation

Bad Guesses: the most primitive source of bad statistics. Exs.---Activists, Policy makers, Reporters, & other advocates

Deceptive Definitions & Misleading Measures: Survey questions can also be misleading. Push/Polls- they’ll call you pretending to try to coax you into voting in support of them.

Mangled or Transformed Statistics: Statistics where the original numbers started out okay but overtime it can get mangled or transformed so it is no longer what it was before.

What is the fourth bad statistic? (hint--list of four): Non-representative Convenience, Self-selected, Samples vs Random, representative samples

Convenience samples (or self selected): not representative & samples that are easy to gather except they skew the results.

Unrepresentative, non-random samples: have a selection bias that favors one type of person over another & thus the sample does not represent the population studied.

Self selected sample: convenient because you’re not the one actually doing the work.

Faulty Causation and Spurious Causation: Initial statistic might be good but the interpretation of the statistic could be flawed.

What makes a Good Statistic? (Provide a List of 5 things that would): 1- based on more than a guess. 2- a clear, reasonable definition and clear reasonable measures. 3- the definition should be clear about what is counted & what isn’t. 4- should talk about how the count of the problem was arrived at. 5- not mangled or transformed.

What are Good Statistics?: statistics based on a random representative sample; & a representative, random sample.

Correlation does not necessarily equal causation.

What may Good Statistics do: attempt to control for other variables or will consider factors that might affect the correlation.

Success: leads to confidence.

What is Excellence NOT: apply to talent, result from quantitative changes in behavior or talent, the product of socially exceptional or deviant personalities, unique personality traits, or great confidence

What is Talent NOT??: not always predicted ahead of time, a good predictor of success, & an explanation for excellence.

What is argued that Talent IS??: It is an ex post facto measure we use after success has been achieved.

Chambliss: The Mundanity of Excellence

Chambliss: Qualitative differentiation not quantitative increase. Talent does not explain excellence. Success is ordinary; Motivation is ordinary. Argues that we use talent before excellence

In the pursuit of excellence: maintaining mundanity is the key psychological challenge.

Success: product of hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies.

Davidai and Gilovich: The Headwinds/tailwinds asymmetry

The Headwinds/tailwinds asymmetry: Headwinds create challenges for us. Tailwinds help us along.

Why do we tend to not see the tailwinds that assist us?: We tend to recognize the barriers and headwinds we face.

Which one of the two men ‘say it’s about opportunity and practice more than talent?: Both Gladwell and Chambliss

Gladwell: It’s the quantity of practice. Idea is that you need to put in the time and effort.

Chambliss: It’s about the quality of practice. It’s about the mundanity of the amount of hours in the practice.

Mundanity skills and of excellence: Becomes part of the lifestyle. Learn how to ask people for money in order to get them to give more money.

Failures: caused by several routine, minor things all going wrong in rapid succession.

Mitigated Speech: when people aren’t direct with you b/c you a little bit respectful of authority & choose to be indirect when talking to them.

Knowing many kinds of people in many social contexts Do What???: Improves one’s chances of getting a job, a spouse, develop a range of cultural interests & cultural capital competencies. Improves the feeling of being in control of one’s life. Improves being in good health & having high self-confidence

Weaker ties: idea that your weaker acquaintances actually connect you to more than your stronger acquaintances.

What are the strengths of Weak Ties: more varied, more valuable as social connections to new people & new opportunities, strongest in a free & open society where resources aren’t limited

Strong Ties: the ones that generally care more about you than weak ties.

What are the Weaknesses of Strong Ties: Lacking in Diversity

Acquaintance diversity: contributes to better information about health.

Social Location: position of an individual with reference to characteristics such as age, education, race, gender, religion, & income.

Marriage: Age Range, Same-Race, Same Social Class

Endogamy: a practice by group or shared group

Gatekeepers: enforce endogamy by giving warmer receptions to people of the same class, race, religion etc.

How the marriage market & the job market are similar: Both are navigated through the connection of strong and weak ties.

The vast majority of people meet their spouses through: Friendship networks, job, church, social club