Sociological Science (Jan 2015)

Rejoinder to Lewis

  • Ashton Anderson,
  • Sharad Goel,
  • Gregory Huber,
  • Neil Malhotra,
  • Duncan J. Watts

DOI
https://doi.org/10.15195/v2.a3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 3
pp. 32 – 35

Abstract

Read online

In a response to our article “Political Ideology and Racial Preferences in Online Dating,” Kevin Lewis (2015) has raised concerns about various aspects of our analysis of user behavior on a national online dating site. The core of Lewis’ critique is that we do not report specifics of the sample, the website, and the analysis. Lewis also details numerous smaller points with respect to details of the analysis. The goal of this response is not to reply to every point that Lewis makes. As with any research project, our design decisions require tradeoffs, and readers should evaluate the evidence on their own. Rather, we use this space to make broader points about the general value for sociology of research using online data and how such research should be practiced.

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