Quote Originally Posted by auld argonian View Post
Would be very interesting to be in the room during round two...or would I be creating the Margaret Mead effect if I was: influencing the results by being an outsider on the scene?

Sounds pretty dour for those of us outside of the Highlands, though. I get the distinct impression that we're being regarded as a bunch of party crasher wannabes. I have to say that, after seeing some of the fine points of tartan and highland dress beaten to death here on the forum by people who are not Scots by birth, I am reminded of the old saying that "converts make the best (or worst, depending on your point of view) zealots".

It was beginning to look like we were headed for a trip to Scotland later this year. After the reality sandwich of your impromptu survey, I guess I'd better leave the kilt at home lest I be thought a pretentious foreigner...like the Scots who seem to bear the sight of an outsider wearing the kilt with quiet forbearance, I try to have the good taste to not make a spectacle of myself at the expense of other folks' traditions.

Best

AA

Hi there AA.

I think perhaps you're referring to the Heisenberg effect: ‘All experimentation is invalidated by the very involvement of the experimenter.” (Werner Heisenberg, 1901-76, Nobel Physics ’32, Principal creator of Quantum Mechanics) He called this the “uncertainty principle” but it has generally been called by his name.

That's not a criticism, just an update.

I certainly agree with you about the "beating to death" part; we do have the tendency to do that.

I too look forward to Survey Version 2. I hope Jock, that you will ensure a wide, valid, and representative sample. I wonder how widely drawn this last one really was, and the scientist in me raises one eyebrow subliminally.