Common Sense Analysis

As stated in the audio lectures, "Common sense refers to the things that everyone knows are true. Sociologists assess the accuracy of common sense." This is saying that people believe for example that opposites attract, but sociologists prove that it isn't the case at all. Common sense is all a thought and belief, but Sociologists don't base their analysis on "what everyone knows", they rely on scientific studies and tests.

For example, there is a common belief that people poison Halloween candy. To parents, this is difficult to wrap their head around because something that was once so much fun is now labeled as dangerous. Common sense tells you that if candy is opened or the packaging is somehow compromised to not eat it, but it does not

While I feel like this is possible, I also have trouble siding with him because there is no proof that this is happening. There are reports of children dying from types of drugs and chemicals. Looking at the Deaths Attributed to Halloween Sadism, there have been 5 reports of death caused by "poisoned" Halloween candy. When I first read these I was shocked that these reports are all from alleged positioned candy. In the Kevin Totson case, he died from eating candy that was supposedly laced with heroin, but later reports showed that he found the heroin in a relative house. Looking through the rest of these cases, they are all alleged Halloween sadism. None of them have actually reported findings of poisoned candy. It was either from childhood illnesses or from something the parents had done. I also don’t agree that this is the most common injury. I feel like more children are likely to get hit by a car. http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/halloween_deadliest_day.aspx In this article it gives insight into how many pedestrian car accidents occur on Halloween which is roughly 5.5 fatalities in a 4-5 hour span. Most people do not look at the statistics and facts about topics which creates confusion. There is no hard truth about candy being poisoned, it actually is all claims which goes back to how people believe claims rather than truth. The accuracy of candy actually being poisoned is slim because all of the cases that have been reported are from drugs being within reach of children or the parents