Essay On Pet Pit Bulls

I was most intrigued by the discussion about descriptive, etiological and evaluative statements in Chapter 16, Section 2. Developing research which reveals the underlying motivations or perceptions of human beings is what is needed in the scientific community today. Society would be better served by researchers who identify the underlying causes of behavior, rather than simply reporting on observed behavior. The text defines this research method as “the posing of etiological questions.” Let us consider the statement “people are more afraid to pet pit bulls than poodles.” Statistical research documenting the percentage of people more unwilling to pet a pit bull than a poodle, even when such research is further analyzed by gender, race, or education, does not adequately address the underlying reasons why such a behavior exists. There are a number of etiological questions that scientists could pose that would yield more valuable information than the fact that people pet one dog more readily than the other. For example, scientists could study a specific population segment’s preconceived notions about pit bulls and how this may or may not contribute to prejudice against the breed. They could also study life experiences (or the lack thereof) with each breed that may cause people to avoid one or both. Seeking answers to etiological questions will have value to the scientific community as well as to dog breeders, rescue shelters, city councils, and

Our behaviors seem to be much different than other prominent species and the underlying motivations for these behaviors are not entirely understood. Behavioral variances have many facets, and one would have difficulty identifying one single facet as more significant than the others. Based on the information provided in this chapter, I believe some behavioral variances can be traced back to the idea of