I think perhaps the problem was that there was no real logical/theoretical link between say being on Facebook and choosing a cookie over a granola bar. It might have been because Facebook users have less self-control or self-regulation, but it also might have been more associative. Perhaps people tend to watch or read CNN more in the morning when they grab a Granola bar for nutrition while they check their Facebook later at night when they are more likely to indulge in comfort food like cookies. Or perhaps people who read Facebook just like cookies more. I got the sense that the researchers were trying to do something akin to the marshmallow study (which has its own interpretive issues) but were not quite as clear on a causal mechanism. The later correlation between Facebook and higher debt also seemed somewhat problematic to me. I think you could do a study that men who watch Football tend to be heavier drinkers than men who watch CNN (well these days maybe not) - but are they heavier drinkers because they watch football more? Anyway that is my take on the difficulties with the study, maybe others have another view. Michael ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Barry Wellman [wellman@chass.utoronto.ca] Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 7:16 PM To: aoir list; Deanya Lattimore Subject: [Air-L] Please explain your criticism Thank you for calling attention to some problems with the J of Consumer Behavior paper on strong/weak ties and behavior. I couldnt spot the source of the critique you made. The paper seemed ok to me. So, I would appreciate if you would further enlighten me/us Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor FRSC NetLab Director Faculty of Information (iSchool) 611 Bissell Building 140 St. George St. University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 3G6 http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman twitter: @barrywellman NETWORKED:The New Social Operating System. Lee Rainie & Barry Wellman MIT Press http://amzn.to/zXZg39 Print $22 Kindle $16 Old/NewCyberTimes http://bit.ly/c8N9V8 ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/