Sapiro's Cole Analysis

In addition to Sapiro’s claims, Cole shows that his findings are very similar. When conducting research in the 60’s Cole recorded hours and hours of interviews with young black and white Americans. Upon reflecting on these tapes some years later Coles realized he may have overlooked their ability to comprehend what he was asking. The main focus of his initial study was the aftermath of desegregation among primary schools. When he looked back he realized he had a complete running commentary of the events of which these children lived through. They didn't tell him things their parents had said (for the most part) and they were ideas they had crafted on their own. One question he asked to a six year old black girl that stuck out to me was who the president was at the time. She said she didn't know but she did know that “they had killed President Kennedy”. When asked who “they” were she replied “the people who don’t like us” (Coles, 28). So this young girl …show more content…
I think interviewing children of all backgrounds is beneficial for this issue because it allows the data to establish some norms. As referenced in the Haley and Malhotra, men with young sisters are more republican. Race, ethnicity, class, education, these are all things which influence party ID so continuing to identify them would allow for a more complete picture. In order to really answer my original question what influences a child’s decision on parties, and when do they make that decision, the studies would have to be in the same style as N&M’s. In order to say a child’s views have become independent we must be able to say they are different from that of their parents. Interviewing sets of children and parents all across the united states would create conclusive evidence that children become fully politically independent, I would have to argue, by