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Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 10:45:00 -0400
From: DJR <daniel.ryan@yale.edu>
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Subject: Re: Fw: Bad writing competition (fwd)
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Three cheers for Pam.  There are a few great lines in Art Stinchcombe's
"Constructing Social Theories" where he praises P. Lazarsfeld (I think)
saying something to the effect that what he (AS) appreciated about
Lazarsfeld is that he wrote clearly enough that when he (AS) disagreed
with something he knew it was because Lazarsfeld was wrong rather than
that Stinchcombe had misunderstood what he (PL) was saying.  

In summary, one should rather be wrong than vague.  If I have something
to say, communication is what I should be about.  If communicating is
what I am trying to do, obscurity is not a virtue.  If my topic is so
hopelessly complex that I can't be clear about it, I should work harder!