2012-06-07
Explanation
This comic makes a case for investing in sociology by drawing an analogy to weather forecasting. The first panel acknowledges sociology's imperfections, showing a satirical academic paper titled "Human nature gleaned via survey study of six wealthy American college students" -- a jab at the well-known problem in social sciences where research samples are disproportionately drawn from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) populations, making findings less universally applicable than they claim to be.
The second panel argues that despite its flaws, sociology merits investment, just as climatology is also imperfect but still enormously useful for weather forecasts. It then imagines what a "sociology forecast" would look like: "80% chance of dickheads -- wear spikes." The woman watching the forecast is shown wearing a spiked outfit, as if preparing for social hostility the way one would put on a rain jacket. The humor works on multiple levels: it validates sociology as a field worth funding while simultaneously imagining a hilariously blunt, practical application of social science -- predicting and preparing for encounters with unpleasant people, presented in the familiar format of a TV weather report.