Magossi Talks Quality & Quantity Paradigm in Social Science

In order to assess the world, our experience and knowledge are the first step. However, we cannot limit our understanding to such simple and practical situations. The idea of otherness is very dear to social sciences, because it allows an individual to see the others as similar to itself and notice many aspects in oneself as elements of human actions and behaviors. Such ideas were already present in Rousseau’s writings, which leads to very question: “what is science?” and a simple answer is “explaining cause and effect." Regarding the camming industry, the New Camming Perspective studies aim to explain the cause and effect related to how the dynamics can be improved for every part involved in this business. Discovering some causes that led to bad results and pointing to some possible solutions to such issues is the merit of these studies: Industry Execs: Stemming from these studies, it is possible to acknowledge that directing publicity to free porn has become obsolete (for premium cam sites). Keep in mind that there is a plethora of free porn available to everyone. Furthermore, the New Camming Perspective has observed that the traffic that is desired is from paying members and these guys are the social traffic: guys who are looking for connections and interactivity as a service. Cam performers: Those who can provide better results because they feel they are respected as human beings and not treated as a simple sex machine. Let’s take into account the bigger spenders of the premium cam sites are rarely looking for instant sexual action only, but, most of the time, wish to have some sort of connection with a real girl, with real emotions.  Users (social traffic): The users who are looking for social interaction have not had a place for themselves while those who seek instant sexual actions have had thousands of places to alleviate their sexual needs. This approach is the first attempt suit the needs of this target audience. The many approaches and methodologies that can be used is a very problematic choice as there are so many ways to conduct research. Scientific research is not limited to one or the other of the paradigms of quantitative or qualitiative approach. My role has been to assess the reality I could observe and using this inductive method, the literature that was dialectical presented answers to these observations. They were not just obvious to reasoning. Yet I am not an enemy of positivistic science (Descartes and August Comte). I can see the value of addressing the quantities, while bearing in mind that sometimes numbers can conceal the truth. There is a one specific issue about quantity vs. quality that is presented by David Harvey and Edgard Morin that is particularly interesting to this matter, not only for the scientific validity, but also for the social reflection: David Harvey As our society became more and more dependent on specialization of work and the exchanges of commodities that were being produced, we increasingly depended on money, the fact that we use this universal equivalent of value to acquire the things we need helps to mystify and conceal the differences which led to the production of such commodities. Especially when considering that the price is determined by the scarcity and average time necessary to manufacture such products. Thus, we (modern people) tend to consider numbers as an equivalent of a quality, yet this is far from true. Edgard Morin According to E. Morin, when reasoning is only supported by math, it is not possible to see human beings anymore: what we see is statistics only. Despite statistics recognized validity as a tool to express information, this is not knowledge. Sheer knowledge is the organization and ability to use such information. Isolated numbers do not explain the complexity of reality. According to the author, they are “dumb products," which depends on the researcher’s inferences to make sense, that is why the researcher’s experience matters. He also points out that human reality is subjective and in order to be understood in its complexity, qualitative aspects cannot be ignored. Let’s find an example of such scientific perspective in our everyday life: If you have a Twitter and/or Instagram account, what is the first question asked about your social media accounts in order to measure your engagement (popularity)? Probably, how many followers do you have? Yet, has anyone ever asked you about what kind of discussions you have or how involved with these people you are? The interaction in comments depicts engagement (popularity) much more the follower count (numbers). Why? Because comments express the relevance of the themes that have been posted and that such matters relate to their own lives. That cannot be noticed if the focus is placed only on amounts (how many followers do you have?). This is not so distant from what happens in many researches: although we cannot ignore numbers, they are not everything. Therefore it is important to understand this and not glorify quantity over quality. Especially when we consider that there are many works supported by statistics that do not present bibliography. When in doubt of what to believe in, pay attention to the purpose and intentions of the author and be a bit skeptical. BIBLIOGRAPHY: COMTE, A. A general view of positivism. London: Reeves & Turner. (1880) DESCARTES, R. Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. (1965) HARVEY, D. Explanation in Geography. London: Edward Arnold. (1969) __________. Social Justice and the City. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. (1973) __________.The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Oxford: Blackwell. (1990) MORIN, E. Seven complex lessons in education for the future. Paris: UNESCO. (2001) ________. On complexity: advances in systems theory, complexity, and the human sciences. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. (2007)   ABOUT THE AUTHOR Priscila Magossi is a journalist (Mackenzie-SP/Brazil, 2002-2005), with a Master’s degree (2006-2008) and a Ph.D. (2010-2014) in Communication and Semiotics (PUC-SP/Brazil). Since she has started her journey in the communication field, she has been studying the impacts of the Mass Media and the Cyberculture in the post-modern society, focusing primarily on the social bonds dynamics. Regarding her main activities in the camming industry, Magossi is the author of the New Camming Perspective: a formal study about camming that also looks into the porn industry, the mainstream media, and social behavior in order to draw conclusions. This new approach for understanding camming is centered on the main concepts of (1) Building Connections between models and members through the (2) Social Aspect of Camming, which is only possible to be developed when in touch with access to the (3) Social Traffic. Recently, ImLive.com has officially positioned itself as the first webcam platform in the camming market concerned with the models’ quality of life, which has led Magossi to join the team. The objective of this strategic collaboration is to unite forces in order is to maximize profit, retain return customers, offer better working conditions and female empowerment through the application of the New Camming Perspective: Boost your business building connections.