generalizing and sample size

Chapter 14 in the Epstein book was really interesting—talking about many generalizations, specifically stereotypes, that occur on a daily basis. While reading through this chapter, I was reminded of many things I have heard other people around me say. That means people generalize frequently, and are not aware of it. One of the main rules for distinguishing a generalization is the sample size. Often times people just assume one group acts or does things a certain way because they have met, heard about, and/or seen a few people within that group, that act that way. For example, “All Asians are bad drivers. I’ve gotten into 3 accidents, and each time, it was because of a collision between an Asian driver and me.” That statement sounds like a generalization, but is it? That is not a very accurate generalization because those are only 3 people you have met that have that problem. One cannot judge a whole group based on only a small portion of that entire group. In order for it to be more accurate, one must have a representative sample.