John Rosenberg takes his sharp pen to a paper that was favorably written about on Inside Higher Ed Tuesday. The paper, by a sociology professor, purports to find that a sample of white people is inconsistent with regard to the issue of affirmative action. Supposedly, while those surveyed favor admissions based on merit, they are not consistent when they are reminded that Asians often come out on top. So what? Does that in some way undermine the case in favor of admissions based only on merit? Does it in any way support the case for racial preferences? No.

Survey enough people in any population, on any issue, and you will find inconsistencies. If you surveyed a group of business owners who said they wanted free markets, but found that a substantial percentage of them are in favor of governmental assistance for their particular industries (protective tariffs, e.g.) would that prove that free markets are not really a good policy? Would it prove that we actually need tariffs?

This is the kind of academic research that merely fills up pages in obscure journals and pads the author’s CV.