If you come across something like :

The participants recorded a one minute television commercial, … then watched … themselves, having been given guidance on non-verbal cues that can reveal how extraverted or introverted a person is. … They were then asked to rate their own personality. … The participants’ extroversion scores on the implicit test showed no association with their subsequent explicit ratings of themselves, and there was no evidence either that they’d used their non-verbal behaviours (such as amount of eye contact with the camera) to inform their self-ratings. full article here

Then a elaborate analysis, and discussion on the same. My non-penchant for it reasons that how can one extrapolate the results of a survey or a sample to derive important socialistic and scientific conclusions which can have great implications.The representative sample is good enough is what the advocator’s would argue, don’t we take drugs? Many drugs that we use everyday are not tested on everyone, isn’t it? So why do we trust them unscrupulously and not the findings of survey’s like these and try to make use of these results, and not letem remain only a discussion in forums or among the “geeky” fellows.

Is it again because medicine gives us direct tangible “effects” which we can rely on? or all these studies just way for economists to use sell them to some marketing campaign? How does one react to such findings? May be these are stepping stones for larger things that may be revealed over time, but isnt the representative sample or the Entire sample itself different that time? So things become history and then we question why study history? Obviously, even if something wasnt quite useful at the time when it was invented, doesnt mean it wont be useful ever. But when it comes to dealing with “meta-human” behaviours, psychology and philosophy esp. is it wise to give to much importance to what happen in different Cordinate system, in which atleast one of the variable is totally different from the present.

Fact is we aren’t, people really dont give a damn about these things, especially the average “Ashok” wont, he more bothered (and should be) about why “Salma” is treating him the way she is. To look it from another perspective would be to say that we are not that different really, it is really indeed about groups, since we work in groups, think in groups, live in groups in every sense of the word, so it cannot really be grossly wrong to extrapolate. Someone like you and I may feel hard done by some finding, but then the results never guaranteed that they will try not to hurt me or you, do they?

My answer is- these things cant do bad, since they are based on lot of study. So one doesnt let these things harm him/herself, then no problems. But the results of survery and research studies based on polls or group samples are starting points, over a long road, you would say, Well, why do we even need to start!!!