TY - JOUR PY - 1994// TI - Comments on stack and gundlach's "the effect of country music on suicide:"An "achy breaky heart" may not kil you JO - Social forces A1 - Giudicelli, G.W. A1 - Taylor, M.J. A1 - White, K.R. A1 - Allen, T.S. SP - 1249 EP - 1255 VL - 72 IS - 4 N2 - Stack and Gundlach (1992) report a strong link between country music and metro-politan suicide rates for whites. In this article, we argue that the authors (l) fall into the methodological trap of the "cological fallacy" and (2) present weak arguments on causality by purporting that a country music subculture, at least partially, explains suicides among whites in metropolitan areas. We conclude that inferences about individual behavior drawn from aggregate data are fallacious and that the authors fail to provide compelling evidence to support that country music is any different from others types of music in its relationship to individual life events and suicide. © 1994 The University of North Carolina Press.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0037-7732 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sf/72.4.1249 ID - ref1 ER -