In a way I suppose it's fair enough, it's like doing a kind of survey without getting off your behind. But then again, you are quoting people with no idea about their attitudes in general, background knowledge etc. which you'd think you'd want to know to make it Valid. Unless of course, they specifically say something like "TMA is a gathering point for all sorts of stone obsessed weirdos from the angle-measuring trainspotter to the megalith hugging hippy". I don't think you necessarily have to have much in common with someone just because you both post here. Apart from a slightly unhealthy obsession of course heheh. So I'm not sure how valid it is. It's just hearsay isn't it. I dunno. I quoted something similar in my essay the other day (about a different topic) - basically just because the person's opinion backed up what I was trying to say, and it might not have been typical at all. Then again that was just a studenty essay and not pretending to be a Serious Academic Exercise.