Anecdotal Evidence

[John V]

It would be foolish and irresponsible to base your decision on those conversations.

Why? If someone who's like you says it's a nice, safe and affordable place to live, that carries a lot of weight with many people. Why shouldn't it?

Do you not check the average income in the area,

Most people probably don't.

go and actually -see- the place, tour houses before purchase,

Sure. Now you're going into a false dichotomy. Surely you didn't think that I meant it's reasonable to buy a house sight unseen because you heard from a friend that the area is nice.    The friend's recommendation is an important consideration though.

check salary ranges,

That's useful, but it doesn't tell you what it's like to actually work in the field.

line up interviews, get the job,

You need to go through interviews and get the job to work in an industry regardless of your methods for selecting the industry in the first place. You're just throwing crap at the wall with these points.

Or do you take the realtors word over the phone?  Start work with no employment terms because the boss said it was superfun and interesting?  Let the booster talk you into their program?

Obviously you'd assign less weight to testimony from someone with a personal and perhaps adverse interest in the decision. This is more black-and-white thinking. Anecdotal evidence varies in quality. If a realtor says it's a low-crime neighborhood and a friend who lives there says they've been robbed twice in the last 3 months, you'll give greater weight to the friend. This is pretty obvious stuff that we do all the time.