Sunday, October 10, 2010

Good Research = ...

. Sunday, October 10, 2010

Fabio Rojas describes his attitude towards social science research:

Here’s how I evaluate research importance in social science. Averages, of course:

1. Great problem, great solution.
2. Great problem, partial/boring solution.
3. Decent problem, great solution.
4. Great problem, empirical/descriptive work.
5. Decent problem, partial/boring solution.
6. Decent problem, empirical/descriptive work.
7. Small problem, any solution.
8. Bizarre/highly technical approaches to any problem.
9. Definitional/taxonomic/philosophical writings on any problem.
10. History of social thought.


Sounds about right, but all of those categories are more-or-less in the eye of the beholder, yes?

2 comments:

Dan Nexon said...

Except see KH's response (#1 in comments), which kind of pwns Fabio.

Kindred Winecoff said...

Does it? I would agree with Jacob Levy's comment in that thread. A big contribution to a philosophical or historical conundrum would fall into #s 1 or 3 for me, depending. A simple recasting of old debates in new language would not.

Good Research = ...
 

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