University of Michigan Press Blog

Inside Higher Ed: Eszter Hargittai and "Research Confidential: Solutions to Problems Most Social Scientists Pretend They Never Have"

Originally published in INSIDE HIGHER ED, Oct. 30, 2009

For social scientists starting their careers, creating research models that work is crucial. A new book suggests that they may be unaware of problems they face in part because scholars don't share stories of what didn't work on their projects, and how to deal with particular challenges. Research Confidential: Solutions to Problems Most Social Scientists Pretend They Never Have has just been published by the University of Michigan Press. The essays in the collection are all by younger scholars, including the volume's editor, Eszter Hargittai, an associate professor of communication studies at Northwestern University, a fellow at the Berman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and a career advice columnist for Inside Higher Ed. Hargittai responded to questions about the book.

Q: I was struck by the part of your subtitle where you say "pretend they never have." Why do you think social scientists don't recognize or hide from problems with their research methods?

A: This title refers less to what social scientists recognize and more to what shows up in the final write-up of their projects. When one reads journal articles, the methodological sections tend to make the projects sound rather straight-forward. In books, details about methods are usually relegated to an appendix, at best, and do not tell the reader the reality of data collection. Instead, they are pretty, cleaned-up versions of what happened. For example, they will include the number of final interviews the researcher conducted, but they won't include details about how many attempts it took to get a person to come to an interview.

Elinor Ostrom, University of Michigan Press Author, Wins 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics - First Woman to Win

The University of Michigan Press congratulates Elinor Ostrom, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics for her "analyis of economic governance, especially the commons"! She is the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in this category.

Dr. Ostrom is Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University Bloomington. She is the author of UMP title RULES, GAMES, AND COMMON-POOL RESOURCES and a contributor to three UMP collections from the Workshop in Political Theory and Analysis: POLYCENTRIC GAMES AND INSTITUTIONS, POLYCENTRICITY AND LOCAL PUBLIC ECONOMIES, and POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT.

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30% Discount - To receive 30% off the list price of these titles, enter promotional code ostrom09 when checking out through the online shopping cart from one of these book . Offer only valid at the University of Michigan Press, not available in bookstores. Offer expires December 30, 2009.

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Click below for more information on Dr. Ostrom's work:

The Colbert Report | The Information Master

by David Bell, originally appeared in The New Republic on October 7th, 2009

The Information Master by Jacob Soll

Soll is also the author of Publishing The Prince (2005)

"That resonant piece of verbal shorthand, TMI--or Too Much Information--would make a fine epigraph for our age. Anyone with an Internet connection today has access to exponentially greater quantities of writing, images, sound, and video than anyone on earth could have imagined just twenty years ago. Small wonder that we have become obsessed with the idea of "information" as an abstract substance independent of its content--something that we accumulate, measure, and "process," rather than ponder and understand. And small wonder that the management and control of information, whether by its "producers," by governments, or by corporations such as Google, has emerged as an increasingly important political concern, and as a subject of scholarship."

Running Out of Money, LITERALLY.

History seems to be repeating itself - our current economic climate is being compared to the Great Depression, Michael Jackson is making a comeback and nations are running out of currency.

In Good Money: Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage, 1775-1821, George Selgin tells the fascinating story of British manufacturers' challenge to the Crown's monopoly on coinage. This book has been received with widespread critical acclaim and has resulted in Selgin becoming an expert on coin shortages, resulting in his recent authorship of an article for the Wall Street Journal.

Take a look at reviews of Good Money and Selgin's article in the complete entry.

Are Worker Rights Human Rights?

Attention shopaholics and general consumers: be aware of the conditions and treatment of employees in which your purchases were created. Richard McIntyre, a University of Rhode Island professor of economics and the director of the Honors Program, recently published a book about the mistreatment of employees in the work force. The book, "Are Worker Rights Human Rights?" is a 220-page, informative investigation that delves into "how these kinds of problems are interpreted by different kinds of people," McIntyre said.

GOLD: Author Ray La Raja Goes After "D.C. Leprechauns"

from Ray La Raja, author of Small Change

"The economic downturn will not deter powerful interest groups from contributing big money to those good ole’ D.C…let’s call them “leprechauns.” D.C. leprechauns.  

GOOD DRINK: Author Steve Z hangs out in the Guinness Archives

A St. Patrick's Day "non-endorsement," story, and random fact from PROF STEVE ZILIAK, co-author of THE CULT OF STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE: How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives

"William Sealy Gosset, an amiable, rucksack-wearing chemist who – beginning in 1899 – worked all his adult life for Guinness and eventually rose to the rank of head brewer, is the hero of The Cult. So a couple months ago I was in the reading room of the Guinness Archives, Dublin, when a couple guys entered the room...

America at Risk / Part 4: Dilemmas of Self-Government

EXCERPTS from America at Risk, a new collection of writings by eminent thinkers and writers asked to address the question that must be addressed by the Obama Presidency: What are some of the greatest dangers facing America today and what might be done to meet them?

The End of Savings / p. 217
by Peter Rodriguez

"Rich as we are, particularly relative to world standards, we have put most of our borrowing toward rather uninspired uses--larger homes, second homes, consumption goods that make life easier, all of which are enjoyable creature comforts. Observing our spending patterns, it is hard to argue that our growing indebtedness has served to enhance our nation's financial stability or its long-term productive capacity. Rich as we are, a brighter future still requires steady investments in our technological capabalities, and we continue to provide that through loans readily financed by foreigners...the real risks we face due to our debt dependence seem to carry with them the uncomfortable reminder that we need not have faced them at all."

On BBC this Sunday: Steve Ziliak, author of The Cult of Statistical Significance

Originally published by: BBC Radio 4's More or Less, with interviewer Tim Harford, is broadcast on Friday, 23 January at 1330 GMT and will be repeated on Sunday, 25 January at 2000 GMT (2:00 PM eastern, 3:00 PM central). Click to view details or to listen in: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/more_or_less/7845787.stm

Click here to enter the controversial world of The Cult of Statistical Significance.

Steve Ziliak, author of "The Cult"

The figures on fertility

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has the world's largest database on artificial insemination.

But how does the HFEA make all this information useful to anxious couples considering having IVF treatment?

To find out Tim Harford speaks to Lisa Jardine, chair of the HFEA and Helen Joyce the education correspondent for the Economist and mathematician, who has had IVF treatment herself.

Maths of the credit crunch

Continuing with our credit crunch series, Paul Willmott returns to explain how the value of the global derivatives market could possibly be three times that of the world economy - a figure amounting to $150 trillion.

And, following a deluge of emails he responds to listeners' gripes about his piece on traders' bonuses from our 2nd January programme. 

Statistical significance

Professor Steve Ziliak, economist and co-author of 'The Cult of Statistical Significance' discusses the mathematical tool for separating random from real effects.

He explains to us why the misunderstanding of statistical significance has lead to bad government policy making and how one particularly famous brewery employed the technique to improve the pints we enjoy today.

A Whole New Level of "Networking"

Originally posted by: Purdue University News Service

Congress helps politicians hone skills for future careers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -

Glenn R. Parker
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The time U.S. senators and representatives spend in Congress can be viewed as similar to the on-the-job training a carpenter or plumber would acquire during an apprenticeship, says a Purdue University political science expert.

"What would you do if the very day you were hired, you knew you could be unemployed in as little as two years?" says Glenn R. Parker, a distinguished professor of political science. "Politicians are concerned about what will happen when they leave public office, either through electoral defeat or retirement. Facing these circumstances, they hone their political skills, develop substantive expertise, cultivate bureaucratic contacts and build marketable reputations - all designed to amass what we call human capital - in order to make themselves more attractive to future employers."

For example, some individuals may specialize in banking matters, and their careers are directed toward developing legislation in the area, serving on related committees and becoming experts on financial issues. Ultimately, the goal is to parlay that experience into employment opportunities in the financial sector, Parker says. 

Parker surveyed more than 200 former members who served in Congress during the past half century. His findings are published in his new book "Capitol Investments: The Marketability of Political Skills."