21st Century Scholar

Ethnography, like culture, is a contested and complex term. How one conducts ethnography, the role of the author, one’s stance to those under investigation, and the like are topics that have consumed ethnographers and social scientists for over a century. However, because a term is contested does not mean that one can say whatever he [...]

by Randy Clemens I’m nearing the end of the written portion of my qualifying exam (thankfully), and I’ve been thinking a lot about a lot. In particular, I keep returning to a similar theme: Academics have short memories. Consider, for instance, the sad story of life history: Less than a century ago, life histories were [...]

by Randy Clemens Every night, I try to find at least 10 minutes to sit at my practice pad. I drill rudiments. I work on my double-stroke roll. I sight read–my least favorite exercise. If I have a little more time, I move to the drum set. There I work on some speed and coordination [...]

by Randy Clemens Last year, after attending AERA’s conference in Denver, I wrote about the need for a digital makeover. I made several suggestions for the meeting: (1), provide free wifi, (2), embrace microblogging, and (3), stream symposiums online. My blog was mainly focused on uses of technology to not just improve the experience but [...]

by Randy Clemens Now is an exciting time to be a researcher. Technology and digital media allow quantitative and qualitative researchers to explore new territories. The internet allows qualitative researchers to interact with research subjects in new spaces as well as collect and present data in new ways. With new methods comes new data. But, [...]

by Bill Tierney Philippe Bourgois wrote In Search of Respect over a decade ago and I have used it repeatedly in my classes and in my writing.  His latest book, Righteous Dopefiend, written with Jeff Schonberg, is a fitting follow-up.  They spent ten years with a group of homeless people addicted to heroin.  The book [...]

This August, we decided to let the numbers blog/speak for themselves on certain Thursdays and Fridays. Tables and charts can be very useful; they also can deceive or be contradictory depending upon how the information is presented. Today’s tables demonstrate dropout rates in Los Angeles and in the State.  Note how different the rates are.  The [...]

by Bill Tierney Three years ago NCATE – the national teacher education accreditation association – was going to implement a new policy that excluded sexual orientation.  Some individuals wrote to the AERA Council and encouraged them to take a stand.  The President, the Council, and the Executive Director did not.  The rationale given was that [...]

by Randy Clemens “The issue now is not simply to promote ourselves better,” writes Craig Calhoun, an acclaimed sociologist and president of the Social Science Research Council, “but to ask better social science questions about what encourages scientific innovation, what makes knowledge useful, and how to pursue both these agendas, with attention to both immediate [...]

by Bill Tierney Over the holidays I read a short book by Paul Boghossian – fear of knowledge.  The subtitle sums up his arguments:  against relativism and constructivism. Boghossian holds an endowed c hair in Philosophy at New York University.  He has tried to write a primer that is accessible to the educated reader about [...]