[Interpretationandmethods] Interpretationandmethods Digest, Vol 43, Issue 1

[Patrick Thaddeus Jackson]

On Jul 11, 2008, at 3:41 PM, psshea at csbs.utah.edu wrote:

> Whether that metaphor is apt can be debated, but it can help
> variables-researchers (PTJ - does that get me around the
> realist/positivist labels?) to get some sense of why not everything
> can (or should) be spelled out in interpretive/relational research
> proposals.


It does, but of course "prospecting" is still dualist: digging around  
for something that is presumably already out there, hidden beneath the  
ground, just waiting for us to stumble upon it.

It's too bad that your course is doing "qualitative"/interpretive  
first and "quantitative"/large-n second. That format allows the second  
half of the course to turn to the first half and say "thanks for  
providing us with the raw data, we'll take it from here." Very David  
Laitin-esque faux methodological diversity, where everyone gets to  
play as long as they all play the same game in the end.

Okay, this is seriously the last thing I am going to post on the list  
for a couple of weeks. I mean it.

PTJ
===
Patrick Thaddeus Jackson
Director, General Education Program, American University
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of International Relations and Development
http://profptj.blogspot.com | http://www.kittenboo.com
calendar: http://ical.mac.com/onyxdr/Patrick