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The Ivory Towers of Academia A personal view as the founder of Pitt’s
Office of Child Development
Academia vs. Community Research
Emphasizes Basic Educational
Discipline Based Communication
Scientific Community Careers
Narrow course
Research Need for Applied
Education Interdisciplinary
Communication Public & Legislatures
Careers ?
Basic vs. Applied Research Academicians cherish their freedom to explore their
disciplines independent of public pressure Too often…American Scholars still hold fast to the
hermeneutics of exile, using their specialized knowledge to dwell in a distant time or an esoteric disciplinary space, returning periodically like Rip Van Winkle from his inaccessible mountain to tell the forgetful villagers what life was like in the distant past…We scholars rightly cherish our independence of mind an our originality of perspective, but we need to balance the hermeneutics of exile with a more creative hermeneutics of community Damrosch, 1995
Basic vs. Applied Research We often restrict our inquiries to existing
scientific debates often ignoring societal issues Important applied issues often have get very little
attention
Basic vs. Applied Research: What people want to know about? Issues covered in my applied issues course:
Prenatal issues and policy Controversies of child birth Early intervention programs Effective education and policy The politics of child programs Youth gangs and violence Effective Parenting
Basic vs. Applied Research: Methods We restrict our methods and approaches to existing
procedures …the practioner of a mature science from the
beginnings of his doctoral research continues to work in regions for which the paradigms derived from his education and from the research of his contemporaries seem adequate. He tries, that is, to elucidate topological details on a map whose outlines are available in advance…
Kuhn, 1976
Community Based Research Tensions between community and researchers
Lack of value of research Who controls what What will I get for it?
Scientific Method: the “Gold Standard” Control vs. ecological validity Control Groups Quantitative vs. qualitative methods
Community Based Research Program Evaluations
Report cards or tools? What are the goals? Who pays and who plays? Summative vs. formative evaluation
Applied Research Does it have an impact?
Research vs. Politics and People
Academia vs. Community Research
Emphasizes Basic Educational
Discipline Based
Research Need for Applied
Education Interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinary Education “Someone once claimed the only thing
connecting classes in many schools is the plumbing” Klein, 1990
“It’s claimed Developmental Psychologist can recognize 2 out of 3 children” unknown source
Interdisciplinary Education Pitt’s training grants in child abuse and child
welfare: psychology, law, medicine, social work, child care, education & nursing
Institutional Barriers University structures University finances Degree requirements
Interdisciplinary Education Professional biases
Research beliefs Communication Problems Professional identification
Journals, conferences, etc Licensing Requirements
Academia vs. Community Research
Emphasizes Basic Educational
Discipline Based Communication
Scientific Community
Research Need for Applied
Education Interdisciplinary
Communication Public & Legislatures
Communicating to Public A cartoon in the New Yorker two dowdy
scientists musing over their apparently lackluster careers with the self-consoling caption:
“One thing to say about us Meyer, we never stooped to popularizing science”
Stevenson, 1977
Communicating We tend to avoid communicating with public
and may even be warned against it What is the alternative– who represents
Psychology?
Communicating Must speak in sound bites (you will be cut)
Personality and looks count Just give conclusions Main effects vs. interactions Don’t want to hear hesitancy
Academia vs. Community Research
Emphasizes Basic Educational
Discipline Based Communication
Scientific Community Careers
Narrow course
Research Need for Applied
Education Interdisciplinary
Communication Public & Legislatures
Careers ?