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Activity Number:
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305
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Type:
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Roundtables
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Date/Time:
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007 : 12:30 PM to 1:50 PM
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Sponsor:
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Social Statistics Section
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| Abstract - #309196 |
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Title:
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From Soft to Hard Science: Will Survey Research Make the Transition?
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Author(s):
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Robert Fay*+
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Companies:
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U.S. Census Bureau
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Address:
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4700 Silver Hill Rd, Washington, DC, 20233,
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Keywords:
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research ; foundations ; cognitive psychology ; linguistics ; ethics ; scientific communication
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Abstract:
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Apart from my "day job," I have studied scientific communication for several years and begun describing myself as a "daytime statistician/nighttime scientist." I'd like to informally share some of my reflections on the state of survey research that stem from my investigations. Both scientists and the public occasionally distinguish "soft" and "hard" science without firmly agreeing on how or where to draw this boundary. I suggest that disciplines and individual researchers can be divided linguistically by the discourse structure of their writing. In the last century, the "hard" sciences have shared common communication standards that are much less reliably observed in "soft" science. But, change is possible. I will point to disciplines where the soft to hard transition has occurred or is currently taking place and what survey research could learn from them.
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- The address information is for the authors that have a + after their name.
- Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.
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