Monthly Archives: September 2016
Want Ye Some Building Blocks for Theorizing?
The first four weeks of my Scientific Inquiry–Theory & Inference course covers being successful in graduate school, human knowledge (ontology/epistemology, and what is science?), and week one of the theory section explores the purpose of theory. Week five provides two … Continue reading
Fiske & the Mutual Admiration Society
I have often wished we could simplify our social status signalling to the dog greeting technique. Start with your prior belief about your station in the hierarchy, and wag your tail / stand still / or shrink your posture accordingly; … Continue reading
Learning to Drink from a Fire Hose
This is the second in a series of guest posts by Nate Monroe. In “Week 1: How to Succeed in Grad School,” Will does an excellent job covering the arc of our Week 1 readings (they are identical across our … Continue reading
Week 4: Why Theorize?
The fourth week of my Scientific Inquiry–Theory & Inference course addresses the question “Why should we theorize,” or “What is the purpose of theory.” It is the first of a four week section on “Theory.” The Gordian Knot problem rears its … Continue reading
How to be a Political Scientist in 10 Easy Steps
This is the first in a series of guest posts by Nate Monroe. In his blog post, “Teaching Theory and Inference (aka ‘Science’) to 1st Year PhD Students,” Will aptly described the motivation for and logic behind our jointly designed … Continue reading
Week 3: What is Science?
Having addressed negotiating grad school and reality, perception and human knowledge, week 3 of my new course, Scientific Inquiry–Theory & Inference,[1] tackles the demarcation problem: what is (non)science? We might begin with motivating question: What can explain the explosion in … Continue reading
Week 2: Reality, Perception & Human Knowledge
Week two of my new course, Scientific Inquiry–Theory & Inference, seeks to provide first year PhD students who want to join the scientific community the basic training they require.[1] Week one addresses how to succeed in graduate school. Week two is … Continue reading
File Drawer Exchange on Twitter
This happened on Twitter today, and I think it will make a useful prompt for discussion in seminar later this seminar, so I am recording it here. Justin Esarey then weighed in with 13 posts explaining why he disagrees … Continue reading
Week 1: How to Succeed in Grad School
As I explain here, this course seeks to provide first year PhD students who want to join the scientific community the basic training they require.[1] Rather than use the first week of the semester as a chance to “pass out the … Continue reading
Will Opines 