tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159861912515510446.post6757061352852751038..comments2022-04-10T10:59:42.859-07:00Comments on research methods: The trouble with researching something you love versus something usefulAmy.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01120505617966124962noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159861912515510446.post-84557065757634168932011-10-07T12:11:46.653-07:002011-10-07T12:11:46.653-07:00I have been struggling with the same issues - rega...I have been struggling with the same issues - regarding usefulness - in the past few weeks in relation to the case studies that I've read (in other courses and in connection with my research project) and in every case I've had to pause and ask "Did someone really dedicate this much of their time and life to studying something this obscure and seemingly useless?" <br />I think some of the greatest ideas have been birthed from projects that never intended to discover them. I also believe that for every one of these discoveries that has enriched our understanding of a topic, there are probably twenty research projects that hoped to do this and failed miserably...Cathy McRaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03996236627809083943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159861912515510446.post-1588772652560507792011-10-05T18:06:59.960-07:002011-10-05T18:06:59.960-07:00It might be the case that Shakespeare is particula...It might be the case that Shakespeare is particularly well covered - I once had a partner who was taught a class by a professor that did her doctoral work in beheading in Shakespeare's work. Not just any old dismemberment or death by sword, but specifically beheading. I hadn't, and still don't, have any idea why anyone should care - but it's possible that someone might and, in any case, that sort of work is likely to crop up until universities start telling people they can't write a thesis on Shakespeare, period.Aaron.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18172387279545577699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159861912515510446.post-54053444854837391952011-10-05T06:25:49.264-07:002011-10-05T06:25:49.264-07:00Yeah, I guess I am assuming that most people who a...Yeah, I guess I am assuming that most people who are researching are doing good research. It's totally possible they aren't.Devonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13990393341178218707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159861912515510446.post-42146571524018891532011-10-04T22:34:25.354-07:002011-10-04T22:34:25.354-07:00That was an interesting discussion we had last cla...That was an interesting discussion we had last class about whether or not research needs to be "useful", and exactly how useful it should be (i.e. useful to society vs. useful to a few fellow scholars).<br /><br />When I was younger and less cynical (or more naive?), I believed that all research, no matter how obscure, was beneficial. And I still believe that...or I try to, but I've bounced around academia a bit and I've seen how this idea can be manipulated to less than ideal ends. Luker describes this world well in her discussions of the "canonists", and the quasi-secret societies they form where graduate work is turned into something that looks more like an arcane initiation ritual than genuine research. Luckily social sciences seem to be on the forefront of breaking free of these old ideologies.mwellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04666191004967049839noreply@blogger.com