Week 3

Result: You are Jane Addams!

You are a scientist who believes that social research should be combined wit action so as to enact reforms. You are impatient with social science that is uncoupled from implementation. You believe that the value of the claims made by your research derive from the practical consequences that follow from them. This means you do not settle for generating new insights into the human condition. Instead you seek to solve social problems through research. You believe that social science research that is unleavened with compassion for those in need rarely comes to good ends for society. Go conquer the world you pragmatist!

My quiz results don’t surprise me. I didn’t have a particular person in mind, but the description seems accurate enough. Generally my research inclinations are already strongly aligned with my epistemological category: I’m interested in learning about how people use systems in order to be able to form programs that assist them in some way. Like Jane Addams I am interested in doing research that results in suggestions for positive social change.

I thought it might be interesting to do the quiz a second time and choose the options that are least similar to my feelings towards research. The second time I was told that I was Francis Bacon. This description surprised me a bit because it was something that I could (at least partially) agree with. Ultimately I think the main difference is that I don’t tend to stick with the scientific method – I’m more interested in observation and understanding groups of people. The quiz is limiting because it only allows a person to be similar to one researcher. I doubt that this is ultimately a problem because I don’t expect that anyone takes their result as a definitive and binding answer.