Week 3

My result: Foucault

This result makes sense to me. All of the answers that stood out to be all concerned power relations and society. I think the role power, especially when it comes to knowledge, is an incredibly important factor. It is important that we consider issues like who controls knowledge, who decides what knowledge is disseminated widely, and who creates knowledge? It is also important to recognize that no matter what issue we are researching, it will affect groups of people differently depending on their status and position in society.

This survey is definitely far from perfect. If someone knew all of the possible results of this survey, they could definitely spoof it to get an answer that they want. The answers follow consistent themes. As an example, most of the answers leading to Foucault were related to power relations and taking into consideration a person's status in society. There is also a set of answers that lends itself to objective science (these answers lead to Francis Bacon, who "has a bit of a thing for scientific method", and enjoys empirical research). However, since the results of this survey don't hold serious statistical consequences, it does serve it's purpose.

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.

Week 3 - Quiz Result (Lesley)

According the quiz, my epistemology is that of the wonderful Patricia Hill Collins (<3).

I'm certainly not surprised with my results, as my entire undergraduate degree was spent learning about oppression and inequalities (while reading my share of Collins) from a marxist-feminist informed anti-oppressive perspective.  It is my understanding that each person's life experience is shaped by their social identity, creating multiple realities and truths co-existing in the same social space.  I could not agree more with the sentiment that we cannot gain a complete understanding of our world without the inclusion of each of these varied personal truths.

In terms of research, I feel comfortable with critical theory and it's a fitting framework to examine the role of public libraries in the community.  My research question (which is still in the works) is going to look at what may be some obstacles to accessing library services that result in certain marginalized populations being underserved.

Week Three: Quiz

Michel Foucault!

This does not surprise me. I did English Literature and Gender Studies in my undergraduate degree, so we breathed the man for four years. It warms my heart to see I didn't spend over $30,000 for nothing. At least some Foucault rubbed off on my Episteme. I believe myself to be a very skeptical person, I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist, and I often question preconceived notions. However, I take these types of quizzes with a grain of salt. I am aware of my bias in answering the questions, and how it affects my results. People are not easily pigeonholed, and oftentimes the answers provided are not the ones someone would choose. Instead, we must pick the best of rather than the thing itself. As the quiz result aptly stated, I hate labels (unless they're designer, naturally),  On a more serious note, I believe that personal background is crucial in understanding motivations, biases, and individual reason.  This is textbook Foucault.  Perhaps this quiz was a way of our seemingly kind professor to exercise Biopower on us, diverting us with a fun activity and keeping us away from the true meaning of this course!

Anyway, it's still all French to me (or at the very least early, poorly translated Foucault).

Week 3 Blog Post Eleni Pallotta

The epistemology quiz assigned for this week’s blog told me that I was Patricia Hill Collins – a black feminist researcher and author.  To be honest, I was not surprised in the slightest that my results matched such a strong leader and advocate as Patricia is in her research.  During my undergraduate degree, I wrote endless papers on unjust treatment of minority groups, as well as papers on discrimination, gender and race inequality, social class and so on.  I also enjoy reading novels that are based around these issues in history and around the world (I just finished reading The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill…amazing book!)

I found it very interesting that in the quiz’s description of Patricia, “Power to the people you critical theorist” was the last sentence in the paragraph.  My own research question that I discussed yesterday with Alan was based around students at the iSchool and their right to have core courses that pertain to more than just academic librarianship (such as, for example, a course on communities and public libraries as a core course).  While I need to change my idea around a bit, it is clear that my initial thoughts when creating a research question is to always advocate for someone or something.  Power to the people indeed, Patricia!

(Picture taken from: https://socy.umd.edu/facultyprofile/Collins/Patricia%20Hill)

Week 3: Epistemology Quiz

I am not entirely surprised that my epistemology quiz result was Michel Foucault, especially having completed my undergraduate degree in English. That said, I have also taken enough quizzes online to know that there is very little reason to take the results seriously, no matter how much I hope to get Tami Taylor as a result in a quiz called, "Which Friday Night Lights character are you?". And perhaps it is very Foucauldian of me, but I am also aware  that because of my underlying desire to get the Tami Taylor result, I will be unable to separate that underlying bias from my choices, when perhaps I am more of a Landry Clark at heart. In research terms, I suppose this is also a problem with surveys.

One of my favourite Internet phenomenons right now is Clickhole. They are constantly posting quizzes that brilliantly satirize the both the content of these types of quizzes, and the very act of taking them. Here are a few recent gems:

Is He Going to Propose?

Do You Possess A Gentle Enough Touch To Buckle Me Into My Car?

In Theory, If The Edge Went To Sleep In The Middle Of A Concert, Would You Be Able To Climb On Stage And Replace Him?

Week 3 - Epistemology Quiz

My results of the Epistemology Quiz claimed that I am "Jürgen Habermas!" After reading the description of Habermas, I do agree with most of the research characteristics he possesses. Coming from an anthropological background this statement, "the primary activity of human beings is to interpret the meaning of things in the world around them," rang very much true to me. I see the world full of different cultures and sub-cultures, awaiting to be discovered, but not in a colonial, power stricken way, more from a way of understanding and learning how groups of people make meaning of things. What is important to people, and most importantly how are things important to people. I also agree that I have my own cultural understandings that will affect the way I do research and interpret things, therefore I must take this into account. Nonetheless, I found this quiz to be quite accurate, however I don't know what the other results were yet, so I don't have too much to compare it with.


For my research topic, I have decided I would like to look at how athletes are educated about anti-doping and if it is effective. So, my research design would focus on discovery of athletes' experiences, mapping the systems that are in place, and finding the relationship between athletes and anti-doping systems (what role anti-doping systems play in an athlete's life). 

I often lean more towards a constructivist perspective, for this particular research, wanting to look at athletes' experiences and how they learn about anti-doping, etc. I am not looking for a specific answer of whether or not our anti-doping system is good/bad, I am more interested in how it is communicated to athletes, what the barriers are, and how well do athletes know about it. (I will probably focus on Canadian National Team athletes, their National Sport Organizations (NSOs), the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), and possibly the Canadian Sport Institute of Ontario (CSIO). 

As you might be able to tell, I have a in-depth knowledge of the Canadian Sport system, however I do not know much about anti-doping, so I am excited to explore the unfamiliar parts of what I know. As well, I would like to focus on the relationships between each of these organizations, and the knowledge transfer that occurs.


On the topic of quizzes, I actually really enjoy taking quizzes. I don't necessarily see it as a way of putting myself into a category, but more of a way to identify qualities that I possess. Perhaps I don't get what I want, then I take it again! I don't restrict myself to any sort of category, I guess that is why I like to learn about how other people live!