The Ivory Towers of Academia A personal view as the founder of Pitt’s

Office of Child Development

Academia vs. Community Research

Emphasizes Basic Educational

Discipline Based Communication

Scientific Community Careers

Narrow course

Research Need for Applied

Education Interdisciplinary

Communication Public & Legislatures

Careers ?

Basic vs. Applied Research Academicians cherish their freedom to explore their

disciplines independent of public pressure Too often…American Scholars still hold fast to the

hermeneutics of exile, using their specialized knowledge to dwell in a distant time or an esoteric disciplinary space, returning periodically like Rip Van Winkle from his inaccessible mountain to tell the forgetful villagers what life was like in the distant past…We scholars rightly cherish our independence of mind an our originality of perspective, but we need to balance the hermeneutics of exile with a more creative hermeneutics of community Damrosch, 1995

Basic vs. Applied Research We often restrict our inquiries to existing

scientific debates often ignoring societal issues Important applied issues often have get very little

attention

Basic vs. Applied Research: What people want to know about? Issues covered in my applied issues course:

Prenatal issues and policy Controversies of child birth Early intervention programs Effective education and policy The politics of child programs Youth gangs and violence Effective Parenting

Basic vs. Applied Research: Methods We restrict our methods and approaches to existing

procedures …the practioner of a mature science from the

beginnings of his doctoral research continues to work in regions for which the paradigms derived from his education and from the research of his contemporaries seem adequate. He tries, that is, to elucidate topological details on a map whose outlines are available in advance…

Kuhn, 1976

Community Based Research Tensions between community and researchers

Lack of value of research Who controls what What will I get for it?

Scientific Method: the “Gold Standard” Control vs. ecological validity Control Groups Quantitative vs. qualitative methods

Community Based Research Program Evaluations

Report cards or tools? What are the goals? Who pays and who plays? Summative vs. formative evaluation

Applied Research Does it have an impact?

Research vs. Politics and People

Academia vs. Community Research

Emphasizes Basic Educational

Discipline Based

Research Need for Applied

Education Interdisciplinary

Interdisciplinary Education “Someone once claimed the only thing

connecting classes in many schools is the plumbing” Klein, 1990

“It’s claimed Developmental Psychologist can recognize 2 out of 3 children” unknown source

Interdisciplinary Education Pitt’s training grants in child abuse and child

welfare: psychology, law, medicine, social work, child care, education & nursing

Institutional Barriers University structures University finances Degree requirements

Interdisciplinary Education Professional biases

Research beliefs Communication Problems Professional identification

Journals, conferences, etc Licensing Requirements

Academia vs. Community Research

Emphasizes Basic Educational

Discipline Based Communication

Scientific Community

Research Need for Applied

Education Interdisciplinary

Communication Public & Legislatures

Communicating to Public A cartoon in the New Yorker two dowdy

scientists musing over their apparently lackluster careers with the self-consoling caption:

“One thing to say about us Meyer, we never stooped to popularizing science”

Stevenson, 1977

Communicating We tend to avoid communicating with public

and may even be warned against it What is the alternative– who represents

Psychology?

Communicating Must speak in sound bites (you will be cut)

Personality and looks count Just give conclusions Main effects vs. interactions Don’t want to hear hesitancy

Academia vs. Community Research

Emphasizes Basic Educational

Discipline Based Communication

Scientific Community Careers

Narrow course

Research Need for Applied

Education Interdisciplinary

Communication Public & Legislatures

Careers ?