Data and the Past

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

This past week we met with Dr. Melanie Hughes to consider the practical issues of data production, management, and analysis within the social sciences. One thing that struck me was that, despite our ability to identify issues in the categorization systems presented in class, many of us were unable to express solutions to mitigate these […]

Data and the Past

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

This past week we met with Dr. Melanie Hughes to consider the practical issues of data production, management, and analysis within the social sciences. One thing that struck me was that, despite our ability to identify issues in the categorization systems presented in class, many of us were unable to express solutions to mitigate these […]

Methods and Measurements

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Uncategorized, Unit 2a

The articles for this week reveal the limitations of quantitative indicators of gender equality. Hanny Cueva Beteta notes that the general indication used to measure gender equality, the presence of female politicians at the national level, may not accurately reflect gender equality in a given society. Cueva Beteta notes that in developing countries, the ability […]

Measurements of Equality

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

I unfortunately missed class last week due to a cold, so I can only draw on information presented in the readings. Across all of the readings, I found the idea of equality as a performative measure to be most intriguing. In a political landscape in which equality is becoming more and more emphasized, it seems […]

The Familiar and Slightly Less Familiar

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

Last week facilitated an illuminating conversation due to my previous ignorance of the topic. In many ways, the discussion points were both familiar and unfamiliar. The articles critiqued the shortcomings of data being used to reveal gender equality rates. This was familiar for me; as a historian, I am accustomed to questioning evidence and deconstructing […]

People in Quantitative Sociological Studies

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

The most unfamiliar aspects of last week’s readings were the style, structure, and language in the articles. I am far more familiar with narrative writing and using local examples to illustrate characteristics of macro discussions and theories. This genre of writing was overtly structured, formulaic, and distant, and therefore was more difficult for me to […]

People in Quantitative Sociological Studies

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

The most unfamiliar aspects of last week’s readings were the style, structure, and language in the articles. I am far more familiar with narrative writing and using local examples to illustrate characteristics of macro discussions and theories. This genre of writing was overtly structured, formulaic, and distant, and therefore was more difficult for me to […]

Biases and Motivations

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

In our readings and conversations over the past week, I was most familiar with the notion that ideological biases inform the way that information is presented. As I mentioned at the close of my blog post for last week, I have been thinking about the presentation of information, informed by individual, social, and cultural biases, […]

Invisible Women

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Unit 2a

As I mentioned in class, I just finished Perez’s Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (2019). Perez cites some of the kinds of research we read for last week in her book.  She talks about how problematic many research methods are regarding everything from city planning to medical research. So many […]