Social scientists continue to struggle over the relative merits of their many enterprises: explanation versus interpretation, causal versus descriptive analysis, the development of theories versus the testing of hypotheses. Two questions are foundational: What constitutes a good theory? And at what point does the evidence for an argument turn from plausible to compelling? These problems, present from the birth of social science, have grown no less thorny, but also no less critical, since how we choose to solve them informs the evidence we believe and the theories we generate. This workshop focuses on the clarity and cogency of social theories and the logic and effectiveness of evidence in social research.
This year, we will continue to have research presentations by our faculty, our graduate students, and faculty from other universities. We will also continue to hold periodic professionalization workshops for graduate students on topics related to navigating graduate school and beyond.
The Social Theory and Evidence Workshop meets on Mondays from 12:00 to 1:10 pm, in Social Sciences Room 401. Room changes are noted on the schedule.