Social scientists continue to struggle over the relative merits of their many enterprises: explanation vs. interpretation, causal vs. descriptive analysis, the development of theories vs. the testing of hypotheses. Regardless of the analyst's focus, two questions remain 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 (whether explicitly or not) inform the evidence we believe and the theories we generate.
In this workshop we worry about (a) the clarity and cogency of social theories and (b) the logic and effectiveness of evidence in social research. Presentations, which may be qualitative or quantitative, primarily empirical or primarily theoretical, share this preoccupation.
Logistics:
Time: Alternate Mondays at noon unless otherwise noted
Location: Harper Memorial Library Room 102, 1116 E. 59th Street
Meals: *Lunch is provided at all workshops beginning at 11:45!*
Spring Quarter 2008 Schedule:
| Date | Speaker | Topic |
| Monday, April 14, 12pm | Stefan Bargheer, University of Chicago | "Toward a Leisure Theory of Value: The Game of Bird-Watching and Concern for Conservation in Great Britain" |
| Monday, May 5, 12pm | Josh Pacewicz, University of Chicago | "The Gift of Partnership in the Rust Belt: A 'Patterned' Explanation of Post-Partisan Politics" |
| Tuesday, May 13, 3:30pm, Hinds Laboratory, Rm 101, 5734 S. Ellis Ave | Camille Charles, University of Pennsylvania | "Black Like Who? Exploring the Racial, Ethnic and Class Diversity of Black Students at Selective Colleges and Universities" |
| Monday, May 19, 12pm | Jaesok Son, University of Chicago | "Civic Engagement and the Labor Movement: The Working-Class Identities in Chicago and Philadelphia at the Turn of the 20th Century" |
| Monday, June 2, 12pm | Gregory Liegel, University of Chicago | "The Medical Manpower Shortage and Congressional Reform: Articulations in Institutional Authority" |
Winter Quarter 2008 Schedule:
| Date | Speaker | Topic |
| Monday, January 14, 12pm | Andrew Abbott, University of Chicago | "Organizations of the Chicago School" |
| Tuesday, January 22, 12pm, SS 305 | Randall Collins, University of Pennsylvania | "The Face of Violence: Research with Photographic and Micro-Sociological Evidence" |
| Tuesday, February 5, 12pm, SS Tea Room | Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College | "God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape" |
| Monday, February 25, 12pm | Zach Kertcher, University of Chicago | "Ecclesiastes Reconsidered: the Emergence of the Grid Computing Paradigm" |
Fall Quarter 2007 Schedule:
| Date | Speaker | Topic |
| Monday, October 15, 12pm | Edward Smith, University of Chicago | "Where Does Robustness Come From?" |
| Monday, October 29, 12pm | Maria Medvedeva, University of Chicago | "Language Preferences among Children of Immigrants in the United States: The Role of Social Context" |
| Thursday, November 15, 12pm, SS 305 | Karyn Lacy, University of Michigan | "Growing Up Around Blacks: Strategic Assimilation Among Middle-Class Black Suburbanites" |
| Tuesday, November 20, 12pm, SS 305 | Myra Marx Ferree, University of Wisconsin, Madison | "Framing Inequality: Race and Class as Metaphors for Gender" |
Contacts:
| Jessica Feldman | jessicaf@uchicago.edu |
| Mario L. Small | mariosmall@uchicago.edu |
| Elisabeth Clemens | clemens@uchicago.edu |
