Having and eating cake

This blog got me thinking again about blogs and blogging  http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/03/09/books-vs-blogs-street-cred-formal-recognition/.

Why do I do research? Well, I have no choice. I love finding out, reflecting, drawing together what I see with sociological theory. I don't think I ever stop.

But why do academic research? That's harder to explain. I want to be able to depend on what I think and find out. That's because I want to give the world ammunition to change to become the kind of place where people can be people and be kind to each other.

And, rightly or wrongly, I identify academic research as a route to findings I can depend on and encourage people to use as a foundation for creating social change.

Cards on table: I don't think academic researchers have a great track record for setting the world ablaze through giving activists the fruit of their academic labour.

I reckon that's partly academics/activists speaking different languages, living in largely separate worlds and not communicating very well. I reckon it's also partly that much academic research is irrelevant to the urgent needs of activists for information or new ways of thinking about the world. And it's largely the need to meet the requirements of peer-reviewed journals, particularly those behind paywalls. That slows things down, restricts who can access the journal, and requires ways of presenting the information that are inaccessible to most people.

The communication issue is not necessarily a problem. If your aim is to build an academic research career, then peer reviewed papers in journals of high standing are essential.

But it is a problem for me. I want rigorous research that is strong enough to be the foundation for real societal change. I want to do research as a way to work backstage, sourcing and providing what is needed by the front stage actors. I can't be waiting for the peer review process. I don't choose to write in a way that excludes many, and I frankly don't have the time (or patience) to produce several accounts of the same iformation.

That means, for the main part, I need to be blogging, talking, mingling with the actors and making sure we have a good dialogue going. If gaining academic standing makes my backstage work more effective, I'm persuadable to do things the academic way.

But my focus will always be impact outside the Academy. My focus will always be taking the highest quality most dependable research findings and theorising out to the activists who need it.

That beings me back to thinking about why, despite the impetus for knowledge exchange, widening access and increasing impact, social science still bewails its lack of influence.

And here's the rub. I simply don't think you can have your peer-reviewed, behind paywalls cake AND eat your impact-outside-the Academy. They require different focus in how you approach your research, different language, different priorities for using time and - dare I say? - different ways of seeing the world and determining what's of value.