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Dissertation Information for Martin Theodor Jaeckel

NAME:
- Martin Theodor Jaeckel

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Sociology

SCHOOL:
- University of Pittsburgh (USA) (1989)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: The use of social science knowledge and research in a presidential commission: A case study in utilization

Abstract: "The case study is conceived as a contribution to the methodology of applied social science. It deals with a historical conflict which occurred within the Kerner Commission (The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders), between the social scientist research staff (Robert Shellow et al.) and the Commission's executive staff, about how to go about investigating the riots of 1967.

The study analyzes the two competing summary statements on the riots, produced by the two groups, and compares them on several dimensions. The results show major divergences, between the two summaries, in the organization of the information available about the riots. There are marked differences in (a) Substantive thrust. (i.e., an emphasis on the political character of the disorders, vs. one on socio-economic conditions of deprivation in the ghettos as the problem to be addressed); (b) Presentational format and construction of the argument. (i.e., the development of a series of inductive generalizations based on comparisons between riots, and between riot settings and locales, vs. the compilation of profiles of external characteristics based on pre-existing categories); (c) The overall judgment-building approach. (i.e., the difference between developing vs. documenting the underlying general argument to be presented in the Commission's Report).

The competing judgment-building approaches are presented as alternative paradigmatic extremes for how to conduct an applied investigation (i.e., an exploratory vs. a practice-based administrative approach, see Figure 1). The study develops distinctions about the kinds of general tasks which social scientists can expect to perform in such settings: namely, (1) organizing and designing the investigation, (2) developing the main argument, and (3) constructing the information base to support this argument (see Figure 2). And it concludes with some cautionary rules for applied social scientists to follow in negotiating their participation in the work of such commissions."

MPACT Scores for Martin Theodor Jaeckel

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:21:37

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