Sunday, February 14, 2010

coming of age in drongaland

Here is a new question of the week. It does not close down the last one - please continue to contribute there as well.

Consider the following research question:

"What is the nature of the rites of passage associated with adolescence among the people of Drongaland?"

In order to reach the truth about this topic, would it be better if the investigator came from Drongaland or from somewhere else? Why?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

the humans sciences: poor relations in the family of knowledge?

Dear All,

We are reviving the item on this blog called "question of the week". Here is this week's question:

"When comparing areas of knowledge, it is clear that the human sciences are the poor relations of the natural sciences. They struggle to apply the scientific method, and fail to produce reliable theories or laws." Do you agree with this?

We expect everyone to contribute to this discussion over the next 7 days. Remember that your contributions to this blog are factored into the semester assessment, and that these discussions are a rich source of material for your own thinking and other assignments.