Hey Filippo





On Jun 1, 2015, at 6:34 PM, Filippo Salustri <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

I also think that there's a broad spectrum of behaviours that

might fall under the label "misbehave" including simple errors and

momentary lapses.  I'm not sure we should be lumping these relatively minor

occurrences in with the particularly egregious - and rare - cases of

systemic abuse of the system.

...or am I misunderstanding what you meant?



I used the term ‘misbehave’ in a typically understated Australian way (I am Australian) - I was speaking about behavior that would be considered unethical by a lot of academics.



The situations in those disciplines are very different from the

situations in many other scientific disciplines - so different that there's

no way the generalization is warranted. Funding sources, funding amounts,

importance of publication as a measure of success, expectations from within

the discipline, etc. All these and others change significantly.



Absolutely.



This is, however, no excuse to relax.  We probably have this inevitable

problem contained at the moment, but only constant vigilance and decisive

action will prevent it from getting entirely out of hand.



Yes!



Sorry, but to say that we bring a lot of it on ourselves *and* there's not

much anyone can do about it seems like we're throwing in the towel.

I'm certainly not, and I'm not sure I understand why anyone else would, if

that's indeed the case.



Let me explain. On the one hand, I agree with Don’s very well put points about the flawed nature and low quality results of pressure to publish approaches in design. On the other, as a tenure track staff member who feels relatively powerless within  my department, let alone within my discipline, I don’t feel it is something I can personally have an impact on.



There are also the many other factors I mentioned contributing to this problem. I see the erosion of trust in experts as a disruption problem. To continue the journalism comparison, in the 2000s many news outlets really made a bad situation worse by not seeing the challenges as they were and adequately reacting to them. But the internet was growing in ways that would ruin their existing operating model no matter what.



Our operating model as academics is changing dramatically. There will be far less of us in 20 years. Maybe tenure won’t exist. The erosion of trust in experts is part of far greater social shift that we can recognize and try to adapt to, or ignore and make it worse for ourselves.



Katherine



________________

Katherine Hepworth

Assistant Professor of Visual Journalism

The Reynolds School of Journalism

1664 N. Virginia St, Reno NV, 89557



Phone: +1 (775) 784 4423

Website: kathep.com<http://kathep.com>





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