If the methods folks want the discipline to move forward methodologically, why do they restrict participation in their conference to a few of the elite in the subfield (with a few more presenting posters)? Wy not find a way to include a broader swath of the well informed but applied-minded users of quantitative methods?
Polmeth Conference
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OP has a point. The polmeth crowd is basically just talking to each other. The rest of the field keeps doing the same old things. The polmeth crowd likes to make fun of the rest of the field for this, but the truth is that the lack of forward progress is partly the fault of the polmeth crowd for setting themselves apart like this.
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Liana:
If the methods folks want the discipline to move forward methodologically, why do they restrict participation in their conference to a few of the elite in the subfield (with a few more presenting posters)? Why not find a way to include a broader swath of the well informed but applied-minded users of quantitative methods?Who says they don't? Did you or any of your "applied-minded" friends actually apply?
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Jackalyn:
The Polmeth crowd is obsessed with prestige and self-congratulatory antics, thus the conference format (see also the recent absurd - and annonying - string of listserv emails announcing awards to themselves).Because of the Polmeth crowd, running cross tabs and pulling theories out of your ass are no longer considered scientific. Show some respect.
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^ This had nothing to do with the Polmeth crowd and everything to do with advancements outside of our own discipline. The methodologists in political science contributed precious little to the credibility revolution, to quantification prior to that, and to the development of formal modeling. Even midgets are tall when they stand on the shoulders of giants.
As for polmeth's insularity, it doesn't really bother me. I don't read most of the papers because they're not particularly useful. I cite many more econometricians (and some statisticians) than I do political methodologists, frankly. So that's what I read.
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Raine:
Jackalyn:
The Polmeth crowd is obsessed with prestige and self-congratulatory antics, thus the conference format (see also the recent absurd - and annonying - string of listserv emails announcing awards to themselves).
Because of the Polmeth crowd, running cross tabs and pulling theories out of your ass are no longer considered scientific. Show some respect.For someone who thinks they know a lot about methods, you have an impressive lack of understanding of the concepts of cause and effect.
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Virgil:
Sterling:
No thanks...we don't need to hear about your paper that runs cross-country regressions with fixed effects and robust standard errors.
If you use fixed effects, they're not cross country in any meaningful sense.Unless they were year fixed effects...