Making the Undergraduate Classroom into a Policy Think Tank
Reflections from a Field Methods Class
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11062078 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chad Broughton (University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 73-87 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Teaching Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-055X • E-ISSN: 1939-862X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0092055x10390650 |
| OpenAlex | W1981139867 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 22 |
This article examines the opportunities and limitations presented by organizing an undergraduate field research methods class as a policy think tank working for a government client. Organized as such, the course had both the learning objectives of a traditional undergraduate methods class and the corporate objectives of a policy think tank (i.e., to produce a high-quality presentation and report for its client). This article finds that the learning and corporate objectives were largely aligned rather than conflicting, leading to anticipated and some unanticipated pedagogical benefits for learning sociological research methods, substantive sociological and policy areas, how to work effectively in goal-directed group work, and public policy generally. Finally, this article considers the pedagogical and ethical concerns with the course-based production of “policy-relevant” knowledge in the context of stark social divisions between student and research subject
Class (philosophy · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Government (linguistics · Pedagogy · Policy analysis · Political science · Presentation (obstetrics · Public policy · Public relations · Sociology · Work (physics · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences · Law · Public Administration · Service-Learning and Community Engagement
Le laboratoire d’idées ad hoc et le développement de partenariats communautaires dans les services de santé
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Teaching Focus Group Interviewing
Community-Initiated Student-Engaged Research
Constructive typology and social theory.
Restructuring the Classroom
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An Action-Research Project
Breaking Ground
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Mask Making
Teaching Qualitative Methods
Learning by Doing
The Ethics of Observing
Civic Engagement Through Civic Agriculture
Introducing Methods of Sociological Inquiry Using Living-Data Exercises
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Collaboration and Its Discontents
Learning by doing
Blaming Me, Blaming You
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,62 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |