Someone made a remark about my sister’s career and it made me wonder ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Education is not regarded as a traditional, hard science, like Biology, Physics or Chemistry or Medicine. My husband and I are research scientists in biomedical fields (MD/ PhD), and it would never occur to us to consider Education a science, even though it uses statistics and data analysis. Lots of fields use statistics and data analysis nowadays.

Surely you knew that, OP. Why set yourself up for mockery?

And congratulations to your sister.

OP here: She has a PHD!!
She literally added new research to her niche
validity in her research is something she values

She had to know stats and both qualitative and quantitative
Methods

I don’t get why such disrespect. She worked hard!
At the core
Of her empirical research is the Scientific method
hence why she too considers herself a scientist

PP you replied to. I was trying to be nice, but since you're asking for it -

1. A PhD can be had in any academic field, including non-scientific ones.
2. Research is always worthy and admirable, whichever field it is, whether it's science or not.
3. You are confusing researcher with scientist.
4. No one is disrespecting your sister and her achievements, and furthermore...
5. We are so glad someone has brains in the family.

except phd in ed requires no brain power. just time and $.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education isn’t a social science either. I know scientists thinks social science is a softer BSy category, but it doesn’t actually encompass everything else in the world...

Education is a subject, not a method. You can do educational research that is social science, even if not all educational research is. I know people who do ethnography, psychology, and/or demography of education, they are social scientists. And for better or for worse what do you think all the quantitative assessment going on in schools is attempting to do?

-a social scientist

By your definition shouldn’t she be considered a scientist ?
She’s doing educational research. Her PhD is in education with a focus in literacy- early childhood

Social scientist but couldn’t I just say scientist ? What’s the big deal

Social scientist PP here. First off, because as this thread shows, most people hear "scientist" and think it means physical scientist, and physical scientists get all butthurt about it. Second, because there are actual differences in how you can apply the scientific method to people, so social science is a real thing, not just a "lesser than" label. Calling something social science, in my mind, isn't calling it "soft" or "less real," it's identifying a different kind of empirical research. It's not an insult, or I'd be disrespecting my own PhD!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Education is not regarded as a traditional, hard science, like Biology, Physics or Chemistry or Medicine. My husband and I are research scientists in biomedical fields (MD/ PhD), and it would never occur to us to consider Education a science, even though it uses statistics and data analysis. Lots of fields use statistics and data analysis nowadays.

Surely you knew that, OP. Why set yourself up for mockery?

And congratulations to your sister.

OP here: She has a PHD!!
She literally added new research to her niche
validity in her research is something she values

She had to know stats and both qualitative and quantitative
Methods

I don’t get why such disrespect. She worked hard!
At the core
Of her empirical research is the Scientific method
hence why she too considers herself a scientist

It never ceases to amaze me how low the bar is set on DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education isn’t a social science either. I know scientists thinks social science is a softer BSy category, but it doesn’t actually encompass everything else in the world...

Education is a subject, not a method. You can do educational research that is social science, even if not all educational research is. I know people who do ethnography, psychology, and/or demography of education, they are social scientists. And for better or for worse what do you think all the quantitative assessment going on in schools is attempting to do?

-a social scientist

By your definition shouldn’t she be considered a scientist ?
She’s doing educational research. Her PhD is in education with a focus in literacy- early childhood

Social scientist but couldn’t I just say scientist ? What’s the big deal

Social scientist PP here. First off, because as this thread shows, most people hear "scientist" and think it means physical scientist, and physical scientists get all butthurt about it. Second, because there are actual differences in how you can apply the scientific method to people, so social science is a real thing, not just a "lesser than" label. Calling something social science, in my mind, isn't calling it "soft" or "less real," it's identifying a different kind of empirical research. It's not an insult, or I'd be disrespecting my own PhD!

Of course you believe that. You kind of have to.

Others . . . disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Education is not regarded as a traditional, hard science, like Biology, Physics or Chemistry or Medicine. My husband and I are research scientists in biomedical fields (MD/ PhD), and it would never occur to us to consider Education a science, even though it uses statistics and data analysis. Lots of fields use statistics and data analysis nowadays.

Surely you knew that, OP. Why set yourself up for mockery?

And congratulations to your sister.

OP here: She has a PHD!!
She literally added new research to her niche
validity in her research is something she values

She had to know stats and both qualitative and quantitative
Methods

I don’t get why such disrespect. She worked hard!
At the core
Of her empirical research is the Scientific method
hence why she too considers herself a scientist

PP you replied to. I was trying to be nice, but since you're asking for it -

1. A PhD can be had in any academic field, including non-scientific ones.
2. Research is always worthy and admirable, whichever field it is, whether it's science or not.
3. You are confusing researcher with scientist.
4. No one is disrespecting your sister and her achievements, and furthermore...
5. We are so glad someone has brains in the family.

except phd in ed requires no brain power. just time and $.

This.
And I have one.

[Anonymous]

If your sister considers herself a scientist, she's as wrong as you are. She has a PhD. She might well conduct research, probably using methods borrowed from sociology. She is NOT a scientist. She just isn't. If she goes around calling herself a scientist, she will get laughed at, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’re RUDE and she’s not a scientist.

+1

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is welcome comedic relief on a Modnay!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:English PhDs do research. Doesn’t make them scientists.
She is not a scientist.

+1. I have a PhD in English and am a researcher. I am a badass but I am not a scientist.

[Anonymous]

I have a PhD in a social science (economics). I would never call myself a scientist. I think it is pretty clear what people mean by the term scientist. Computer science might be as far as I would go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Education is not regarded as a traditional, hard science, like Biology, Physics or Chemistry or Medicine. My husband and I are research scientists in biomedical fields (MD/ PhD), and it would never occur to us to consider Education a science, even though it uses statistics and data analysis. Lots of fields use statistics and data analysis nowadays.

Surely you knew that, OP. Why set yourself up for mockery?

And congratulations to your sister.

OP here: She has a PHD!!
She literally added new research to her niche
validity in her research is something she values

She had to know stats and both qualitative and quantitative
Methods

I don’t get why such disrespect. She worked hard!
At the core
Of her empirical research is the Scientific method
hence why she too considers herself a scientist

PP you replied to. I was trying to be nice, but since you're asking for it -

1. A PhD can be had in any academic field, including non-scientific ones.
2. Research is always worthy and admirable, whichever field it is, whether it's science or not.
3. You are confusing researcher with scientist.
4. No one is disrespecting your sister and her achievements, and furthermore...
5. We are so glad someone has brains in the family.

except phd in ed requires no brain power. just time and $.

This.
And I have one.

You as someone who holds a doctorate in Ed is saying this ? Why

Also, the college paid for her to go school
She had a stipend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a PhD in computational physics. Education, while a noble profession, is more of a social science or softer science.

"Softer" science is so dismissive. It's like hearing someone go on about "high church" and "low church."

[Anonymous]

I think you made this up OP. A doctorate in education is not a PhD. It's an ED.D

[Anonymous]

Please stop posting, OP, you are not going to win this, because you are factually wrong. Period.

People are goading you because you come across as ignorant and naive (if not downright stupid).

I have a degree in a hard science, and I RESPECTED all research across all fields. Social Science is NOT lesser than hard science, I believe it's actually much harder to draw conclusions because objective data is so much more difficult to come by! These fields are very tricky, actually, and that's why they're misunderstood and maligned.

Be proud of your sister, but be aware that a lot of people have prejudices against education research. And for God's sake, just accept that education is not a science. It doesn't take anything away from it.

[Anonymous]

I think you worded it wrong, she is not a scientist. Term is used for natural sciences. My sister is a medical Dr and nobody ever called her a scientist. I am getting a grad degree history, that is fine arts and social science. I would never call myself a scientist. That is why there is grad school for arts and humanities and for sciences is a different college within the same university. She is a phd of education, very impressive, very much needed, but she is not a scientist.