Part of a larger problem

In India, as in most Asian countries, parents exert a certain control over their children's decisions. Right from an early age, Indian children are raised to be good in maths and science. People who cannot cope with these subjects because of lack of intellect or interest are considered to be somewhat of lesser mortals. A child's career is often chalked out by his/her parents. Depending on his/her parent's ambitions the child will either be an engineer or a doctor. Both these professions are the considered to be 'real professions'. While other professional streams including law, journalism, psychology, economics and political science are looked down upon. No wonder India is a go to destination for the world's technology outsourcing industry and healthcare. But is the least honest country and the ranks high in apathy.

I was the black sheep who chose a career in Journalism over a 'real career'. The articles that we read as a part of our assignment, all indicate the same set of problems. They are a part of a larger problem, which is that the general belief that these areas of study, are better and more authentic than journalism, political science, psychology or even economics. One common pattern that emerges from both these scenarios (India's lost career path & the real research world), is that a select few people, who have the power (translate: resources & money) are out to prove that everything else that does not have definitive conclusions is either incorrect or unbelievable. 

I've had to prove myself in my country over and over again to feel empowered. As empowered as an engineer or a doctor. Yet, somehow, I will never be a success for most people back home. Just like the Knight Foundation article suggests that just conducting a good study and getting published in a highly regarded academic journal isn't enough. You've got to be accepted or in this case cited by other authors to validate your research. But it completely overlooks the part which shows that meaningful research does not need third party affirmation.

What this article fails to understand or even imagine is that human behavior or anything that involves a human element is unpredictable. If they are looking for a definitive math problem such as 2 + 2 = 4, then that's what they will be stuck doing. Human mind works in mysterious ways, and social science attempt to interpret and understand these complex functions. People who believe a research study that does not produce empirical results often overlook the great effort that social scientist take in designing their research methods and conducting the study. Managing a completely unexplored variable is not for the light-hearted. 

But who will bell the cat? For us journalism researchers, it is just better to keep our focus and continue the good work. You cannot please everyone, all the time. But your work speaks for itself.