--- Helen Krummenacker avona@jps.net wrote: > > ObB7... oh, this is always the hard bit... we've
speculated about social science in the Federation,
but
what sort of social science would one get on
Auron--if
any?
Fiona
That must get complicated... the researcher, can of course, tell what the study participants are thinking... but as they may not have analyzed themselves, the researcher will still have all the layers of whys and wherefores to work through.
I'm not sure whether it would make for greater or lesser ethical and scientific rigour-- I could see the participants saying to the researcher: "OK, that's what I was thinking, but I didn't mean it like that :)." On the other hand, it could make for more mutuality in the study process-- since the participants would also be aware of what the researcher was thinking.
I have a totally unscientific gut feeling that social science on Auron would either be a) fantastically sophisticated, cos they'd developed it to a fine art or b) totally nonexistant, cos there'd be no need for it.
Fiona
The Posthumous Memoirs of Secretary Rontane Available for public perusal at http://nyder.r67.net
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