There is so much the world needs to know about COVID-19 right now. The more and the sooner we learn about it, the better. If any of you out there reading this blog are considering working on a cure for the disease or a vaccine or something that may help all of us deal with the economic ramifications of social distancing (and you are capable of doing this research because you're healthy and your children are taken care of, etc.), then my answer is YES! We need you!
But what about those of us who are not exactly in that position? This open letter for social scientists written by Damon Philips provides excellent guidance.
My favorite parts:
We are immersed in a century-defining moment....today, the world is not what it seems, but we still have a need to understand it, and through it to understand ourselves. You wouldn’t be a PhD student if you didn’t already feel this at some level. My point: I believe we are on the precipice of transformational research.
How is that for some inspiration!
But he also writes that we do not need to pursue new topics "in this immediate moment". Instead, he suggests that we "keep thinking about what's going on, constantly interrogating with the conceptual, methodological, and empirical tools we currently have". It is hard to come up with good ideas in general. It is probably especially hard when we're dealing with crushing anxiety from the pandemic. But, if we keep our minds open, this experience may generate quite an amazing post-dissertation topic, or post-tenure topic, or even a topic that a future PhD student will develop.
I do hope that what we learn from this experience will allow to make the world a better place. Eventually.
If you are able to work on this, see here: https://www.poverty-action.org/blog/demand-side-covid-19-research-what-governments-need-researchers-effective-crisis-response
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