EITM Summer Training Institute (Political Science Program)

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

Science requires empirical tests of theory. Whle most agree with the basic need to link theories to evidence many plausible theoreis go untested, and much empirical work is based on over-simplified theory, when based on theory at all. Significant gaps exist between theoretical and empirical methods, and these gaps impair the accumulation of scientific knowledge. The Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models (EITM) Summer Institute has been designed to ameliorate this problem. The institute increases the intellectual development of young scholars by offering opportunities to learn in conjunction with more senior scholars who are leaders in advancing integrated theory and empirical work. In addition to training 25 students a year, the institute also trains six junior faculty. These members of the Junior-Faculty-in-Residence Program are trained in developing and supervised in implementing graduate courses in EITM based materials and serve as month-long mentors to the student participants, helping develop the students' research projects. The value of EITM-based training extends beyond scholarly development. Political, policy, and social decisions depend just as much , perhaps even more, on sound reasoning and empirical inferences. A new generation of social scientists well trained in considering not just the academic merit but the social value of logically conistent, emperically grounded conclusions, acting , that is, on what Donald Stokes called "Pascal's Quadrant," can do no less than improve implementation of socially desirable outcomes.