in lieu of doing the mounds of grading that lie at my feet, i have been
following this exchange over the "buying time" study. as one who has done
more than his share of expert witnessing, i would say that "soft" research
based on subjective judgments (students or otherwise, prompted or not) is
an invitation to trouble.  it is a problem in the normal course of
research but when introduced into the heated adversarial context of an
important lawsuit, it is never going to stand up to close scrutiny.  even
when the data is "harder" such as voting statistics in voting rights
cases, disputes can arise over the choice of methods, the interpretation
of coefficients, etc., but trying to base a policy on mushy data is a very
bad idea.  rick, no matter how much care you put into it, mushy data will
always be mushy data.  plus the whole analysis misses the subtlety of tv
ads that often work at multiple levels of conscious thinking and
unconscious association. as a general rule, i would recommend that fellow
political scientists avoid such data when they go to court.

secondly, this controversy was a train wreck waiting to happen.  without
naming names and funding organizations, certain groups got into the
business of funding research that would help make policy they wanted and
would not fund those of us who could not be trusted to give them the
results that they needed.  we need to urge foundations and other funding
agencies to support genuine research and not pre-determined results.         

bruce cain


On Sun, 25 May 2003, Rick Hasen wrote:

"Just" a lawyer?  Now you'll get yourself into some controversy!
Actually, I have a Ph.D. in political science as well as a J.D.

It turns out that my link to the Clymer article on G.O.P. dominance was
incorrect. The correct link is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/25/politics/25REPU.html

Rick

Holman@aol.com wrote:

      Rick:

      I did not know that you are a political scientist.
      I thought that you were just a lawyer.

      Thanks for weighing in.


      Craig Holman, Ph.D.
      Public Citizen
      215 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
      Washington, D.C. 20003
      TEL: 202-454-5182
      FAX: 202-546-2658
      Holman@aol.com


-- 
Rick Hasen
Professor of Law and William M. Rains Fellow
Loyola Law School
919 South Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
(213)736-1466
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlaw.blogspot.com