Better science through listening to lay people

We all have them: intellectual blind spots. For scientists, one way to become aware of them is to listen to people outside the academic bubble. I discuss examples from social media and serendipitous fieldwork. Social media helps academics to connect to diverse audiences. On my research blog ideophone.org, I have used the interaction with readers to refine research questions, tighten definitions, and explore new directions, but also to connect science and art. In linguistic and ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana, I have let serendipity shape my research. Unexpected questions and bold initiatives from locals led me in directions I would never have anticipated on the basis of expert knowledge. Ultimately the involvement of lay people led to methodological innovations, changes of perspective, and most importantly, a host of new questions.

Presented at EC2013 in a session convened by Alex Verkade & Jen Wong on 'Playing dumb: Escaping the shackles of smartness'.

Supporting material at http://ideophone.org/better-science/

Transcript

1. Better science through listening to lay people Mark Dingemanse Max Planck Institute, Nijmegen ecsite Annual Conference Göteborg, June 6-8, 2013
2. What is the goal of science?
3. ‘Finding answers’ What is the goal of science?
4. Asking the right questions What is the goal of science?
5. scholarly libraries scholarly journals scholarly conferences scholarly peers
6. scholarly questions scholarly libraries scholarly journals scholarly conferences scholarly peers
7. scholarly questions
10. Escaping the bubble
11. Tale 1
12. October 2007: PhD student starts research blog. January 2008: Boss calls meeting with PhD.
13. “Don’t be stupid and give away your ideas.”
14. ideas beget ideas
17. * synaesthesia: a blending of the senses, e.g. letters > colours
18. Synaesthesia had been on our mind — how is it expressed in societies without writing? The comment connected linguistics to neuroscience and creativity — and helped us reach a tipping point. The next year, we pioneered a cross-cultural research program into synaesthesia.
19. February 2009: Science publishes a letter. It started out as a blog posting. Later that year Journalist ‘reads blog every week’. Radio & TV appearances follow.
20. February 2009: Science publishes a letter. It started out as a blog posting. Later that year Journalist ‘reads blog every week’. Radio & TV appearances follow.
21. What started as a simple blog turned into a free exchange of ideas helped to connect to diverse audiences and snowballed into science communication
22. What started as a simple blog turned into a free exchange of ideas helped to connect to diverse audiences and snowballed into science communication
23. What started as a simple blog turned into a free exchange of ideas helped to connect to diverse audiences and snowballed into science communication
24. What started as a simple blog turned into a free exchange of ideas helped to connect to diverse audiences and snowballed into science communication
25. Soon after Boss calls meeting with PhD. ‘Blogging not so bad after all.’
26. Tale 2
27. I do on-site fieldwork in Ghana, West-Africa
28. I do on-site fieldwork in Ghana, West-Africa Documenting the language and culture of the Mawu people. Studying ideophones—words that sound like what they mean.
29. kɛlɛnkɛlɛn the cloth shines ‘glittery’
30. sinisinisinisini the basket is put together ‘closely woven’
31. How to study these complex, elusive words? Scholarly wisdom ideophones only found ‘in informal, funny stories’ Scholarly methods taking field notes recording stories
32. Quite unrelatedly: A practical request
33. “You should help us record our mourning songs” Timothy ‘T.T.’ Akuamoah
35. The mourning songs turned out to be chock-full of ideophones. A simple, practical request led to a crucial research finding
36. What started as scholarly fieldwork was quickly repurposed by my Mawu friends turned into a mutually beneficial relationship and led to serendipitous research findings
37. What started as scholarly fieldwork was quickly repurposed by my Mawu friends turned into a mutually beneficial relationship and led to serendipitous research findings
38. What started as scholarly fieldwork was quickly repurposed by my Mawu friends turned into a mutually beneficial relationship and led to serendipitous research findings
39. What started as scholarly fieldwork was quickly repurposed by my Mawu friends turned into a mutually beneficial relationship and led to serendipitous research findings
40. Concluding
41. Questions are the fuel of science We’re privileged when people ask questions.
42. Questions are the fuel of science We’re privileged when people ask questions. We’re privileged when people ask questions not because we can then go into ‘explanation mode’ but because they prompt us to think anew
43. Science gets better when we listen to lay people and look at things with new eyes
44. Thank you. Mark Dingemanse • ideophone.org • Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science