There’s a nice discussion at Bill Sledzik’s blog about research productivity in the academy. I partly agree and disagree with Bill’s assessment, which is about the value research institutions place on blogging about issues relevant to one’s profession. This is my response to Bill (which has been edited to correct grammar and improve readability).

It is important that regular blogging, with blogs like ToughSledding, be counted toward scholarly activity especially since much else in the journo professions is of far lesser quality coming from various institutions.

On the other side, I think poking fun at research and peer review devalues Bill’s point. The problem isn’t so much that the traditional model, as he puts it, is flawed, it’s that researchers do a poor job of communicating their research results and relevance. Journalism research in particular is in dire need of reaching the masses more than it has. It’s doubtful most journos even known what peer review is or why it is relevant, especially when nonsensical advocacy makes the news far more readily than peer-reviewed science.

Research is an incredibly valuable tool to get at the heart of matters our brains aren’t always best equipped to figure on our own. My take on the 2008 Twitter Vote Report used a t-test to look at Nevada’s TVR output to find that, despite claims of the project, the TVR was, at least in Nevada, meaningless. Sure it wasn’t peer reviewed (had I been on a tenure track, I would have turned it into a full-on study, as social media presents a wealth of readily available data), but using statistical tools can help aid the points we may otherwise make, or perhaps may change our views of things if we are ready to be honest about what our data reveal.

While I think Bill made an excellent case for his blog in the PR/social media world, I’m not sure I can disagree that those who blog and conduct solid research are weakened by joining these endeavors.

It’s perhaps imperative that researchers develop a mindset of communicating the relevance of their work; conversely, bloggers can benefit from research mindsets in order to offer the world higher quality content.
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