Research Philosophy
I believe that better policy can often help people make better choices and that better policy goes hand in hand with good research. To this end, researchers have an obligation to inform the public about matters that are in the public interest. These may be the study of new social phenomena, or the application of newer methods or a new perspective to an existing phenomenon. The quicker we study something the more beneficial it is to the public at large.
On the other hand, while research always sits at the boundary of uncertainty, policy must be based on more undisputable evidence. The role of the researcher in the society is to grapple with the uncertainties at the boundaries of knowledge so that the general public doesn’t have to. Resolving uncertainties takes time and care. The social sciences must tread extra-carefully.
To me, this tension defines the crux of the researcher’s role. While the real-world demands immediate answers, the journey from lab to the field is necessarily cautious. How does one prioritize what to study, when to study it and when to concretize our findings to impact public well-being?
Partnerships between government, academia and industry can help balance these competing demands of speed, prioritization and certainty.
My Research
I believe in using multi-method research to triangulate evidence for and uncover processes behind social phenomena. I have setup web-scrapers to unearth empirical evidence and, set up and used eye-tracking and biophyiscal measurements to facilitate process tracing in my studies.
Check out my research and work-in-progress pages for my current interests.
I believe statistics is a tool we should equip our future generations with to help them protect themselves from misinformation.
V S Vaidyanathan 