The Ivory Tower of Babel: Why the Social Sciences Are Failing to Live Up to Their Promises - Softcover

Demers, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0875868797 ISBN 13: 9780875868790

Publisher: Algora Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

In The Ivory Tower of Babel: Why the Social Sciences Are Failing to Live Up to Their Promises, David Demers explores the persistent challenges and shortcomings faced by the social sciences in influencing public policy and social change. Drawing on decades of experience as a media sociologist and scholar, Demers reviews the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the discipline, tracing the ongoing debate between positivist and humanist approaches. With a keen eye, he reveals how positivism, once under fierce attack for its limitations, has evolved into a more nuanced "neoteric positivism" that embraces probabilistic generalizations and a reconciliation with humanistic values.

This book does not shy away from the thorny issues that have hindered social science research from achieving the impact it promises. From the entrenched academic cultures that prioritize publication and tenure over real-world relevance, to the challenges of communicating complex findings to broader audiences, Demers provides a balanced critique that is both rigorous and accessible. He also examines the political economy of knowledge production, showing how ideology, power, and institutional interests shape what research gets funded, published, and ultimately used in policymaking.

Beyond diagnosis, The Ivory Tower of Babel offers constructive recommendations to bridge the gap between social science and society. Demers advocates for applied research, interdisciplinary collaboration, better engagement with media and policymakers, and clearer, jargon-free communication. His insights are enriched by case studies from criminology, media violence research, and policy studies, making this work a valuable resource for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the complex relationship between knowledge and social progress.

About this title

About the Author

Journalist-turned-professor David Demers is author of more than ten academic books. The Society of Collegiate Journalists honored him in March 2010 with a national award for defending free speech rights at "great personal and professional cost." He is an ardent advocate for the First Amendment, having initiated or helping to initiate six lawsuits in an attempt to force government agencies and universities to comply with open records and free speech laws.

Demers is associate professor of communication at Washington State University, where he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in media theory, media and society, news reporting, media history, media law and editing since 1996. A mass media sociologist, he is author or editor of more than 125 journal and professional articles and 10 academic books. His research papers about corporate media structure have won five national awards.

In the 1970s, Demers worked as newspaper reporter in Michigan, where he won two statewide first-place awards for investigative reporting. During the 1980s, he earned a master s degree in journalism through the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Reporting and a master s in sociology and criminology from The Ohio State University. He earned his Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Minnesota in 1992.

Demers is founding editor of Mass Communication & Society, a scholarly journal published by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He also founded the nonprofit Center for Global Media Studies, which sponsored two international conferences over its six-year history and published two books, and he founded six open-access journals, which are available at Marquette Journals.

Edition details

• Publisher: Algora Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0875868797
• ISBN 13: 9780875868790
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 302