Hopefully Anonymous

Apparently there may be a masters degree in "qualitative research methods", but I can't find a specific university that advertises offering it.

I have found a bunch of graduate courses though, mostly through sociology and business departments. At least one pertaining to geography. Though I didn't notice the links, I'm sure it's out there for psychology and anthropology, too. There's some books about using it in Chemsitry research.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22qualitative+research+methods%22+masters&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Republican technocrat Mankiw smacks down Dick Armey.

Huge reputational kudos to Mankiw:

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/11/dick-armey-on-harvard-economics.html

Certain Doubts Epistemology Blog

Although I'm sure they're just using the same template, regular TGGP readers will feel like he's been ripped off looking at this blog. I read a few of the most recent posts, they seem well-networked in the world of academic epistemology (the blog is full of conference announcements).

Still, one gets the sense the some of the post authors might be on the Igon Value side of quantitative literacy. Overall, it reads like a less muscular, less broadly literate version of the discussions going on at sites like less wrong and overcoming bias.

I ran into it simply by doing a google search for "epistemology blogs" and clicking on the first link.

http://el-prod.baylor.edu/certain_doubts/

"masters in qualitative analysis" gets zero google search results. "masters in quantitative analysis" gets 69,000 google search results. I'm posting this not to diss qualitative analysis -- all scientists engage in it, even if nontransparently. I'd like to see rigor and formalism added to it. I know there are a few books on it. I was surprised to see zero academic, degree, credentialing progams in it on the internets.

I think the closes I think to a credentialing to engage in intelligent, self-aware qualitative analysis would be a masters in experimental psychology, but I don't know what the standard coursework for that is, which could cause me to revise my opinion on this. I'd probably also combine it with some existing coursework and reading materials on qualitative analysis.

majoring in math at penn:

an interesting and useful page. The language prerequisites seem uberpractical for the field (Russian is an option).

http://www.math.upenn.edu/ugrad/major.html

Belief in hell plus moderate church attendance maximizes economic growth?

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/the-devils-workshop.html

ashkenazi technocracy well-represented on J Street Advisory Council?

http://www.jstreet.org/supporters/advisory_council

Signaling paternal affinity: When being a cuckold is a good reproductive strategy:

http://www.physorg.com/news174315572.html

I think the rise of cuckold fetishism is probably a combination of increased female power and a disposition for eroticizing historically new concepts (historically new by the standards of the current public's memory).

celebrity ranker using google metrics:

I have no idea how this works, but it's the type of thing I'm surprised there's not a lot more of. Somebody on the overcomingbias website comments recommended using the web to track public expert predictions. It was an idea I recall Prof. Hanson pooh-poohing, but it seems solid to me.

http://www.gpeters.com/celeb/celebrity-ranker.php

climate scientists exposed by hackers: this seems ripped from the imagination of Cory Doctorow:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125883405294859215.html?mod=googlenews_wsj