OPE-L message, (OPE-L) AHE Workshop on Advanced Research Methods

The Association for Heterodox Economics is putting on its 3rd ESRC-funded AHE Postgraduate Training Workshop on ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS. For those who are not aware, the UK Economics and Social Research Council is the government agency that funds social science research. Thus it has the same status as, for example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States. For the AHE to get such funding for 3 years running is unheard of--for no organization, mainstream or not, generally get such continuous funding. And for the AHE as a heterodox economics organization to get such funding is simply unheard of whether it be in the UK, USA, or anyplace else. What makes this Postgraduate Training Workshop so special is that it introduces postgraduate students (students going for Masters or Doctoral degrees) to research methodology and methods that are different from econometrics. Imagine, postgraduate students in economics getting introduced to qualitative research methods, open systems methodology, grounded theory--will the blasphemy never stop!! Hell, even the postgraduate students at UMKC do not get introduced to such stuff and we have a heterodox graduate program. And the blasphemy does not stop there. The Workshop also introduces a critical evaluation of traditional econometric methods and introduces postgraduate students to avant-garde (at least for postgraduate students) multilevel modelling which includes econometrics. So coming out of the Workshop the postgraduate will have a deeper critical understanding and appreciation of econometrics, an excellent introduction qualitative research methods, and view of non-deductive open systems approach to theory creation that involves both quantitative and qualitative research methods. I do not think that another such a Workshop for postgraduate students exists any place in the world--not in the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, India, France, Germany--not any place. So get your postgraduate students signed up for the Workshop--no excuses accepted!!

While the ESRC funds cover the attendance of UK postgraduate students--including travel, lodging and food, the Workshop is also open to postgraduate students from Ireland, Europe, USA, and the rest of the world. However in these cases, there will be some additional fees. Since this kind of Workshop exists no place else in the world, it is important that non-UK professors encourage their postgraduate students to attend the Workshop and maybe even get them some funding and perhaps even give coursework credit for the Workshop.

In addition, UK lecturers who supervise postgraduate students are encouraged to attend and I think there might be some ESRC funding for you as well. And for all those other lecturers and professors in the UK and the rest of the World, you can also attend the Workshop. In fact it would be a great thing if you attended--in fact I encourage you to attend and will buy you a pint at the local real ale pub for your efforts.

If you are interested in attending the Workshop, contact Professor Paul Downward--his e-mail is given below.

Also you should take a look at the AHE website: http://www.hetecon.com. It has lots of material from the previous Workshops as well as various readings. Readings that would be (I think) appropriate for the Workshop are the following:

T. Lawson, Reorienting Economics, Routledge, 2003

T. Lawson, Economics and Reality, Routledge, 1997

N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds), Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry

Cambridge Journal of Economics, November 2002 issue--all the papers

K. Locke, Grounded Theory in Management Research

W. K. Olsen, "Social Statistics and the Indian Labour Market," Journal of Critical Realism, 2001, 4.1 (May)

A flyer is attached so you can print it out and post it all over your department and send this e-mail to your heterodox colleagues and students.

Yours for the AHE WORKSHOP ON ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS,

Fred Lee