‘Voice’ and the facts and observations of experience

Morgan, Mary S. ORCID: 0000-0003-3471-2180 (2008) ‘Voice’ and the facts and observations of experience. Working papers on the nature of evidence: how well do 'facts' travel? (31/08). Department of Economic History, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

The facts of social sciences are ones that stem from scientific expertise, but in the social world, everyone is their own expert. Everyone lives in society, and experiences either first-hand, or closely second-hand, the same phenomena that social scientists investigate. Consequently, people are not only the subjects of scientific investigation, but are themselves amateur reflexive scientists: observing and making sense of their own experiences in social and economic affairs, And, in a democratic community, such personal experience claims a legitimate place in knowledge discussions. These two qualities mean that the observations from personal experience can not be so lightly dismissed by the social scientist, in the same way as the traditional observations of folk-lore can be trumped by the facts of scientific knowledge in the natural sciences. Yet, these facts of personal experience may not travel easily, for the possibilities of voicing that experience depend in part on the nature of the social science involved and in part on the civic epistemology of the environment within which they can be expressed. The considerations which underlie the successful articulation of experienced knowledge suggest that “voice” differs from both “engagement” and “understanding” as a way to characterize public participation in social science – as opposed to natural science – knowledge discussions.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/
Additional Information:	© 2008 The Author
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History
Date Deposited:	04 Feb 2009 15:14
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 18:52
Projects:	Large-Scale Technological Change
Funders:	http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/, Economic and Social Research Council
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/22503

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