Research-Education - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Academic Ableism: Disability & Higher Education

By Scott J. Pearson | September 16, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Historically, higher education have encountered difficulties with the community of those with disabilities. Whether from eugenics that tries to cultivate superior offspring or from an ableism that makes the most of a person’s potential skills, universities have not always been the most hospitable to this group of people. Even today, after the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), K-12 American education has many helps for those with unique needs, but those needs are often…

Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars & Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books

By Scott J. Pearson | August 20, 2023August 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

In the social sciences and the humanities, publishing scholarly books is the name of the game for career advancement. Yes, teaching within an academic setting is crucial, but traction for tenure in these fields mainly comes through the pen. Most academics master how to please their advisors, peers, and mentors; few take the step of mastering the industry of publishing. William Germano’s book, laudably in its third edition from the University of Chicago Press, fills…

Religion-Philosophy Research-Education Science

On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research

By Scott J. Pearson | July 16, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Ethics in scientific research is an issue appearing periodically in the news… and often not in a good way. Perhaps some ethical lapse has led to a field’s struggles with millions of dollars worth of effort lost. Or perhaps someone falsified results and misled the public. Or governments might exploit research that was supposed to benefit humanity and redirected it to harming people. All these fall under the headline of “Responsible Conduct in Research,” more…

Family Psychology Research-Education

The Self-Driven Child: The Science & Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives

By Scott J. Pearson | July 8, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Like many, I had parents who tried to engineer their lives for “success,” but paid no attention to my passions, interests, and approach to life. Firsthand, I’ve seen that parenting style’s folly and futility and want to take a different angle with my daughter and with other children I have influence over. Enter The Self-Driven Child. This book helped concretize abstract beliefs into a coherent philosophy. It distills basic child psychology into a workable format…

Healthcare Research-Education

The CTSA Program at NIH: Opportunities for Advancing Clinical & Translational Research

By Scott J. Pearson | September 20, 2022September 20, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

The CTSA Program at NIH seeks to advance clinical and translational research – that is, quicken the flow of helpful information across the American healthcare system. This program began in 2006 and has been a big hit. By the time this report was compiled in 2013, a new landscape of translational research began to emerge. This report, from a committee of national figures in the research community, seeks to identify what a “CTSA 2.0” might…

Healthcare Research-Education

Personalizing Precision Medicine: A Global Voyage from Vision to Reality

By Scott J. Pearson | July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This book has sat in my to-read stack for some time. I finally picked it up, and I’m glad I did. I love reading stories about the progress of medical research, the field I work in (specifically translational research). This book focuses on how medicine is evolving, especially zeroing in on in its business aspects as well as its international impacts. Even after the pandemic, precision medicine stands poised to provide more effective treatments in…

Research-Education

Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook

By Scott J. Pearson | April 15, 2022August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Professionally, I work a lot with quantitative data, through mathematics/biostatistics, building software, and research design. The world of words has long been a domain that has enchanted me even though symbols have comprised my main language. Recently, my wife has started graduate work using qualitative methods. I decided to fill my deficits in this world by reading this book. I am by no means expert or even experienced in it, but I merely have an…

Research-Education Writing-Communication

Stylish Academic Writing

By Scott J. Pearson | January 14, 2022January 14, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Academic writing has a reputation for being a bit dry and only interested in the dissemination of abstract information. Concreteness, style, and vivacity often fall to the wayside. As Sword points out, much of this dryness is due to social structures, not deliberate mastery of the craft. This book teaches how to bring a sense of style to academic writing without compromising its informational purposes. By examining 1,000 academic papers in ten different fields, Sword…

Healthcare HIV/AIDS Research-Education

Scrambling for Africa: AIDS, Expertise, & the Rise of American Global Health Science

By Scott J. Pearson | January 1, 2022January 1, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

The prevalence of HIV and AIDS in Africa was a looming problem at the turn of the millennium, but heavy American investment in treatment for Africans under George W. Bush’s PEPFAR program addressed the acute symptoms. However, like much in life, smaller, no-less-significant problems exploded soon afterwards, particularly in the vein of post-colonialism. Was this a scientific partnership of equals or was it a contribution from a superior to an inferior? Does PEPFAR create a…