19 Conducting Inquiry

CHAPTER NINETEEN CONDUCTING INQUIRY Inquiry is seeking answers to questions, investigating, gathering evidence to help us draw conclusions. It enables us to get beyond our first impressions, feelings, preconceived notions, and personal preferences. There are two basic kinds of inquiry – inquiry into facts and inquiry into opinions. Opinions, remember, can be informed or uninformed. Except in cases where the purpose of our inquiry demands that both varieties of opinion be gathered, we should be more interested in informed opinion. Often we will need to inquire into both facts and opinions. How much inquiry into each is needed will, of course, vary from situation to situation. If the specific issue were "Which U.S. income group is most inequitably treated by the present federal tax laws?" we would have to examine the tax laws to determine what they specify (fact) and consult the tax experts for their interpretations of the more complicated aspects of the laws (informed opinion). But to determine the degree of inequity we would have to know the amount of income necessary to provide living essentials (food, shelter, and clothing). So we would also have to examine cost of living statistics (fact) and consult economists about more subtle factors affecting the various income groups (informed opinion). · SOME INQUIRY RESULTS INCONCLUSIVE Because the state of human knowledge is imperfect, not every question is answerable when it is asked. Some issues remain unsolved for years, even centuries. Before we traveled into outer space, no one knew exactly what the effects of weightlessness on the human body would be. Many respected doctors argued that the rapid acceleration at blast-off would increase an astronaut's heartbeat to a fatal level. (There was strong medical evidence to support this view.) Others believed that weightlessness would cause vital organs to malfunction and atrophy. Both dire predictions proved mistaken, but any inquiry into the issue undertaken before the first successful launch would necessarily have been incomplete. Which mountain in the Sinai desert did Moses really climb? The Bible gives it a name (actually two names), but scholars differ on where it is located. Strong claims are advanced for three different mountains in three countries. No conclusive answer has been reached despite over 3,000 years of inquiry. Some questions are even more resistant to inquiry – for example, the question "Are there intelligent life forms in our solar system or other systems?" Our sun is one of billion of stars. The farthest ones we have discovered are believed to be nine billion light years away. (In miles, that's 54 followed by 21 zeroes.) It's conceivable that any inquiry into this question made in the next million years will be inconclusive. Perhaps the answer will never be known. However resistant to solution a question may be, though, inquiry is still useful. Even if it yields no more than the untestable opinions of experts, those opinions are more valuable than the casual speculations of the uninformed. So we shouldn't be intimidated by difficult issues. We should merely be realistic about how complete and final our answers are likely to be. · WHERE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION Whenever possible, we should consult our own experience and observation. Even if what has happened to us or we have seen happen to others pertains only indirectly to the issue or touches just one aspect of it, it should not be overlooked. Our observation of how people use stereotypes or face-saving maneuvers in everyday situations may help us evaluate a political candidate's speech or a party's platform. Our experience with conformity in ourselves and our friends can provide us with an insight into the effects of TV programming on the public. Being alert to the relevance of our experience to the issue we are investigating not only can give us valuable ideas; it can also suggest important questions. Thus it can provide our inquiry with better direction. Of course, our own experience and observation will seldom be adequate by itself, especially on complex and controversial matters. We will need to consult other sources. What follows is a brief guide to what to look for and where to find it. Background on the Issue. Think of several general headings under which the issue might be classified. For example, if the issue concerned criminal investigation, the headings might be "crime," "criminology," "police," and one or more specific kinds of crime, such as "burglary." Then look up those headings in the index volume of a good general encyclopedia, such as Encyclopedia Americana or Encyclopedia Britannica. (Americana has a separate index volume. Britannica is divided into two sets of books: the macropaedia set, which contains detailed articles on a limited number of subjects, and the micropaedia set, which contains brief articles and cross-references on a large number of subjects.) The articles you will find there are written by authorities in the various fields. At the end of each article is a list of books and other articles you can consult for a fuller or more specialized treatment of the issue. In addition to the general encyclopedias, there are numerous special ones: encyclopedias of art, business, history, literature, philosophy, music, science, education, social science, and many more. Most of these contain not only discussions of the history of the field but also titles of other books and articles you may find helpful. (Remember that background reading, though a helpful start toward analyzing an issue, is never an acceptable substitute for analysis. You instructor will expect more from you than background information.) Facts and statistics. Almanacs are treasuries of information, published yearly, on a myriad of subjects. There are a number of good ones. World Almanac is available from 1868. Information Please Almanac, The New York Times Encyclopedic Almanac, and Reader's Digest Almanac are more recent publications. Because any almanac is arranged very compactly for efficient use, it is important to study the index before using it. Information about people. A number of biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias are available. Two of the most helpful ones are Current Biography: Who's News and Why and Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals. The most basic index to articles is the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. It lists articles form over one hundred magazines by subject and by author. As with an encyclopedia, you should begin by thinking of the various headings under which the issue might be classified. Then select the volumes for the appropriate years (more current years are listed in unbound pamphlet form), and look up those headings. The entries will list the title and author of the article and the name and issue of the magazine it appeared in. Two other important indexes are the Social Science Index and the Humanities Index. (Before 1965 these indexes appeared together under the title International Index.) they are similar to Reader's Guide but cover scholarly and professional magazines and journals. Other helpful indexes include the New York Times Index, which covers events reported in that newspaper; the Essay and General Literature Index; the General Science Index; the Education Index; and United States Government Publications: Monthly Catalog. After you locate the article and read it, be sure to check the reader response in the letters-to-the-editor section of subsequent issues. Most newspapers and magazines have a "letters" section, and it will often provide reaction by informed readers supporting or challenging the ideas in the article. In weekly magazines, responses usually appear two issues after the article; in fortnightlies and monthlies, one issue later. Books. In addition to the list of books provided in encyclopedias and those you find mentioned in the articles you read, you can consult your library's card or computer catalog, the key to the books available on its shelves. (One valuable source of information is college textbooks in fields related to the issue you are investigating.) Occasionally, if your library is small or if the issue you are investigating is obscure, the library holdings may be limited. In such cases, as in any situation where you are having difficulty finding information or using the reference books, ask your librarian for help. (Remember that librarians are professionals trained to solve the kinds of research problems you may experience.) All of this may suggest long, monotonous, time-and-energy-consuming research like that required for a doctoral dissertation. But that is a misconception. With a little practice, it is possible to use all the references mentioned, quickly and efficiently. Even books needn't be waded through page by page to find something useful. In a few seconds you can turn to the index (usually at the end) and look for the several headings your issue might be found under, then turn to the appropriate pages and read just those pages. If the book has no index, you can turn to the table of contents, read the chapter tittles and decide which chapters seem most relevant, and then scan them. · HOW MUCH INQUIRY IS ENOUGH? It would seem easy enough to decide when the inquiry is complete. More often than not, it is not easy at all. One insight can make a great difference. A single fact can upset a mountain of evidence. For example, in the late 1960s and early 1970s most social psychologists would probably have agreed that crowded living conditions are harmful to human beings. Numerous experiments seemed to have settle the matter. Then anthropologist Patricia Draper studied a southwest African treble of hunter-gatherers, the !Kung bushmen. Though their land offers mple space to spread out their settlements and huts, they crowd their dwelling together and often sit in tight groups, literally brushing against one another. Yet they have none of the medical conditions (such as high blood pressure) usually associated with crowding. This one fact has caused reexamination of a scientific truism. How much inquiry is enough? There is no easy answer. It depends entirely on the issue. In some cases, a brief inquiry is enough? There is no easy answer. It depends entirely on the issue. In some cases, a brief inquiry will be more than adequate. In others, an exhaustive inquiry will be incomplete. However, though no absolute statement may be made about the amount of inquiry required, you can be reasonably sure your inquiries are complete when you have made a thorough and careful effort to learn the relevant facts and to consult informed opinion in all fields of study that have a direct bearing on the specific issue you are analyzing. The number of fields to be researched will, of course, vary with the nature of the issue. Here, for example, is a list of the fields that have a direct bearing on three specific issues we identified in the previous chapter. Specific Issue Fields with Direct Bearing At what point, if any during a pregnancy does the fetus become a human being? Biology Law Ethics Metaphysic Psychology Exactly what effect does a punch have on the human body, particularly the brain? What is the cumulative effect of the punches received during ten or fifteen rounds of boxing? During a career? Anatomy and Physiology Medicine Psychology Is it reasonable or fair to hold people responsible for their actions before they are old enough to understand their moral and legal quality? At what age does a person reach such understanding? Education Psychology Medicine Ethics Law A special problem frequently arises with an inquiry into opinion. When we have found one or two respected thinkers who agree with what we believe or want to believe, we are inclined to feel satisfied. "Case closed," we're tempted to say; "this is the answer." Precisely at that moment we need to be especially cautious. If the issue is controversial, we should remind ourselves that a controversial issue, by definition, is one on which informed, careful thinkers may disagree, on which there is something reasonable to say for both sides. It's worth remembering, too, that no evidence is perfect, and even the best is seldom beyond questioning. Appearances can deceive, some facts can remain undiscovered, and otherwise enlightened opinions can be limited in perspective. · APPLICATIONS Chose one of the specific issues you clarified in application 1 or 2 of Chapter 18. conduct your inquiry into this issue in the manner explained in this chapter. Take careful notes. (The applications in the next chapter will build on this one.) Choose one of the specific issues presented in Chapter 18 in the discussion of abortion, boxing, or juvenile crime. Conduct your inquiry into this issue in the manner explained in this chapter. Take careful notes. (The applications in the next chapter will build on this one.) � Lee Edson, "Will Man Ever Live in Space?" New York Times Magazine, December 31, 1972, pp.10ff. � Gordon Gaskill, "Which Mountain Did Moses Really Climb?" Reader's Digest, June 1973, pp.209-16 � James R. Miller, "The Speeded-up Search for Life in Space," Reader's Digest, May 1973, pp.255-64. � Lucy Burchard, "The Snug Way," Intellectual Digest, February 1974, p.67. P3-C19-3