Substantive Dimensions of the Deliberations

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Kathryn Lavelle
Case Western Reserve University
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 17, 2016 9:11 pm

Congressional Fellowship Program

PostWed May 18, 2016 11:49 am

The complexity of the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program is another dimension to the discussion that merits consideration. Fellows are prohibited from gathering data while they are working on the Hill. Yet speaking as a former fellow, my understanding of the institution, whom to interview, how to interpret the results of the interview, and what additional information is necessary to gather, have all been shaped by this direct experience. There are many aspects of work that fellows do that must remain confidential. Just as archives place restrictions on material researchers can access or not access, many names and experiences already have to remain off the record. My sense is that overly restrictive data transparency requirements would further limit the kinds of publications that fellows can produce, which would be a disservice to the profession.

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