Article by Rene Almeling: “…“how” questions can evoke more wandering responses that often include crucial information about social processes, history, networks, decision-making, and uncertainty. How did I come to work as a sociology professor at Yale University? Well, when I was in college, someone mentioned that becoming a professor required a Ph.D., so after graduation I worked at a nonprofit for a few years while deciding whether to apply to graduate school. I emailed my undergrad adviser, who suggested a few Ph.D. programs. I crossed off those in places with harsh winters (unknowingly eliminating most of the top sociology programs). I was accepted to UCLA, which had smart and supportive faculty working on gender, my main area of interest. And in 2007, after six years of study, I landed a job at Yale, right before the Great Recession eviscerated the academic job market. Here I sit years later.
This is a typical response to a “how” question: years of history, references to influential people and key moments, reflections on emotions and thought processes.
Questions that begin with “how” and not “why” are powerful in part because they tend to reveal social processes occurring at multiple analytical levels. For example, my response above includes references to what social scientists call the “micro” level, the level of individuals and their thinking and behavior. There are also mentions of social processes happening at the “meso” level, a middle level between micro and macro that can include anything from small groups and local communities to organizations; I discuss interactions with teachers, friends, and coworkers, as well as specific universities. Finally, there is evidence of “macro” level processes shaping my trajectory. The macro usually refers to broader historical and structural processes and, in this case, includes the institution of higher education more generally, the labor market, and economic upheavals like the Great Recession…(More)”. See also: Inquiry as Infrastructure: Defining Good Questions in the Age of Data and AI.
