User talk:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 9/Power

Problems with power in Chemistry
You have two chapters called the same thing - I am not sure if this is meant to be? Tsarina Catarina (discuss • contribs) 09:27, 9 November 2020 (UTC)


 * One is called 'Problems and Power of Racial Diversity' and one is 'Problems and Power of Gender Diversity,' so they are different! But that makes me wonder if the subheadings are too long - I'll see if I can shorten them to limit confusion. Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 11:47, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Iranian Theocratic Power
This was an interesting read, and something I've never read about before! I just corrected the order of punctuation and references, I hope you don't mind. Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 04:57, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Power in Psychology
I would be glad of any inputs to my small paragraph on Power in Psychology - I need to alter it really to take out references to Trump, ideally, but he gives such a great example in one of all these ideas of the great philosophers and psychologists and many more that I started from there.


 * I think using Trump as a case study is fine if it helps illustrate your point; from what I've read, I think it really helps to explain the links between power and knowledge. You could always try writing a more general introduction to the idea of power in epistemology, and then include Trump in a smaller sub section to highlight where we can see this issue playing out in the world today. That way it might seem less like a whole section on Trump, but rather a section with Trump as a good point of reference. I'll have another think and let you know if there's anything else I come up with that might help! Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 06:44, 6 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Thank you! But I decided to change it, and not write about him directly, more indirectly. I could revert if you think that contribution is better than this one?


 * You've managed to write the section brilliantly without referring Trump! The whole section flows really well and your thoughts are really well organised. I'd definitely keep it this way. Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 16:06, 6 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Thank you!

Power in Social Media
I really enjoyed reading this section, and it felt very relevant to modern society, especially with the links to the recent COVID lockdown. I just wanted to make a few suggestions that I thought might help to improve the section slightly. In the first paragraph, you mention that social media usage as a way to get news is increasing - I think it would be good to reference this point and find some data to back it up. I had a look for some data, and I found a 2020 Ofcom report, but this report found that the figures had dipped slightly this year, from 49% to 45% of people using social media as a news source. Some data like this might be good to make source everything is cited when it needs to be! Here's the report: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/201316/news-consumption-2020-report.pdf

It might also help if you linked each of your subsections back to the idea of power, and added a few sentences in to show how all the issues you've raised are an expression of power in social media. You did this with social media and company perceptions, but the other two sections might benefit from being linked back to the idea of power, just to make sure that the section stays relevant and directly in line with the issue of power being discussed.

Just a few suggestions, but let me know if you don't like the sound of anything or if you don't agree! Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 09:04, 7 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Hello. Thank you for your feedback, you're right I should quote the references more precisely in the first paragraph entitled "background". I changed my sentence and said: "many people are relying on social media as a source of news." As a reference, I used a study showing the number of users of social networks in the United States. Otherwise, I also changed the title of my 3rd part to : "The power of social media during lockdown". I will also add a picture of this graph: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/ --A.ren01 (discuss • contribs) 11:26, 8 November 2020 (UTC)


 * I also think a graph of the Swedish data would back up your argument, simply because you referred to it. I like this discussion and will add to it. Have you seen The Social Dilemma on Netflix? If not, you should - it deals with this issue head on and has some interesting data in it. (Like none of the owners of these big social media companies let their children use electronic devices and send them to schools that don't use them - is there something that we don't know?!)Tsarina Catarina (discuss • contribs) 18:28, 7 November 2020 (UTC)


 * ::: Thank you! I already have a graph that I'm going to put in my text but I'll definitely put the link of a graph of the Swedish data. I haven't seen The Social Dilemma on Netflix, so I'll watch it. Thanks for your feedback. --A.ren01 (discuss • contribs) 11:37, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

I added in a little paragraph about regulation and the use of data.I hope you don't mindTsarina Catarina (discuss • contribs) 09:25, 9 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Not at all, thank you. Not at all, thank you. Do you mind putting your reference, though? --A.ren01 (discuss • contribs) 20:32, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Power in Chemistry Discussion
Hi, I wondered whether you should qualify the country you are looking at for your referencing. I think you are looking at the UK, but diversity in other countries might be achieving different levels? It might also be worth referencing examples where diversity inclusion is changing and where it has been a positive success - where people / companies are trying to get ethnic minorities/women into positions of power, and achieving it?

A lot of professions lose women as they get older. Through research this has been because of having children. In the big accountancy firms, the intake of male/female graduates is 50/50 split but by the age of 30, many women have left. Most women never reach partner because they leave to have a family and the demands of a family outweigh the benefits of the job. (However, many female board members have told me - always keep your foot in the door). This is changing and there are more programmes to help women keep working whilst balancing home/work but it is a very difficult tightrope. It might be worth referencing any data you can find on this?


 * Thank you so much for your feedback. You're right, I was mostly referring to the UK, with one study looking at minority groups and the marginalisation they experienced in an American university - I will go back and make this clearer. That's also a great point about looking at where diversity and power dynamics are being brought back into balance. I hadn't even considered the idea of professions losing women due to pregnancy and childcare, so thank you for bringing this up, it's really interesting to see how multi-faceted the issue of power seems to be. It feels like every time I find one power imbalance in Chemistry, it opens up a hundred more! I'll have a look around online for some more information and add anything if it feels like a useful addition. Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 16:14, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

Power in Schooling
I added a section on non-decision making in schools as I thought it was highly relevant. Whoever is the creator of this section, please let me know what you think! --5050clown (discuss • contribs) 16:23, 6 November 2020 (UTC)


 * It works really well with the rest of the section, thank you! I think it helps expand how decision-making (as it is discussed to be unequal in my earlier contribution) can have negative impacts, which only reinforce power-parities. Hithertoundreamt (discuss • contribs) 21:54, 6 November 2020 (UTC)


 * On your paragraph of non-decision making - is your data relevant to primary schools or secondary schools and in which country? I think you need to back this up, and define which demographic/geographic you are looking at. From personal experience, which is therefore data driven but anecdotal, there are many more female primary school teachers than male. This is partly because the cost of living is higher in some areas and so traditionally, the husband has had "the big job" and can afford to live in more expensive areas and for women to go back to work whilst bringing up a young family means teaching is a good fit and the quality of female teaching is pretty high in these areas. You don't get great male primary teachers living in their catchment area, if any. Tsarina Catarina (discuss • contribs) 10:36, 9 November 2020 (UTC)


 * I had tried to specify that the male-dominance in schooling is more at the higher end of the system. I.e. in the government. I should find some source to back up this claim though. --5050clown (discuss • contribs) 16:23, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Power in Psychology - Part II
This section was fascinating to read and I think it explores some really interesting ideas about how power plays out in Psychology! There were a few issues I noticed, mostly to do with tone and referencing, which I think could be easily fixed and make the section even stronger.

I have already edited a few components such as the use of contractions and a conversational/informal and first-person tone (use of "I" and "you"), which I was able to edit to make the section seem more neutral and objective. I was unable to find a way to rephrase this sentence seen under the "Power within" subsection:

>   "Applied during lockdown, we can change the balance of power: we have seen increases in mental health issues, because the focus has been on how bad things are as opposed to how lucky we are – we are not sick, we have our health, we are studying in one of the finest institutions in the world, we have each other, we can go outside etc., there isn’t an enemy!"

This idea comes across as highly conversational and subjective, and I would suggest either rephrasing or omission of this sentence.

Besides this, while some in-text referencing has been used, there are several points where no citation is provided, particularly to support quotations. This can be easily solved by adding references to the end of every quotation or discussion of other's ideas (including when you name Levi-Starusse, Kahnemann, Freud, Heidt for the second time, Beck, and Marcuse)

Hope this helps and I would be happy to clarify any pints made if they are unclear! All the best Hithertoundreamt (discuss • contribs) 22:30, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you! If you want to change anything that I write grammatically, please do - it's very kind.Tsarina Catarina (discuss • contribs) 08:13, 7 November 2020 (UTC)


 * I have made those changes to that paragraph - see if it reads better? @Hithertoundreamt


 * Looks great! The only part I am not quite sure about is the "we are studying in one of the finest institutions in the world": while the rest of the sentence could be applied more generally, this specific component comes across as direct speech. I think it would better fit the sandbox if there was no direct voice involved, ie. the text would come across as neutral. Other than that, thank you for taking my feedback on board, it's a really interesting read! -  Hithertoundreamt (discuss • contribs) 18:26, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Hi, really enjoyed this section. Found Beck's Triad a very interesting concept and the different sources you used bringing a really diverse tone of both past and present (JS Mill's "On Liberty" from 1859 vs Kimberlé Crenshaw's Ted talk). The only issues I could find were with the tone and keeping it impartial as @Hithertoundreamt said, for example, "Kahnemann's theory is interesting because he narrows down....". Otherwise, really enjoyed! Basciscool44826 (discuss • contribs) 13:39, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Power in Anthropology
I just finished my section on power in anthropology. Any feedback would be much appreciated! --5050clown (discuss • contribs) 05:02, 7 November 2020 (UTC)


 * I didn't know you were studying anthropology too! I have some contributions I will make - I had already written them for my first attempt so can add them to yours, if that's alright - mainly to do with Colonialism/Orientalism/Otherness and the fall out of different views. I will add, and then you can take out if you like.Tsarina Catarina (discuss • contribs) 08:11, 7 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Great additions! I had tried to fit in Foucault in some way but I couldn't get my head round it fully. The place you put it is perfect. --5050clown (discuss • contribs) 11:20, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

Hi! Just wanted to say I really enjoyed your section, the addition of the Yanomami case study made the subject pop out more and added a needed dynamic Basciscool44826 (discuss • contribs) 12:33, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Reference changes
I have made some changes to references 29, 30 and 31. I just changed the format, adding the ISBN number for example. --A.ren01 (discuss • contribs) 11:38, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
 * THUMBS UP!


 * I've also gone through some references, changing some into named references and changing the order of punctuation and the in-line superscript number where appropriate. Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 06:50, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

Power in Advertising
I thought this really interesting - that whatever worked then, still works today. I made some grammatical changes, merely to help the flow of the section, and added some paragraphs just to make it easier to read. Tsarina Catarina (discuss • contribs) 10:02, 9 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Cheers, wrote it a little late so my proofreading wasn't great Triple zero one (discuss • contribs) 17:17, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Power in Psychology and Sourcing Wikipedia
I've noticed that in the power in psychology section, Wikipedia is sourced ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribalism). There are a few other instances of this in our sandbox. For this one I think it can be replaced with a hyperlink, but I have doubts that wikipedia is a good source to use as a reference. --5050clown (discuss • contribs) 15:48, 9 November 2020 (UTC)


 * This is a very good point that I hadn't picked up on, and something we definitely need to keep in mind when writing the Wiki Chapters. Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 16:09, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

General Thoughts
I've found it really interesting seeing quite a lot of contributions and interest around the rising of new modern powers, powers which are deeply interconnected, such as that of Social Media and Digital Marketing. It's fascinating to see a variety of different approaches taken onto these very new, emerging fields, as well as the clear interdisciplinary nature of these fields (due to the huge overlap amongst them). One area I find lacking though is based around the psychology of this, namely why these new forms of power have been so successful/what occurs psychologically for this success to occur. If anyone has found any good research papers around this or is also interested in this area please let me know. Triple zero one (discuss • contribs) 17:32, 9 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Hello. I am also curious about the field of psychology and I found this article very interesting. In fact, I used it to write my text. Brooks, Samantha K; Webster, Rebecca K; Smith, Louise E; Woodland, Lisa; Wessely, Simon; Greenberg, Neil; Rubin, Gideon James (March 2020). "The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence". The Lancet 395 (10227): 912–920. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8. --A.ren01 (discuss • contribs) 20:39, 9 November 2020 (UTC)


 * I agree, this is such an interesting topic and such a new way to look at power in interdisciplinary ways. I just had a look at the paper you shared above, and it's definitely worth a read - thank you! Inorganic-Yogi (discuss • contribs) 04:52, 10 November 2020 (UTC)