Civil Rights and Social Science Data

Chapter 5: Social Science Research in Educational Equity Cases: A Critical Review

“…John (1975), and Wolf (1972Wolf ( , 1976 would have us believe, and as many legal scholars (Goodman, 1972;Yudof, 1973Yudof, ,1978 and judges seem to believe. It does not seem unwarranted to conclude that if social scientists such as Cohen, Lockheed andLohman (1976), DeVries, Edwards andWells (1974) and Slavin (1977Slavin ( , 1979 can obtain significant, sometimes spectacular, results in laboratory and field experiments by transforming the competitive, individualistic classroom into cooperative teams and by placing low-status students in the role of instructor, it is not the principle of integration which is faulty, but its application.…”

Courtrooms and Classrooms

“…In addition, there are those who have struggled, as I have, with the more general problem of an honest and useful role for the social sciences in a great social movement. 5 Legal scholars appear to be the group most concerned about incompatibilities in the marriage (Alfred Kelly called it an "illicit love affair")" between constitutional principles and empirical research, perhaps because they are both more aware of these problems-which are, of course, not confined to school segregation cases-and more concerned about the integrity of legal principles. During the years when there were many articles in the law journals about the role played by social science in the 1954 decision, the predominant response from social scientists was one of self-congratulation.…”