Craft of Social Research or How I Finally Graduated

I read this book by Booth et al simply because I had a copy and it felt such a waste not to read it. I photocopied the book while taking up Political Science 199 under Professor Rolando Fernando, but I never got around to reading the book since I was too busy rushing to submit papers so I can finally graduate.

I remember how stubborn I was at that time. Once more, I did not submit the first requirement on time, and, adding insult to injury, the paper I submitted had coffee stains. Sir Fernando was understandably pissed and wanted me to drop the course. More than a year before, another professor already forced me to drop the course, preventing me from graduating with honors. This time, however, I stood my ground. I did not care whether I was right or wrong, or whether my professor was insulted or not. I wanted to graduate, and no coffee stain was going to prevent me from getting that diploma.

There was even one day when my professor wanted to throw the rule book at me. He brought the UP manual to class, but I guess he did not find anything that warranted forcing me to drop his class so he never brought it up. Over the next several weeks, I received a lot of admonitions and warnings about how my continued stay in class was conditional on meeting his standards. But I guess sheer gumption won the day. I finally finished the class that I dropped three times, and officially obtained my degree.

I attended that year's graduation ceremonies to accompany my wife, not anymore to receive my own diploma. I felt I had missed my chance two years before. But Sir Fernando apparently thought otherwise. My classmates said he was looking for me after the ceremony to congratulate me. I did not get a chance to see him, or talk to him again, but I owe him thanks for finally letting me graduate.

Le francais dans ma vie

Cela m'a fait trois ans pour finir le livre Le francais au present par Anne Monnerie. Je me rappelle a peine les lecons du livre, mais j'ai de bons souvenirs des annees j'ai passe pour apprendre la langue francaise.

Mes camarades de classe en francais sont devenus mes plus chers amis. Patrick et Eunice, par exemple, sont tous les deux des parrains de mon fils Magnus. Ils sont une des raisons importantes pourquoi j'ai continue a etudier le francais meme si j'ai deja complete les douze unites de langue entrangere exigees par ma specialisation.

Nous avons meme fait un film pour notre cours avec M. Veracruz qui s'est intitule "L'amour est eternelle," qui etait la phrase favoree de Romelson. Nous nous sommes bien amuses. pendant notre sejour dans l'universite. Meme si nous ne nous voyons plus frequemment, j'espere qu'ils resteront mes chers amis pendant toute la vie.

Essence of Decision

Graham Allison's Essence of Decision is one of the most incisive, sensitive, and compelling works of analysis I have read. It is also a great work of history as it seeks to explain the Cuban Missile Crisis, one of the key turning points of modern human history.

Allison demonstrates adroitly that what we see depends on what lenses we use. Exclusive reliance on the dominant rational actor perspective blinds us to organizational imperatives such as standard operating procedures, or bureaucratic political maneuvering, which makes policies a resultant, rather than a conscious choice by a unitary actor. By analyzing the same event from different angles, Allison presents us with the most complete picture of how the crisis unfolded, and how it was ultimately resolved.

The book's insights are relevant not only to academics and policymakers, but also to anyone else who works in an organization. The people we deal with advance positions that are influenced by their organization's SOPs, or that are designed to maximize the power of their departments. This is not to say that all people are petty and parochial; it is to say that all people belong to organizations and all decisions are more disorderly than is suggested by the rational actor model.

Isang Dipang Langit

Minsan akong nagsaulo ng tula ni Amado Hernandez para sa isang paligsahan ng sabayang bigkas noong ako ay nag-aaral pa sa mataas na paaralan. Isinagaw namin ang mga kataga, humandusay kami sa lapag, at nagpanggap na nararamdaman ang hirap at dusa ng isang bilanggong inalipin at binusabos. Subalit, gaya ng maaasahan sa mga estudyante sa ganoong edad, kinalimutan namin ang tula at ang makata, pati na ang mensahe ng pakikibaka laban sa pang-aalila. Sinong makasisisi sa mga binata at dalaga kung higit nilang pahahalagahan ang panonood ng sine, pakikipagsuyuan, at pag-ibig higit sa mga usapin ng kalayaan at kahirapan?

Gaya ni Balagtas, pinahanga ako ni Hernandez sa kanyang panulaan. Ipinamalas niyang ang wikang Filipino ay angkop ipanghabi ng mga tulang lipos ng kagandahan, sining, at masidhing damdamin. Nauunawaan kong sa kalagayan nina Balagtas at Hernandez, na kapwa nabilanggo at nakaranas ng pang-aalipusta, kung bakit nila pinapaksa ang pang-aalipin ng mga dayuhan at mga makapangyarihan. Bagaman ang pakikibaka ay isang mahalagang salik ng pagiging Pilipino, panahon na ring talakayin ng mga makata ang mga pagbubukang-liwayway at ang mga tagumpay ng bayan. Ito lang ang tanging paraan upang muling magkaroon ng saysay ang mga tula at makata sa panahon ng mga blog at Youtube.

In Search of Southeast Asia

I read Government and Politics of Southeast Asia by Frederic Funston for my class in political science of the same course title. I remember the class well because my professor, Jaime Naval, usually spent the first twenty minutes of class giving an inspirational talk. We used to mock him and say we always had Tuesdays with Sir Naval. Many of my classmates then probably still dismiss self-help books, but I now appreciate them better, having undergone personal transformation myself because of Dale Carnegie and Stephen Covey.

Back then, we celebrated the growth of democracy in Thailand, Indonesia, and East Timor. It appeared that Southeast Asia caught the Third Wave of Democratization and perhaps it was not too farfetched to dream about the End of History. Alas, in the years since, Thailand relapsed into another military government before restoring democracy only lately, and East Timor has experienced several bouts of violence. Indonesia and the Philippines continue to struggle in creating institutions that will make them established democracies. We also lamented the sorry state of Myanmar back then; we are now aghast at how the generals have treated their own people in the aftermath of a cyclone that has now claimed nearly 100,000 lives. ASEAN, despite its much ballyhooed charter, has hardly made any progress.

Does Southeast Asia really exist? Or is it just defined by geography, that piece of the Asian continent destined to live in the shadows of the future Great Powers, India and China?

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Richard Kiyosaki upon my friend's advice about three years ago. He had just started a blast-freezing services business for his dad, finished paying for a condo unit that he was about to rent out, and was thinking of entering the taxi business. I was still a student working as part time call center agent who dreamed of becoming an academic, not of getting rich.

I finally got to read the book several months after that. I remember feeling hopeful that I can leave behind the call center job that had, at that point, driven me to despair. I didn't even feel like I was in a rat race. I felt I was at a dead end.

The simple lesson I learned from Kiyosaki is the difference between an asset and a liability. Assets bring money; liabilities take away money. This is the main reason I don't plan to buy a house or a car anytime soon because they are both liabilities. This is also the reason why my wife and I worked hard to get out of debt, stick to a budget, save money, and start investing. We are not, by any means, rich yet. Nor have we even started any business like my friend. Yet Kiyosaki, simply by saying it was possible and laying out a simple and sensible plan to get there, has put us inexorably on the path to prosperity.

Edukasyon ang solusyon

Isa sa mga kanser ng lipunan na binigyang pansin ni Rizal and suliranin ng kamangmangan at kakulangan ng malayang isipan. Pangunahing sinisi ni Ibarra ang mga prayle na pawang pagnonobena at pagrorosaryo ang itinuro sa mga indio. Subalit ngayong ika-21 siglo, kung saan nabawasan na ang kapangyarihan ng simbahan, kalunos-lunos pa rin ang kalagayan ng edukasyon.

Ikinagugulat, halimbawa, ng mga nagsipagtapos sa Pamantasan ng Pilipinas na ang mga kasama nila sa trabahong nanggaling sa ibang pamantasan ay hindi tulad nilang madaling nakatatanggap ng pagkakaiba ng paniniwala, kasarian, at antas panlipunan. Tunay ngang isang pulo ng malayang kaisipan ang UP sa isang dagat ng mga makikitid ang utak tulad ng kalihim ng Kagawaran ng Katarungan Gonzales.

Subalit bago pa man pag-usapan ang antas ng kolehiyo, dapat munang bigyang-pansin ang mababang paaralan. Bago alalahanin kung may nangakikinig kay Pilosopong Tasyo, isipin muna kung may natutunan ba si Basilio. Isang tanda ng kapantasan ni Rizal na tinalakay niya ang maraming mukha ng suliranin sa edukasyon. Isang tanda ng ating kahinaan bilang bayan na ang mga suliranin noon ay siya ring mga suliranin ngayon.

To Get Rich is Glorious

I began what can only be called as a reading frenzy of books on personal finance over a year ago. I read two books that I expressly chose for their Filipino authors in hopes of seeing Kiyosaki's lessons explained from a Filipino perspective and turned into practical advice from a Filipino context. The two books were Larry Gamboa's Think Rich Pinoy and Francisco Colayco's Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo. It was easy enough to understand Kiyosaki; it was more difficult figuring out what exactly I had to do as a Filipino desiring to be rich one day.

Writing a year after, I remember having read practical tips from both authors, especially in the area of buying and selling foreclosed property. It sounded achieveable, and my wife actually took the trouble of attending real estate seminars, but, as of today, we are yet to own our first piece of property. Nevertheless, I am happy to note that we have engineered a succesful family financial turnaround. From having substantial credit card debt, we are now debt free and have investments in mutual funds. The hardest part is to get to the point when one has zero debt. I did not feel that much difference between owing ten thousand and fifty thousand, yet I feel richer having fifty thousand instead of just ten thousand.

As a final note, Filipinos seeking to be rich are struggling against a culture that socializes everyone to buy a house and a car as soon as possible. Both are status symbols that indicate that a person "has arrived." I don't see how anyone can feel that way if he still has mounting amortization debt to pay two decades down the road, which is not uncommon for the Filipino middle class. Instead of falling into that trap, my wife and I have decided to stay where we live (not the best neighborhood, mind you) and take public transportation until we generate enough cashflow to buy that house and car in cash (or at least with a big down payment). We will become rich; it's just a matter of time.

Elements of Social Research

Babbie's textbook on social research is the definitive introduction to social science research. It is simple enough to be understood by the beginning researcher, but detailed enough to allow understanding of the basic logic behind more intimidating, methodologically sophisticated texts and journal articles. Most importantly for the social researcher who encounters brick walls and dead ends, the book is actually fun to read. Babbie seems to be genuinely concerned at understanding how social reality works, and his enthusiasm shows on each page. I especially recommend reading the glossary - that's right, reading the glossary - for those who are bored. This is one of the few textbooks that is a joy to read.

Sa loob at labas ng bayan kong sawi

Gaya ng mga nobela ni Rizal, tapos na akong mag-aral nang una kong basahin ang Florante at Laura. At gaya rin ng dati, nagsisi ako at hindi ko binigyang-pansin ang akdang ito noong pinag-aaralan namin ito sa mataas na paaralan. Lalong pinatingkad ni Balagtas ang aking diwang makabayan dahil bukod sa patalinghagang pagtalakay sa kasaysayang kolonyal ng Pilipinas, lubos niya ring ipinakita ang yaman ng wikang Tagalog.

Hindi ko naibigan ang paggamit ng Europa bilang lugar ng pangyayari ngunit dapat sigurong pagbigyan si Balagtas dahil umiiwas siyang mausig ng mga Espanol. Maliban sa punang ito, malinaw na sariling bayan ang tinutukoy ni Balagtas sa kanyang pagdaing na "kalihuhan ang siyang nagyayaring hari." Hindi mahirap maghanap ng Konde Adolfo sa panahon ni Balagtas, at masakit mang sabihin, maging sa panahon ngayon. Kabuktutan at katiwalian pa rin ang namamayagpag samantalang ang mahirap ay patuloy na naghihirap, at ang mga masisipag na gumagawa ay patuloy na nagbabayad ng buwis habang ang mga tinurang lingkod ng bayan ay patuloy na nagpapakasasa sa nakaw na yaman.

Eastward to Tartary

Robert Kaplan's journey to the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus is the realist antidote to Friedman's optimistic account of globalization. It is not that what Friedman writes is inaccurate; it is, however, that there are regions in the world where history, culture, and nationalism - not economic growth and free trade - are the key driving forces.

Kaplan explored the edges of what Huntington called clashing civilizations or, in some cases, simply crumbling remnants of once great empires. In these countries, oil is exported and capitalism has spread, but they have not led to the creation of liberal democracies. They have instead strengthened the rule of the local mafia or the iron grip of old-fashioned dictators with personality cults. At a geopolitical level, these developments have only emboldened Russia to assert its authority over what it considers its near abroad.

Russia, lumped together with the BRIC countries experiencing phenomenal economic growth, is being integrated in the global economy. It is unclear, however, if that has increased geopolitical stability.

Elements of Style

Strunk and White have made my writing style clear, concise, and, hopefully, elegant. I distinguish between "that" and "which," drop unnecessary "that's," and avoid ending sentences with a preposition. I have reduced use of the passive voice, banished weak adjectives such as "very," and tried using semi-colons for compound sentences. Parallel construction and preference for the active voice have become second nature and, sometimes, an obsession.

The Elements of Style needs to be read by anyone who dares write in the English language. It is especially relevant in the business setting, where clear and efficient, rather than colorful and poetic, language aids the flow of information so decisions can be rapidly made. Effective communication skills are essential for any leader in a globalizing world and this work still remains the classic.

Reviewing Literature

One of the reasons it took me so long to finish my thesis was I always procrastinated on the Review of Related Literature. I always though of it as an immense and insurmountable task. I thought I had to read scores of articles and several books, and fill out a matrix summarizing arguments and evidence before I could say I was done. It was always hardest to begin, more so when the task before seems never ending.

So I did everything except begin. I photocopied more and more articles and books from the library. I read books about method and I read Hart's Doing a Literature Review. It was a good, but rather expensive, book. It taught me to challenge my sources, and to create a review that thematically arranged my sources in support of establishing a research gap, instead of simply arranging them chronologically. Yet it got me no closer to starting by Review. It was not a book, but a boy named Magnus that finally jolted me enough to finish my thesis in a matter of weeks.

Clash of Civilizations

Huntington remains my favorite political scientist. I have read three of his books, and each one has sparked intellectual controversy because of the audacity of his arguments, and his purposely sweeping style. For him, to theorize is necessarily to generalize. A model does not lose its validity because details are eliminated and exceptions are accepted because, by definition, it is an abstraction of reality.

Indeed, by emphasizing the primacy of culture, Huntington appears to diminish the importance of economic and technological change that drive globalization. Imperfect as it is, the model remains relevant in explaining the continuing struggle between the West and militant Islam. Russia's oil-fueled resurgence and reassertion of its hegemony over Ukraine and Georgia also underscores the continuing impulse of civilization. And China, even as it understands the importance of regional stability to its economic growth, always seems only a step away from sliding back to the ethnocentric mindset of the ancient Middle Kingdom.

Social Scientific Thinking

Reading The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking by Hoover and Donovan felt like a drop of hope in a sea of despair. It gave me a better perspective by describing social science as simply a way of understanding social reality better by reducing uncertainty through observation. It made me feel that social science research can both be intellectually stimulating and socially relevant. It pushed me to do research that mattered, assuming I pursued my dream of becoming a sexy, public intellectual.

It was only a momentary glimpse of hope. My personal crisis, which I retrospectively think was a case of depression, went on for a year and a half. Aside from the vague idea of writing about issues that mattered, I made no progress at all on my thesis.

But that is now over. I chose not to purse graduate school, but I continue to seek the life of the mind.

Prism

My friend Joseph derided the book because it was too elementary. It was for Comm I.

Yet it was my first real introduction to poetry. From it I read Shakespeare, Donne, Keats and Thomas under the trees beside the UP lagoon. I read them out loud, risking looking like a fool and being laughed at by the lovers cavorting nearby.

From it I read Marvell to my coy mistress, my future wife. From it I learned how to feel and intuit, not explain and understand, the meaning of words beautifully strung together. From it I saw how words became art.

Confessions

I was baptized a Catholic and I grew up a Catholic. As a Catholic school boy, I dreamed of becoming not just a priest, but becoming the Pope. Then I entered Manila Science High School where science taught me to become a skeptic and I soon became an atheist.

As I went through college at UP, I began to realize that atheism was arrogance. Believers cannot prove the existence of God, yet neither can atheists disprove his existence. The best answer to question of God's existence, I realized, was that I don't know.

I did not quite experience the sudden conversion that Augustine did when I read the Confessions. But I continue to look for God. Recent events in life have proven to me that there are so many things that are simply beyond my control. I took a step in the right direction, but the rest was chance - or God. A few more steps and I will be ready to make that leap of faith.