»Alternate Case Study:
The Case of the Entrepreneurial Anthropologist «
John Cardoza, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Westfield University. For four years he has been working on an important and interesting area in Mayan child-rearing patterns and is now about to publish, but he still has some analyses to complete. He believes that his extensive manuscript will support his nomination for promotion to associate professor, a position he is eager to attain.
Today Dr. Cardoza received from the editor of a major anthropology journal a manuscript to review, written by a colleague in the same field and on the same topic. The findings described in this manuscript are disturbingly similar to his. Dr. Cardoza wonders whether he should return the manuscript to the editor or try to review the manuscript as objectively as possible. Because he is an expert in this specialized area, he is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable reviewer for the manuscript. He is asked to complete the review of the manuscript within three weeks, and he realizes that he will not be able to complete his own paper within this period and get it sent off to the journal.
Dr. Cardoza is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and his funding is up for renewal this year. He has substantial data that he has analyzed, but many of the results are equivocal (cf. to the glass being half empty or half full). He realizes that writing about his data in a more positive light is likely to ensure that the journal will publish his article. Besides, the more positive interpretation fits with the theory that he has been trying to prove for the past several years.
He is also being asked by Mayan Adventures, Inc., a touring company, to consult on the indigenous culture of the Mayan descendants. He finds this a very exciting enterprise and is beginning to spend at least two days a week at the company’s office. He has been asked to represent the company at several of their promotional meetings and is paid generously for his positive views of the company and their tourist ventures. He is hoping that he will be asked to lead a field trip for the company. Currently, he and his wife are expecting their first child, and the several thousand dollars he has earned will allow his wife to stay at home with the new baby.
The chair of his department, Dr. Jane Goodwin, is studying a somewhat related field within the Aztec culture. Since she is also working on an extensive review paper, she requests that Dr. Cardoza contribute to her project. While he realizes that this effort would be important to his career (her gratitude would surely lead to a laudatory promotion letter), he also realizes that at this crucial period of his own manuscript development this effort would divert his attention and limit the time available for his own work.
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