Hello from sunny California, where I travelled to in order to attend (and present at) the Academy of Management annual conference. I am presenting my research on the hidden biases of algorithms used in decision making – specifically, those present in algorithms that sort through our financial transactions.
If you are interested in this topic, you may like this discussion about the importance of algorithms in daily life, the biases in their development and use, and the challenges of studying them. It is a really long video, though (1h34m) – so, save it for when you have some time.
Other than that, here are my highlights from July. Tell me yours, in the comments below.
Researching
My bid for a small grant to do some work on the digital footprints of children was rejected 😦
The rejection seemed to be mostly due to the high number of applications and due to preference being given to early career researchers, rather than because of a major flaw with the application. As a result, I did not get much feedback that I can build on to improve it, before I submit it elsewhere.
I need to think about how I can improve this research proposal, as I really want to getsome funding to do this work, because I think that it is highly consequential for marketers, as well as consumers (particularly, children as future consumers).
Writing
The paper that I revised and resubmitted last month, came back with a request for some further changes. As it is for a special issue, this is the last round of revisions – in other words, I either manage to address all concerns this time, or it won’t be considered for publication. Can you keep your fingers crossed for me, please?
I also submitted an extended abstract for consideration by another publication. And I continue to make (slow but steady) progress on that ‘co-authored paper which has been neglected for too long (but which I am determined to submit this summer!)’ that I mentioned last month.
Teaching
Teaching wise, I had the presentations from the student consulting projects and, as usual, I was most impressed by the quality of their research and recommendations. Live projects are a lot of work to organise and support, and always cause a lot of stress to students and teaching team alike… but they are so valuable.
Other than that, I had marking to do, annual reports to write regarding my PhD students, and dissertation supervision.
Learning
I have been going through the results of a large survey done with some colleagues, in order to write a report for the participants.
As I trained as a qualitative researcher, it is a bit challenging for me to query the data beyond simple descriptive statistics. So, making sense of the data in order to write the report has been an opportunity to hone my quantitative analysis skills.
When I was on sabbatical, I did part 1 of a statistical analysis course… but, then, I got back to my daily routine and the demands of the programme leader role, and was unable to complete part 2. I must redress this situation!
What were July’s highlights for you?
Ana Canhoto 