How do you know?

Since I started my internship at the Latino Policy Forum and taking a social research methods class, I have found that I have been looking at things increasingly in terms of data. I’ve never been a math person, but I think I have always been inclined to put stock in charts and tables. I love a good graph. I love when social phenomena can be measured and analyzed, and how then that analysis can be used to influence policy or thought on a particular topic. I guess that’s why I have taken so well to my internship and this class.

In my other class, a policy course, we had a discussion last week about bullying. For those who aren’t in the know, bullying has become the hot and trendy topic in the field of social work and school counseling. Anti-bullying campaigns and curricula abound. The LGBTQ community has been key in raising the issue of bullying as it impacts their community. I have no qualms with the LGBTQ movement to shed light and change on this issue. I am skeptical, however, about the growing discourse on bullying in general as a new social issue in need of clinical and policy intervention.

As my classmates shared their horrifying experiences of working in high schools that “had no anti-bullying program whatsoever!”, I was thinking to myself, where is the research that shows the negative social impact of bullying? Are suicide rates and depression measurably higher than they would normally be without bullying? Is there any data that shows bullying as a new phenomenon, or is it just a new label for an age-old fixture of adolescence?

No one could answer these questions. Someone mentioned Columbine. Those kids were bullied, and look what they did.

Umm. No.

Millions of kids are “bullied” and they don’t go shoot up their school.

Anyway, I’m definitely evolving into an amateur policy and data wonk. Scanning spreadsheets full of Census data and amassing reports and press releases will do that.

I wonder how data figured into Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem? Or Joseph’s management of the Egyptian food crisis. Or Daniel’s administrative duties in the Persian government.

What I’m seeking to understand is , in the complicated pipeline from education to knowledge production to advocacy to policy change, how do I honor God and steward his resources?

I have thought a lot about the relationship between being educated/having power and discipleship. I really do believe that for those of us who have been blessed with the opportunity to obtain “higher education,” we are called to invest that resource in whatever will bear lasting fruit. These are our “talents.” In our era, information truly is a tool of power.

The Romans knew this in Jesus’ time, using the census to keep track of their subjects for tax purposes.

Data and research are inherently political. Any social policy or law is backed up by years of research and thousands of man-hours. It has been exciting and overwhelming to me to be exposed to these behind-the-scenes workings of social policy and advocacy.

I am still formulating my thoughts about how my current work fits in with my faith and God’s calling for my life. I have no doubt that it does—although it may be more tangible when you are working face-to-face with clients in the “helping” professions.

More to come…