One difference between Playin’ Jazz and Policy Research: Comments on the Third Way “Middle Class” Reply
Occasionally on this blog, I slip in some jazz references. I often see commonalities between jazz improvisation and policy analysis. But I think I’ve finally found one thing that is very different.
A lot of jazz teachers will joke around with students about what to do when you’re improvising a solo over chord changes, perhaps to a standard tune, and you happen to land unintentionally on a dissonant note. Somethin’ with a really sour sound! The usual advice is if you hit such a note, play it even louder a few more times! Make it sound intentional. Of course, you eventually want to resolve the dissonance, not end on it. But work it until then.
Well, I’m not sure that this principle applies well to policy research. Here’s why. I just completed a review of a report by Third Way, a think tank I’d never heard of previously. Third Way released a report on what it called “Middle Class” schools, and argued that these schools aren’t making the grade. Methodologically, this report
