Professor Jeffrey Reitz was recently profiled for Research2Reality . Research2Reality is a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to “shining a spotlight on world-class scientists engaged in innovative and leading edge research in Canada.” It operates in partnership with several leading universities in Canada. A video of the interview with Professor Reitz will be released shortly. Currently, you can read his “Researchers in Reality” interview online. The “Researchers in Reality” feature is a weekly Q & A with highlighted prominent researchers to provide a glimpse at the person behind the research.
Jeffrey Reitz, Sociologist
Jeffrey Reitz is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto and the Director of Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies. We asked him everything from what is on his playlist to what advice he would give to young researchers in hopes of giving you a better understanding of what goes on outside the lab for one of the best minds in Canadian research.
What do you like most about your work?
What the social sciences can contribute, I think, is analytically-strategic facts. I try to take an important public issue, and identify the key factual questions that I think would make a difference in public debate. I want to find a way to produce answers to those factual questions, and then the challenge is to introduce them in the discourse in a way which actually has an impact. In the social sciences this is a huge challenge, because so much of what people say is that they want to believe — quite apart from facts. And there is sometimes even a disregard for facts, both on the political left and the political right.