Community and Rural Sociology
Leland Glenna
The University's Capacity to Conduct Research for the
Public Good

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Dr. Glenna’s research is part of a three-year USDA-funded project that includes scholars from several disciplines at universities and non-profit organizations throughout the United States. The first component of that research has involved intensive interviews (60-120 minutes) with the scientists, technical transfer staff, and administrators at each of six universities (Cornell, Wisconsin, Oregon State, UC Davis, Texas A&M, and North Carolina State), along with follow-up interviews with their industry collaborators. The second component involved a nationwide, stratified random sample of biotechnology scientists at major research universities. The combined qualitative-quantitative methodology enables Dr. Glenna and his team to test hypotheses regarding factors influencing bioscience research design with an enhanced capacity to interpret the results.

Dr. Glenna and some of his colleagues hope to expand upon this research with two proposed research initiatives. In the first, the team intends to investigate the extent to which negative publicity related to the publication of controversial research findings on the ecological consequences of transgenic crops may be discouraging other scientists from conducting similar research.

The thrust of this work will be to interview three scientists who have gained notoriety for publishing papers that reflected negatively on transgenic products. The Washington State researchers then will interview other scientists to determine how they have interpreted the controversies and whether the controversies influence their future research choices.

In the second initiative, Dr. Glenna and his team propose to examine industry influences on research at five Mexican universities using a methodology similar to the one used for the USDA project. The WSU researchers believe that the results will provide valuable data for a comparative analysis of U.S. and Mexican research universities.

Contact Information
Leland Glenna, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Community and Rural Sociology

Washington State University
PO Box 644006
Pullman, WA 99164-4006

Telephone: 509-335-8539
E-mail: llglenna@wsu.edu