I will go on record and state—emphatically—that there is no reason for anyone who is not a professional typesetter to ever learn or use LaTeX. Yes, I know it’s the new fad in political science. But if you spend time learning how to code something like this (see below) on a regular basis, that’s probably time better spent (a) collecting data, (b) reading new scholarship, and (c) actually doing political analysis.
I’m a font nerd and obsessive about design. But there’s a limit to what I will devote my time to. I think it’s great that many young, budding political scientists have become proficient with (and seem to enjoy) LaTeX. I just don’t think it’s actually any more of an explicitly “political science” tool than, say, being proficient in MS Word.
Finally, I don’t see how knowing how to use LaTeX signals anything about one’s understanding about research design or methodology. I’m more impressed by clunky, ugly tables for well-conceived regression models than I am by terrible research designs presented in stunning sleek LaTeX (which, frankly, doesn’t look much different than any table produced in MS Word).
That is all.
From tofias:
Seth wanted an AppleScript for BBEdit that would turn a list into a LaTeX Itemized List.
tell application "BBEdit"
remove prefix selection of project window 1 prefix "\item "
add prefix selection of project window 1 prefix "\item "
set selection to "\begin{itemize} \r" & selection & "\r\end{itemize}" as text
end tell
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mcentellas reblogged this from tofias and added:
I will go on record and state—emphatically—that there is no reason...anyone who is...
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tofias posted this
