>>> writing software is a low status academic activity; it is a low status activity in some companies, but those involved don’t commonly have other higher status tasks available to work on.
If measured by compensation, then research is a low status activity. Perhaps more precisely, researchers have low bargaining power. But I don't think that academics actually analyze activities in such detail. The PI might not even know how much programming is being done.
The researcher is programming, not because they see it as a way to raise (or lower) their status, but because it's a force multiplier for making themselves more productive overall. Though I work in industry, I'm a "research" programmer for all intents and purposes. I program because I need stuff right away, and I do the kind of work that the engineers hate. Reacting to rapidly changing requirements on a moment's notice disrupts their long term planning. Communicating requirements to an engineer who doesn't possess domain knowledge or math skills is painful. Often, a working piece of spaghetti code that demonstrates a process is the best way to communicate what I need. They can translate it into fully developed software if it threatens to go into a shipping product. That's a good use of their time and not of mine.
>>> Why would a researcher want to invest in becoming proficient in a low status activity?
To get a better job. I sometimes suspect that anybody who is good enough at programming to get paid for it, is already doing so.
>>> Why would the principal investigator spend lots of their grant money hiring a proficient developer to work on a low status activity?
Because they don't know how to manage a developer. Software development is costly in terms of both time and effort, and nobody knows how to manage it. Entire books have been written in this topic, and it has been discussed at length on HN. A software project that becomes an end unto itself or goes entirely off the rails can eat you alive. Finding a developer who can do quantitative engineering is hard, and they're already in high demand. It may be that the PI has a better chance managing a researcher who happens to know how to translate their own needs into "good enough" code, than to manage a software project.
If measured by compensation, then research is a low status activity. Perhaps more precisely, researchers have low bargaining power. But I don't think that academics actually analyze activities in such detail. The PI might not even know how much programming is being done.
The researcher is programming, not because they see it as a way to raise (or lower) their status, but because it's a force multiplier for making themselves more productive overall. Though I work in industry, I'm a "research" programmer for all intents and purposes. I program because I need stuff right away, and I do the kind of work that the engineers hate. Reacting to rapidly changing requirements on a moment's notice disrupts their long term planning. Communicating requirements to an engineer who doesn't possess domain knowledge or math skills is painful. Often, a working piece of spaghetti code that demonstrates a process is the best way to communicate what I need. They can translate it into fully developed software if it threatens to go into a shipping product. That's a good use of their time and not of mine.
>>> Why would a researcher want to invest in becoming proficient in a low status activity?
To get a better job. I sometimes suspect that anybody who is good enough at programming to get paid for it, is already doing so.
>>> Why would the principal investigator spend lots of their grant money hiring a proficient developer to work on a low status activity?
Because they don't know how to manage a developer. Software development is costly in terms of both time and effort, and nobody knows how to manage it. Entire books have been written in this topic, and it has been discussed at length on HN. A software project that becomes an end unto itself or goes entirely off the rails can eat you alive. Finding a developer who can do quantitative engineering is hard, and they're already in high demand. It may be that the PI has a better chance managing a researcher who happens to know how to translate their own needs into "good enough" code, than to manage a software project.