Global environmental change: the contribution of social science research to policy in the UK

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 240-245
Author(s):  
Michael R. Redclift
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Research To Policy

Quality of Publication in International Context

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Lalitha ◽  
Amrita Ghatak
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Comparative Performance ◽  
International Context ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

This chapter analyses the status of India’s social science research (SSR) publications in global context. The outputs chosen to assess India’s comparative performance is the articles written and published by Indians in the field of social sciences either individually or in collaboration with researchers outside India. The study analysed journal articles published during 2008–14 drawn from Scopus database to examine the publication status of India in social sciences in an international context. The study found that the six-year period, 2009–14, India consistently ranks among the top 15 countries in the world. Discipline-wise analysis shows that the share of pure social science articles was significant but is declining. Of the total 30938 articles, 28 per cent are published with international collaboration. The USA and the UK contribute 52 per cent of total international collaborations.

Stathis Kalyvas on 20 years of studying political violence

2020 ◽  
pp. 263300242097295
Author(s):  
Stathis Kalyvas ◽  
Scott Straus
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The State ◽  
Scholarly Research ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
Research To Policy ◽  
State Of The Field

Stathis Kalyvas is one of the pioneers of social science research on political violence. In this interview with Scott Straus, Kalyvas reflects critically on the state of the field, on the risks of welding scholarly research to policy, on speaking to histories of violence in particular places, on defining key terms such as violence and terrorism, and on moving up and down the ladder of abstraction. He also speaks about his ambitious new book that seeks to synthesize the field of political violence. He ends with a stinging critique of research that privileges method over substance and with some reflections for graduate students entering the field.

scholarly journals The promise and pitfalls of social science research in an emergency: lessons from studying the Zika epidemic in Brazil, 2015–2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. e002307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Joana Passos ◽  
Gustavo Matta ◽  
Tereza Maciel Lyra ◽  
Maria Elisabeth Lopes Moreira ◽  
Hannah Kuper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Social Science Study ◽  
Congenital Zika Syndrome ◽  
The Uk

Social science generates evidence necessary to control epidemics. It can help to craft appropriate public health responses, develop solutions to the epidemic impacts and improve understanding of why the epidemic occurred. Yet, there are practical constraints in undertaking this international research in a way that produces quality, ethical and appropriate data, and that values all voices and experiences, especially those of local researchers and research participants. In this paper, we reflected on the experience of undertaking social science research during the 2015/2016 Zika epidemic in Brazil. This experience was considered from the perspective of this paper’s authors: three Brazilian academics, two UK academics and two mothers of children affected by congenital Zika syndrome. This group came together through the conduct of the Social and Economic Impact of Zika study, a mixed-methods social science study. The key findings highlight practical issues in the achievement of three goals: the conduct of high-quality social science in emergencies and efforts towards the decolonisation of global health in terms of levelling the power between Brazilian and UK researchers and optimising the role of patients within research. From our perspective, the information collected through social science was valuable, providing detailed insight into the programmatic needs of mothers and their affected children (eg, economic and social support and mental health services). Social science was considered a low priority within the Zika epidemic despite its potential importance. There were logistical challenges in conducting social science research, foremost of which are the difficulties in developing a trusting and balanced power relationship between the UK and Brazilian researchers in a short time frame. When these issues were overcome, each partner brought unique qualities, making the research stronger. The mothers of affected children expressed dissatisfaction with research, as they were involved in many studies which were not coordinated, and from which they did not see a benefit. In conclusion, the importance of social science in epidemics must continue to be promoted by funders. Funders can also set in place mechanisms to help equalise the power dynamics between foreign and local researchers, researchers and participants, both to promote justice and to create best quality data.

Teaching stats: A crisis in Irish sociology?

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-111
Author(s):  
Carmel Hannan
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Sociology Departments ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Research Councils

There is now a lack of quantitative capacity among practitioners and teachers in sociology in Ireland. Yet interest in the value of quantitative methods among governments, funding organisations and society in general are on the increase. Social science research councils and funders in other countries, notably the UK, have realised there is a problem and are now attempting to remedy this through increased funding for the recruitment of quantitatively trained academics for example, Q-Step. The paper examines a number of developments notably Big Data, increases in transdisciplinary research and developments in mixed methods research which, it is argued, underline the need for more and better quantitative methods teaching in sociology. The paper calls for sociology departments to re-think their curricula and actively promote the teaching of a range of methods at the undergraduate level.

On Sociology and STS

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Law
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Technology And Society ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Uk

This paper starts by exploring the development of Science, Technology and Society (STS) in the UK in the late 1960s, emphasising its interdiciplinary roots, and comparing and contrasting it with the concerns of Sociology. It then turns to more recent developments in STS, outlining the importance of material semiotics to important traditions within the discipline including those influenced by actor network theory, feminism, and postcolonialism. It notes, in consistency with the Foucauldian approach, that material semiotics implies that knowledge traditions are performative, helping to create the realities that they describe. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of this performatibity for the politics of research methods and for the future character of social science research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document