Social Research Approaches Research Articles

Utilizing genome wide data to highlight the social behavioral pathways to health: The case of obesity and cardiovascular health among older adults.

We use genome-wide data from the 1992-2016 Health and Retirement Study (n=12,090) to characterize obesity among older adults as genetically or socially oriented. To illustrate the significance of this approach for social epidemiological research, we deem those with the lowest genetic risk for obesity to be socially-behaviorally obese and obesity among those with the highest polygenic risk is characterized as genetically oriented. We then examine the association between obesity and four indicators of cardiovascular health (type-2 diabetes, hypertension, heart problems, and stroke) among those with low, average, and high genetic risk. Our results show that the association between obesity and cardiovascular health is significantly higher for those with the lowest genetic risk (e.g., social-behavioral obesity). We also demonstrate important sex differences such that this association is particularly strong for heart problems among men and hypertension and stroke among women. Our results further demonstrate the centrality of the social and behavioral determinants of health by utilizing detailed information across the human genome and add to both social and genetic epidemiology literatures.

Intersectional Social Work Practice: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Peer-Reviewed Recommendations

In the past decade, the use of intersectionality in social work scholarship has grown tremendously. Various applications of intersectionality theorizing have led to new approaches in social work research and, ultimately, have informed implications for practice. In this study, we used critical interpretive synthesis to explore how social work scholars articulate practice implications of an intersectional framework. Seventeen peer-reviewed journal articles that applied intersectionality and included implications for practice were identified. Findings were organized into two domains: (a) implications for practitioners and (b) implications for practice across levels. We discuss the importance of integrating intersectionality theorizing into practice implications in specific and robust ways, and some of the limits of how intersectionality is currently informing practice recommendations within peer-reviewed literature.

The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images

This article is an empirical investigation into the visual mobilization strategies by far-right political parties for election campaigns constructing Muslim immigrants as a “threat” to the nation. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical approach of social movement studies and research on media and communication, I focus on the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has produced several widespread inflammatory series of visual election posters featuring anti-Islam rhetoric, combined with provocative images of gender and sexuality. By approaching visual politics through a perspective on actors constructing visual forms of political mobilization, I show how far-right populist “movement parties” are supported by professional graphic designers commercializing extremist ideologies by creating ambivalent images and text messages. My findings on the AfD’s visual campaign politics document the instrumentalization and appropriation of the rhetoric of women’s empowerment and LGBT rights discourse, helping the AfD to rebrand its image as a liberal democratic opposition party, while at the same time, maintaining its illiberal political agenda on gender and sexuality. Visual representations of gender and sexuality in professionally created election posters served to ridicule and shame Muslim minorities and denounce their “Otherness”—while also promoting a heroic self-image of the party as a savior of white women and Western civilization from the threat of male Muslim migrants. By documenting the visual politics of the AfD, as embedded in transnational cooperation between different actors, including visual professional graphic designers and far-right party activists, my multimodal analysis shows how far-right movement parties marketize and commercialize their image as “progressive” in order to reach out to new voters.

Reframing designs for learning in context: culturally-situated and social justice research approaches in the learning and information sciences

Reframing designs for learning in context: culturally-situated and social justice research approaches in the learning and information sciences

From Containing the Atom to Mitigating Residual Risk: The German Imaginary of Nuclear Emergency Preparedness

Grounded in a social scientific research approach, the present case study traces the shift in the German nuclear regulatory culture from prevention to preparedness, the latter of which builds upon decision support systems for nuclear emergency management. These systems integrate atmospheric dispersion models for tracing radioactive materials released accidentally from nuclear facilities. For atmospheric dispersion modelers and emergency managers, this article provides a critical historical perspective on the practical, epistemic, and organizational issues surrounding the use of decision support systems for nuclear emergency management. This perspective suggests that atmospheric dispersion models are embedded within an entire assemblage of institutions, technologies, and practices of preparedness, which are challenged by the uniqueness of each nuclear accident.

Locating Narrative Inquiry with Social Work

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı anlatı anlayışını ve araştırmasını tanımlayarak sosyal hizmet araştırması ve uygulaması için bir yaklaşım sunmaktır. Anlatı araştırmalarına dair yapılan literatür taramasında sosyal hizmette anlatıya dönüşün görünürlülüğü de ele alınmıştır. Felsefi köklerini postmodernizm, sosyal inşacılık, yapılandırmacılık ve feminizden alan anlatı anlayışı ve araştırmaları yaygınlaşarak, bugün hemen hemen her disiplindeki çalışmalara yansımaya başlamıştır. Bu yüzden de anlatı araştırmasının, sosyal hizmet disiplini çerçevesinde tanıtılması önem taşımaktadır. Çalışmada öncelikle deneyim, anlatı, hikaye gibi temel kavramlar bağlantısal olarak açıklanmıştır. Kavramlara dair oluşturulan anlayışın ardından anlatı araştırması, görüşme süreci, hikayenin oluşumu ve analiz biçimleri tanımlanmıştır. Son olarak ise sosyal hizmet araştırmalarında ve uygulamalarında sessizleştirilen ve ötekileştirilen bireylerle çalışma konusu meta ve karşıt anlatılar bağlamında ele alınmıştır.

From indicators to indicating interdisciplinarity: A participatory mapping methodology for research communities in-the-making

This article discusses a project under development called “Inventing Indicators of Interdisciplinarity,” as an example of work in methodology development that combines quantitative methods with interpretative approaches in social and cultural research. Key to our project is the idea that Science and Technology Indicators not only have representative value, enabling empirical insight into fields of research and innovation but simultaneously have organizing capacity, as their deployment enables the curation of communities of interpretation. We begin with a discussion of concepts and methods for the analysis of interdisciplinarity in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and scientometrics, stressing that both fields recognize that interdisciplinarity is contested. To make possible a constructive exploration of interdisciplinarity as a contested—and transformative—phenomenon, we sketch out a methodological framework for the development and deployment of “engaging indicators.” We characterize this methodology of indicating as participatory, abductive, interactive, and informed by design, and emphasize that the method is inherently combinatory, as it brings together approaches from scientometrics, STS, and humanities research. In a final section, we test the potential of our approach in a pilot study of interdisciplinarity in AI, and offer reflections on digital mapping as a pathway towards indicating interdisciplinarity.

The Interplay Between Social Networks and Social Psychology

Despite the dominance of the structural approach in social network research, recent decades have witnessed an increasing emphasis on bringing individual psychology back into network analysis. The integration of network and psychological perspectives notwithstanding, numerous network and psychological phenomena are underexplored. This symposium provides an opportunity to showcase recent research endeavors that integrate social networks and social psychology. Using a variety of research methods, our papers address domains including multiplex ties and trust, lay beliefs and dormant tie utilization, brokerage and personality change, and motivation and network structures. Friendships, Business Roles, and Asymmetric Distrust Perceptions Toward Contracts Presenter: Lei Liu; UCL School of Management Lay Theories of Social Relations on Help-Seeking from Dormant Ties Presenter: Jung Won Lee; ESSEC Business School Presenter: Ko Kuwabara; INSEAD From Stability Comes Change: The Effects of Brokerage on Personality Change and Performance Presenter: Stefano Tasselli; Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus U. Presenter: Martin J. Kilduff; UCL School of Management Goals and Social Networks: The Network Goal Analysis of Organizational Behavior Presenter: James D. Westaby; Columbia U. Presenter: Adam K. Parr; Columbia U.

Critical Narrative Research in Education: Theoretical Premises and Examples of Inquiry

The article is a presentation of the author’s approach in qualitative social research. Critical narrative research is characterized in the context of the linguistic turn. The author presents a model of critical narrative research, which includes the stages of critique, narrative, understanding and change, all described in detail. The article also discusses an example of critical, engaged narrative research on the struggle for recognition in narratives, based on the narrative and identity of the individual and the narrative and identity of the community as introduced by MacIntyre.

Client-centred practice in Scandinavian contexts: A critical discourse analysis

Background: The concept of client-centred practice is an essential element of occupational therapy (OT), but there is a lack of a clear and shared definition of the concept in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark). This may complicate the articulation, discussion, development and implementation of client-centredness in OT practices.Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate and discuss current understandings of client-centred practice in Scandinavian contexts.Material and method: The study was based on a social constructivist research approach in which Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis was applied. The analysis was based on six documents published in Scandinavian OT journals and four documents published in Scandinavian Journal of OT.Results: In Scandinavian contexts, the concept of client-centred practice was articulated in three overall discourses: a client, collaborative and practice discourse. The practice discourse was the most prominent and the source of the other discourses.Conclusions and significance: Occupational therapists (OTs) in the Scandinavian countries have conceptual understandings of client-centred practice that potentially provide the basis for knowledge sharing and collaboration between OT communities. However, the study also found that client-centred practice may not yet be firmly established in all OT practices in Scandinavia.

Kedudukan dan Efektivitas Justice Collaborator di dalam Hukum Acara Pidana

This article aims to analyze and explain the position of justice collaborator in criminal procedural law and the effectiveness of justice collaborator in proof, as an analysis instrument this research uses a case study of a narcotics-specific criminal decision in the Supreme Court where narcotics is an extraordinary crime committed in an organized manner by a drug syndicate narcotics, this research uses a social legal research approach using juridical type, the research data is obtained from an analysis of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number: 920K / Pid.Sus / 2013 which is then analyzed using the effectiveness theory. The Supreme Court Judge determines the defendant as a justice collaborator based on the Supreme Court circular number 4 of 2011 regarding the treatment of whistleblowers and witnesses of collaborating actors (justice collaborator). The results of this study are that the supreme court judge considered the defendant's petition as a justice collaborator who could reveal the illicit trafficking network of international channels and also reveal the main perpetrators of the narcotics distribution.

Semantic analysis on social networks: A survey

SummaryAs social networks are getting more and more popular day by day, large numbers of users becoming constantly active social network users. In this way, there is a huge amount of data produced by users in social networks. While social networking sites and dynamic applications of these sites are actively used by people, social network analysis is also receiving an increasing interest. Moreover, semantic understanding of text, image, and video shared in a social network has been a significant topic in the network analysis research. To the best of the author's knowledge, there has not been any comprehensive survey of social networks, including semantic analysis. In this survey, we have reviewed over 200 contributions in the field, most of which appeared in recent years. This paper not only aims to provide a comprehensive survey of the research and application of social network analysis based on semantic analysis but also summarizes the state‐of‐the‐art techniques for analyzing social media data. First of all, in this paper, social networks, basic concepts, and components related to social network analysis were examined. Second, semantic analysis methods for text, image, and video in social networks are explained, and various studies about these topics are examined in the literature. Then, the emerging approaches in social network analysis research, especially in semantic social network analysis, are discussed. Finally, the trending topics and applications for future directions of the research are emphasized; the information on what kind of studies may be realized in this area is given.

اتجاهات أعضـاء هیئة التدریـس نحـو استخـدام المنهج الکیفـی فـی بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعیة

أولا: مشکلة الدراسة لم ينل المنهج الکيفي في البحوث الإجتماعية عبر تاريخه الطويل اهتماما کالذي نالة خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية ليس فقط نتيجه لطبيعته المعقدة ومکوناته المتداخلة وإنما أيضا لشعور الباحثين في المجال الإجتماعى بأهميته في فهم الواقع الإجتماعى والظواهر الإنسانية بصورة عميقة وصادقة نسبة لما يوفره للباحث من وسائل تمکنه من استخدام مهاراته ومعارفه ووجهات نظره في استجلاء الحقائق وتفسير الواقع ، ولهذا تسعى الدراسة الراهنة إلى تعظيم الإستفادة من مزايا استخدام المنهج الکيفي في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية. ثانيا : مفاهيم الدراسة أ – مفهوم الإتجاه. ب- مفهوم المنهج الکيفي. ثالثا : الإجراءات المنهجية للدراسة: تنتمي هذه الدراسه وفقا لأهدافها إلى نمط الدراسات الوصفية التحليلية واستندت إلى المنهج الکمى والکيفي معا واعتمدت على طريقة المسح الإجتماعى بالعينة على عينة قوامها (78) مفردة من أعضاء هيئة التدريس (أستاذ – أستاذ مساعد – مدرس) بکليات الخدمة الإجتماعية. رابعا : نتائج الدراسة: أ‌- أکدت الدراسة على ضرورة زيادة معارف أعضاء هيئة التدريس حول فنيات ومزايا المنهج الکيفي في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية . ب‌- أشارت الدراسة إلى ضرورة الترکيز على إکساب أعضاء هيئة التدريس مهارات إستخدام مناهج البحث الکيفي في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية . ت‌- أکدت الدراسة على الإستفادة من المنهج الکيفي في تطوير بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية. ث‌- أوصت الدراسة بضرورة إجراء المزيد من الدراسات المستقبلية المعنية بتدعيم اتجاهات أعضاء هيئة التدريس نحو استخدام المنهج الکيفى في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية . Firstly: Study problem: The qualitative method in social research throughout its long history has not received attention such as that which it has gained during the past few years not only due to its complex nature and its intertwined components, but also to the researchers' sense in the social field of its importance in understanding the social reality and human phenomena in a deep and honest way in relation to what it provides the researcher with the means that enables him to use His skills, knowledge and views on clarifying facts and interpreting reality, and for this reason, the current study seeks to maximize the benefit from the advantages of using the qualitative approach in social work research. Secondly: The study concepts: A- Attitude. B- Qualitative Approach. Thirdly: Methodological procedures: According to its objectives, this study belongs to the pattern of descriptive analytical studies and was based on both a quantitative and qualitative approach and relied on the social survey method of the sample on a sample of (78) single faculty members (professor - Associate Professor - assistant professor) at the Faculties of Social Work. Fourthly: Study Results: A- The study emphasized the necessity of increasing the knowledge of faculty members about the techniques and advantages of the qualitative approach in social service research. B- The study indicated that it is necessary to focus on providing faculty members with the skills of using qualitative research methods in social service research. C- The study emphasized the utilization of the qualitative approach in developing social service research. D - The study recommended that more future studies concerned with supporting the faculty members' attitudes towards using the qualitative method in social service research should be conducted.

The capability approach in social work research: A scoping review of research addressing practical social work

This study reports the findings from a scoping review of the use of the capability approach in social work research. We identified 17 peer-reviewed journal articles which actively used the capability approach and addressed social work practice. The purpose was to examine how the use of the capability approach was linked to policies, practices and social justice approaches in social work research. The merits and challenges of the capability approach in social work research are discussed. Four main applications of the capability approach were found: as a tool for social workers in practice, to explore the subjective sense of well-being, to address social inequalities on a structural level, and as a way of evaluating social practices. The capability approach was framed as congruent with the aims of social work, and as a call for action for social workers to promote social justice, human dignity and well-being. Another finding was that empowerment, mostly viewed as a tool for social workers to promote strength in individuals, was closely connected to using a capability approach. The contradictory use of empowerment in social work may carry some lessons for future development of a capability approach in social work. The review indicates that the capability approach is used in a range of different ways and acknowledged as a valuable tool for research in social work.

Social and behavioural research prospects for sexually transmissible infection prevention in the era of advances in biomedical approaches.

In the past two decades, major advances in biomedical intervention approaches to prevent HIV and many sexually transmissible infections (STIs) have shown great promise. However, challenges to prevention remain in the area of achieving population-level impact for biomedical prevention approaches. In this paper we address what social and behavioural research approaches can contribute beyond well-known behaviour change and counselling interventions. We organise work into five areas. Adherence and disinhibition research is primarily into individual-level constructs pertaining to maximising intervention effectiveness. Coverage research represents a population-level construct germane to maximising efficient prioritisation for prevention. Research covering social determinants, a second population-level construct, contributes to both prioritisation and effectiveness. Finally, disparities and social inequities need to be incorporated into prevention, given the pervasive and persistent disparities found in rates of HIV and STIs and in their antecedents.

Lessons learnt: examining the use of case study methodology for nursing research in the context of palliative care

Background An empirical social research approach, facilitating in-depth exploration of complex, contemporary contextualised phenomena, case study research has been used internationally in healthcare studies across clinical settings, to explore systems and processes of care delivery. In the United Kingdom, case study methods have been championed by nurse researchers, particularly in the context of community nursing and palliative care provision, where its applicability is well established. Yet, dogged by conceptual confusion, case study remains largely underutilised as a research approach. Method Drawing on examples from nursing and palliative care studies, this paper clarifies case study research, identifies key concepts and considers lessons learned about its potential for nursing research within the unique and complex palliative and end of life context. Conclusion A case study approach offers nurse researchers the opportunity for in-depth, contextualised understanding of the systems and processes which influence their role in palliative care delivery across settings. However, philosophical and conceptual understandings are needed and further training in case study methodology is required to enable researchers to articulate and conduct case study.

Creativity as a Methodological dimension of Social Research between Quantity and Quality

In this work I address creativity in the process of social sciences research, comparing quantitative and qualitative approaches. In discussing creativity I go back to Chomsky and his distinction between rule-governed and rule-changing creativity. In my analysis I suggest that the quantitative approach is characterized by rule-governed creativity, the qualitative one by rule-changing creativity: these are two models of creativity that the Chomskian vision links to a set of rules. Thus in the first case the creation of the tools by which the researcher collects information is submitted to a set of rules related to substantial and procedural competences. In the second case the creative phase does not have a place in the creation of a tool, but rather in a performance. The idea of performance as a constitutive part in qualitative research is analysed on a substantial basis, revealing the implications of distinct creative processes under different methodological choices. Whilst a quantitative approach requires using procedural and substantial competences, I suggest that in a qualitative enquiry the researcher’s fieldwork is considered as a ‘performance’ because of its adaptive character. The researcher is constantly confronted with unforeseen situations, surrounded by an unknown environment. Also, this use of the notion of ‘performance’ comprehends both elements of the process as well as of the outcome of fieldwork, as it recalls peculiar characteristics of qualitative work: action and interaction, personal involvement and, above all, orientation to a purpose (in this context, the teleological purpose of knowledge production).

Linked lives: Gender, family relations and recurrent care proceedings in England

In the wake of a “national care crisis” in England, an increasing number of parents return to the family court as repeat respondents in care proceedings and lose successive children from their care. Despite considerable progress in understanding the trends and patterns of mothers' (re)appearances in care proceedings, knowledge of fathers and of parents' family relationships in recurrent care proceedings remains very limited. Whilst such relationships are fundamentally at stake in care proceedings, they remain largely unexplored. Analyzing population-level administrative data from the family courts in England (2007/08–2017/18, N = 25,457 recurrent parents), we have, for the first time, uncovered a five-fold typology of family relations between mothers, fathers and children as they navigated repeated sets of care proceedings. We show that each identified profile is characterized by parents' gender as well as distinctive life-course positions of the parents and children. Our findings show that a substantial number of fathers are ‘visible’ in care proceedings, and that the majority of those that return to court do so with the same partners and children, as part of either a recurrent family or recurrent couple. Mothers' recurrence is characterized by their re-partnering experiences and lone appearances before the court. The results underscore the value of applying a relational approach in social work research and practice, to build a fuller picture of recurrent care proceedings. This research provides new evidence to inform the development of holistic, gender-sensitive and father-inclusive services in the English family justice system.

Guide to Imagework: Imagination-Based Research Methods

We are immersed in imagery. We have images of ourselves and images that we portray to the world. We rehearse future action and decisionby imagining how things would be if we did this or that. …We can read intensity of mental imagery as compelling us to act, believe ourselves in loveor to be at one with the divine.
 Dr. Iain R. Edgar – an expert in the anthropology of the imagination – uses the above statement to convince readers of the importance of imageryand introduce a new approach of qualitative social science research, called imagework. The imagework approach is defined as “an active process in whichthe person ‘actively imagining’ lets go of the mind’s normal train of thoughts and images and goes witha sequence of imagery that arises spontaneously from the unconscious” (Edgar, 2004, p. 7). Edgarstrongly believes that imagery influences us in all activities we create, and imagework can discoverand evoke our hidden knowledge and self-identities in a way that other methods in social sciences cannot.

Seasonal Labour Migration: A Case Study of Leh-Town, Ladakh

This paper deals with seasonal migration of labour in the high altitude Leh town. Ladakh region has emerged as an attractive spot for investment due to tourism, strategic importance and cultural diversity which subsequently generated employment in the informal sector and seasonal jobs. Low population density but high labour demand in this region has led to the labour in-migration from within the state, other developing Indian states (like Bihar, UP, Odisha, Jharkhand etc.) of India as well as from Nepal. Due to extreme climate, access barrier and high transport cost, labourers are compelled to move there in the ‘summer’ only, where there are comparatively higher income opportunities. This paper aims to understand the migrant labour dynamics, their negotiations and the policy and actions gaps towards beneficial of the labour rights. This study was conducted with the mixed method approach of social research with the data collection techniques of participant observation, focused group discussion, in-depth interview and collection of secondary data from various government offices. Findings reveal the precarious conditions of the seasonal labours in their workplace and staying, violations of labour rights, lack of organisation, local bias towards them.