Social Science Concepts Research Articles

Samantha Adams Festschrift: Sam Adams and the Social Construction of Technology and Health-Implications for Biomedical Informatics.

Clinical informatics, as an applied subdiscipline of biomedical informatics (BMI), must expertly use concepts from BMI core disciplines to design and deploy technologies to improve human health. The core disciplines include, among others, computer science, medicine, and social science. Applying social science concepts is perhaps the most challenging because issues related to people and organizations often have many interpretations, explanations, and solutions. Sam Adams, a social scientist who enjoyed engaging the most complex theoretical domains, made valuable contributions to thorny social problems at the intersection of technology and people. In this article, we argue that her work and the theoretical topics she chose for emphasis should be more widely consumed by practitioners in clinical informatics. As an example, we focus on social constructionism, one general theoretical topic she favored. Sam used social constructionism to explore domains relevant to today's practicing clinical informaticist, including cybersecurity and social media.

Ideology, Leaders and Employee Behaviour: An Integration of Transformational Leadership Theory

Myriad of literature and studies on ideology articulate it as a concept and theory elaborating on its formation process, attributions and connotations; laying emphasis on it as a social or political science concept without inclining it to employee behaviour in businesses. This paper investigates the role of ideologies of leaders in their decision making and its effect on employee behaviour, focusing on entrepreneurs of SMEs and their employees in Ghana. The study adopts the quantitative approach using structured questionnaires as the main data collection tool. Considering conservatism and liberalism as the main forms of leadership ideologies, the transformational leadership theory is used as the lens to explain the authors’ synthesised concept of leadership ideologies and employee behaviour. A regression analysis, utilising the tolerance statistical model, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the variance inflation factor (VIF) is used to assess the multicollinearity (correlations) that exists between the variables. The coefficients of correlation reveal a positive relationship between leadership ideologies and employee behaviour. The study establishes that employee behaviour, to a limited degree is determined by the ideologies held by leaders. The researchers recommend liberalism as a more favourable leadership ideology for encouraging the realization of individual potentials of employees, enhancing creativity and cohesiveness at the workplace such as attained under transformational leadership.

PERKEBUNAN KELAPA DALAM DI DUSUN API-API 1970an – 1990an

Abstract The purpose of this research is to describe the growth and development of the coconut plantation sector in the Api-Api village which is an important economic sector for the society, especially for economic actors involved in economic activities. It also aims to explain the economic life of residents in the Api-Api village ranging from those who became farmers as well as owners, laborers, and toke as a result of the growing sector of the coconut plantation. The research used the history method, which has stages of research from heuristics, criticism, interpretation, and historiography that aims to achieve historical truth. The historical method is a set of systematic principles and rules for collecting historical sources effectively, critically assessing, and presenting systematically in the form of a written report This research also use of a multidisciplinary theoretical approach by applying other social sciences concepts such as economics and sociology. The findings in the field show that the Coconut Dalam Plantation in the Api-Api village is a hereditary effort, continuously experiencing improvement and progress starting from the number and area of land, the number of farmers as well as the owners of coconut plantation, wage labor, and toke, various types of production coconut, and the widespread marketing area. Keywords: Plantation, Coconut Dalam, Progress, Api-Api Village

Gatekeeping practices, gatekeeper states and beyond

ABSTRACTThis article is a response to critics of the concept of the gatekeeper state, whose contributions have been collected in this volume. Emphasizing the importance of thinking with rather than in social science concepts, I acknowledge the efforts of contributors to work with, beyond, and against the concept of gatekeeper state. Gatekeeping is a common strategy not only of states but of organizations that control nodal points in networks of interchange. But the extreme inequality between the resources within African states and those of the wealthy corporations, financial institutions, and states outside of Africa makes the sovereignty which African states gained after decolonization into a privileged tool of governing elites and also a principle target of their rivals. Rather than positing patronage politics and vulnerability to coups as intrinsically African phenomena, the concept of gatekeeper state puts the accent on strategic responses to a situation of political boundedness of African states and asymmetrical relations with the outside world. All the contributors, like the present author, are trying to come to find ways to think about Africa’s place in a highly unequal world.

The Biblical World of Limited Good in Cultural, Social, and Technological Perspective

Forty years ago, Bruce Malina led the way in applying social-scientific models and concepts to the study of the New Testament. He especially argued that respectful reading scenarios could be drawn from the cultural anthropology of the Mediterranean world, which offered the nearest contemporary analogy to biblical societies. His early work on limited good beliefs in biblical cultures is here extended to investigate links between cultural beliefs and conditions of agrarian economic production and to test several corollaries in the cases of the Jesus group in Palestine and Christ-followers in the Roman cities. It is argued that limited good beliefs in the New Testament are related to the actual conditions of the low-productive societies and social-stratification realities in which the Bible was inscribed.

“How does This Man have Learning, Since He is without Education” (John 7:15)

Paul says that he “knows the mind of Jesus.” And this study seeks the same goal, but one that focuses on Jesus' socialization into the cultural world of the House of Israel. We will consider the Gospel of Luke from the perspective of several social science models. We can learn much about Jesus when we consider him (1) as a group-oriented person; (2) as “socialized” to know about Israel's cultural world; (3) as a participant in Israel's purity system. (4) when we employ native rhetorical genres which instruct a speaker/writer to look for certain things, such as chreiai, which demonstrate the superior wit and wisdom of a recognized wise man, and two of the encomium's topics, “Nurture and Training” and “Accomplishments”; (5) when we evaluate the recovered materials in terms of the social-science concepts of “norms,” “customs,” and “laws”; and (6) when we consider the treatment of Jesus' paideia in Hebrews. Thus we recover and evaluate the materials concerning Jesus' socialization of the laws and traditions of Israel.

The use of cartoon illustration for the assessment of social science concepts

The assessment of conceptual knowledge presents a challenge, particularly at the university level, at which large class size precludes individual assessment for assessment through multiple-choice examinations. This practitioner essay sets forth an alternative format: the use of cartoon illustration as a tool for the assessment of students’ conceptual knowledge. The context is an upper-division (third- and fourth-year students) psychology class at an American public research university. Student artwork is included, past research is discussed, and implications for the future are considered.

The Biosocial Approach to Human Development, Behavior, and Health Across the Life Course.

Social and biological phenomena are widely recognized as determinants of human development, health, and socioeconomic attainments across the life course, but our understanding of the underlying pathways and processes remains limited. To address this gap, we define the "biosocial approach" as one that conceptualizes the biological and social as mutually constituting, and that draws on models and methods from the biomedical and social/behavioral sciences. By bringing biology into the social sciences, we can illuminate mechanisms through which socioeconomic, psychosocial, and other contextual factors shape human development and health. Human biology is a social biology, and biological measures can therefore identify aspects of social contexts that are harmful, as well as beneficial, with respect to well-being. By bringing social science concepts and study designs to biology and biomedicine, we encourage an epistemological shift that foregrounds social/contextual factors as important determinants of human biology and health. The biosocial approach also underscores the importance of the life course, as assessments of both biological and social features throughout human development over time, and across generations, are needed to achieve a full understanding of social and physical well-being. We conclude with a brief review of the papers in the volume, which showcase the value of a biosocial approach to understanding the pathways linking social stratification, biology, and health across the life course.

Teorie kulturní mezery: sociální věda a její publikum v díle Thorsteina Veblena a Williama F. Ogburna

The article analyses the theories of cultural lag elaborated by Thorstein Veblen and William F. Ogburn. In particular, it pursues two motives: how the relation between social science and its audience had been implied in their respective approaches, and how the “lag” argument had been employed in their view of the “purpose” of social science. It is demonstrated here that the essentially identical theory had been transformed in their “argumentative strategies” and “styles of writing” to fit their distinctive (critical and instrumental) concepts of social science. Veblen’s key motif of “self-confrontation” of society is contrasted with Ogburn’s motif of “applicability” of knowledge with regard to reflections on literary technologies of science.

Access in the Food Environment: A Health Equity Approach Reveals Unequal Opportunity

Evidence shows that not all places offer people equal access to affordable, healthy food; unequal access is a potential explanation for disparities in health. This study applied the theoretically grounded social science concept of health equity to shift the focus from equal (same for all) to equitable (needs-based) access. Using data from Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart (TNH2H), a large community-based participatory research (CBPR) initiative in Denver, Colorado, this article examines how food access can vary based on social advantage and disadvantage ( n = 926). Findings uncovered important inequities and demonstrated a new and promising approach to understanding the food environment–health relationship.

The Messiness of Meaning Making: Examining the Affordances of the Digital Space as a Mentoring and Tutoring Space for the Acquisition of Academic Literacy

Having incorporated a digital aspect to our academic literacy course, and having monitored this over the last three years, we have come to believe that online mentoring can serve as an essential form of tutoring and mentoring. Our study is located in the field of New Literacy Studies and examines the affordances of a digital space in a first year academic literacy course in the Humanities. We focus on students’ acquisition of academic literacy, as well as critical thinking and reflexivity around a core social science concept; identity. Here, we refer to the ability to think critically and reflexively, as the ‘analytical mode’, a key driver in shaping the pedagogy of the course. In this paper, we explore the online participation of two students and how they engage with the theme of identity, not only as an academic concept but also as one intrinsically linked with how they see themselves in a diverse post-apartheid South African context. We argue that the digital space promotes a particular form of the ‘analytical mode’ as students grapple with texts and concepts on the academic literacy course. Using a qualitative case study methodology, our analysis of students’ online interaction revealed that the digital space allowed students to express themselves with a level of depth and sophistication, and to share dissident views that could not be expressed in the traditional classroom space. Furthermore, we argue that the digital space can suspend students’ urgency to agree or disagree with the arguments of authors they read. By holding students between the two positions of agreement and disagreement, we propose that the digital space becomes a space of reflexive1 discomfort which captures various moments in students’ drafting processes as they operate within the analytical mode. Therefore, we argue that the digital space, if harnessed with a particular type of mentoring philosophy and pedagogy that activates the analytical mode, can free up. the traditional forms of academic mentoring and tutoring within the academy. This allows students the freedom to live with the messiness of their texts and to grapple with their conceptual understanding, and in doing so, develop their ‘authorial self’ (Clark & Ivanic, 1997).

MAKNA DAN NILAI SIMBOLIS UPACARA KEMATIAN YANG DILAKSANAKAN OLEH MASYARAKAT DESA SELEMAN KABUPATEN KERINCI-JAMBI

Human beings are cultured, this is manifested because of an interaction between humans and the universe in which it is located On that basis then the diversity of cultures of ethnic groups around the world according to their mindset by learning from the environment in which they live. Culture is created by human activity. This human activity can be seen from various aspects such as marriage, ceremonies of death, art, customs and so forth. Man as a creature that creates culture is an inseparable unity, although man will die later, but what he has obtained will be passed on to his future generations. For the villagers of Seleman, death is not just a matter of the exodus of the spirit, but it is also a sacred event that becomes the entrance of man to the next. Death is not the end of the journey of human life, but it is the beginning of another life. As the beginning of a new life, it is natural to prepare all the necessities needed in a new life. The ceremony of death conducted by the community of Seleman Village Kerinci-Jambi Regency, if examined deeply, then it contains values and concepts in social science that can be used as a reference in life together and the provision of life in the future. These values include mutual cooperation, humanity, andreligion. The value of mutual cooperation and humanity is reflected in the behavior of the people around the family who are experiencing the disaster. In this case, without being asked, every family came to express their condolences and help by sending one of their members (women) to the house of a mourning family carrying some rice. Meanwhile, the men, in addition to assisting in the preparation of burials, also prepared the woodsneededforcookinginordertosave (Festivity). Keywords : Culture, Death Ceremony, Seleman, Value, Mutual Cooperation.

Science and Power

“The means by which enlightened rulers and sagacious generals moved and conquered others, that their achievements surpassed the masses, was advance knowledge. Advance knowledge cannot be gained from ghosts and spirits, inferred from phenomena, or projected from the measures of heaven, but must be gained from men, for it is the knowledge of the enemy’s true situation.” Sun Tze, Bing Fa, 13 (perhaps 500 BC). “Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.” [For knowledge itself is power] Francis Bacon (1561–1626) (Religious Meditations—Of Heresies). “I am selling what the whole world wants: power.” Matthew Boulton (1711–1780) (Letter to Catherine the Great of Russia, offering steam engines for sale). “Modern industry has established the World Market.” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, (The Communist Manifesto, 1848). “The fundamental concept in social science is Power, in the same sense in which Energy is the fundamental concept in physics.” Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) (“Power: A New Social Analysis,” 1938)

The Park is Ruining our Livelihoods. We Support the Park! Unravelling the Paradox of Attitudes to Protected Areas

Despite considerable field-based innovation and academic scrutiny, the nexus between conservation approaches, local support for parks and park effectiveness remains quite puzzling. Common approaches to understanding notions of environmental justice are to understand distributional and procedural issues, representation in decision making, and recognition of authorities and claims. We took a different approach and analysed environmental justice claims through institutional, ideational and psychological lenses. We sought to understand how the national park could have such broad support from local communities despite their acknowledgement that it severely curtailed their livelihoods. We conducted 100 household interviews in three villages that border Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area. Our study found that villagers 1) hold on to broken promises by the State for agricultural activities and alternative revenues without fully changing forest use behaviours; 2) were influenced heavily by the ‘educational’ programmes by the State; 3) accepted the authority of the State and lack of participation in decision-making based on historical experiences and values; 4) justified their burdens by over-emphasising the positive aspects of the park. Our findings present a complementary framework to explain environmental justice claims, allowing for a nuanced analysis of how people respond to justices and injustices, and specifically how injustices can be identified through proven social science concepts.

INANG-INANG DI PASAR ANGSO DUO JAMBI 1974 – 2005

AbstracThis study aims to describe Inang-inang economy activities at Angso Duo Market of Jambi from the emergence to the effects of economic life of the perpetrators, especially from the acquisition of income earned. The research method used is historical method, covering the stages of Heuristik, Source Critique, Interpretation, and Historiography. The approach used is a theoretical approach that is multidisciplinary by applying other social sciences concepts such as economics and sociology. The results showed that the economic activities act of Inang-inang as traders at Angso Duo Market of Jambi. Although only a trader, but this profession still remains to be one of the livehood options for those who are involved in working on it. This is because it can be improve the welfare of the Inang-inang go through it.Keywords : Inang-inang, Angso Duo Market, Jambi City

BURUH DI PERKEBUNAN SAWIT RAKYAT DI DESA SUMBER MULYA 1993-2011

Abstract The purpose of this research is to describe the economic activity and the role of the workers in the palm plantations in Desa Sumber Mulya and explain the economic life of the workers result of the influence of the economic activities of the people's palm plantations. The research method used is historical method, which is a process of testing and critically analyzing past events, with stages starting from heuristics, criticism, interpretation, historiography. The approach used is a multidisciplinary theoretical approach by applying other social sciences concepts such as economics and sociology. . The results showed that the community palm plantations in Desa Sumber Mulya show progressive conditions, one of them in terms of increasing the number of workers and wages of workers every year so as to improve their economic life. Not only have an economic impact on labor, this oil palm plantation also affects the economic condition of the farmers as well as the owners of the palm plantation due to the continued increase in profits.Keywords: palm plantation, Labor, farmer, Sumber Mulya

Tourists, mobilities and paradigms

Kuhn's perception of paradigms changed over time, and eventually he considered the exemplar to be a defining feature of specialised scientific communities, the sole arbiters of scientific progress, who possess a shared lexicon, more or less incommensurable to non-members. The ensuing debate as to whether or not paradigms, including the new mobilities paradigm (NMP), are found in the social science is summarised, and claims it is of special relevance to tourism studies are examined. Authenticity has indeed been a key concept, but the 'discourse of authenticity' has not dominated tourism studies, and Western and Asian scholars, despite a slow start, are now increasingly and successfully applying Western social science concepts to Asian (especially Chinese) tourism without recourse to a 'Non-Western' or 'Asian' paradigm. However, while 'mobilities' is not a paradigm, the NMP is a useful perspective that is commensurable with different theoretical approaches to tourism and other forms of travel.

Why PLS-SEM is suitable for complex modelling? An empirical illustration in big data analytics quality

The emergence of multivariate analysis techniques transforms empirical validation of theoretical concepts in social science and business research. In this context, structural equation modelling (SEM) has emerged as a powerful tool to estimate conceptual models linking two or more latent constructs. This paper shows the suitability of the partial least squares (PLS) approach to SEM (PLS-SEM) in estimating a complex model drawing on the philosophy of verisimilitude and the methodology of soft modelling assumptions. The results confirm the utility of PLS-SEM as a promising tool to estimate a complex, hierarchical model in the domain of big data analytics quality.

Text, Image, and the Problem with Perfection in Nineteenth-Century France: Utopia and Its Afterlife

This book investigates the turning point that occurred in the middle of nineteenth-century France when utopia shifted from its literary ambitions to a social-scientific concept aimed at laying the grounds for a better, fairer society. By using passions as the central focus, the author's aim is to circumscribe what he calls the utopian “afterlife” that characterizes fin de siècle France and evolved as dystopia later on in the twentieth century. Indeed, the scope of the book runs through a corpus representing the nineteenth century from Romanticism to fin de siècle literature. The introduction exposes very thoroughly the contextual emergence of utopias in nineteenth-century France and seeks to position them within “an aesthetic of change” (29) from artistic to a more science-focused, rationalized world from which the utopian afterlife grew. Daniel Sipe's notion of the afterlife is theorized within a critical framework as a transitional state, a tension that emerges from critically looking back at the utopian discourse while moving toward a more conflicted, individually centered expression of the self.The first chapter looks at Chateaubriand's Atala and Hugo's La fonction du poëte as part of the tensions among the function of the artist, his or her position within the utopianism realm, and its role in society. Sipe successfully demonstrates how the passions of the characters undermine Chateaubriand's vision of social harmony and are in fact more of a hindrance. Instead of sublimating utopia as a way to allow the expression of passion, Sipe reveals that, on the contrary, it undermines it. One of the strong parts of the book is the critique of Cabet's Voyage en Icarie, a novel that blurs the lines between literary and social conceptions of utopia. Contrasting the rigorously established system described by Cabet in the novel with Grandville's satirist Un autre monde strongly highlights the futility of the utopian systems and the void they were falling into. Sipe has chosen to focus on C. Baudelaire and G. Courbet in his third chapter as embodiments of the turning point that characterizes French utopianism after the 1848 Revolution and how their respective work as utopian visionaries switches later on in the century to dystopian currents through sedition and fetishized objects. The final chapter shows how the female automaton in literature exemplifies the move toward a more mechanical, unconscious, and pathological representation of desires and passion and its role within the social conception of interaction. It is a compelling perspective to frame the legacy of the utopian afterlife while at the same time announcing the emergence of dystopia that became prevalent in the twentieth century. Daniel Sipe's book provides an acute and precise analysis of the literary, sociohistorical, and cultural productions of the time, making his work a truly interdisciplinary contribution to the field of utopian studies.

Locating Social Stigma on Sick Bodies: A Study on the Influence of Social Perceptions on Womens Health

본 논문에서는 우리 사회에서 비규범적인 몸에 대한 사회적 낙인 행위가 어떻게이루어지는 지를 살펴보고자 한다. 낙인에 대한 비판은 종종 비규범적인 몸이 사회적 낙인을 만들어내고 강화시킨다는 사실을 지적하는 규범적인 차원에 그치곤 하며사회과학적인 개념으로서 낙인이라는 개념이 가지는 적실성에 대한 논의를 건너 뛴채 일반적이고 상식적인 용법으로 사용되는 경향이 있다. 이러한 인식은 종종 우리가 낙인이 무엇인지 알고 있다는 생각으로 이어지기도 한다. 그러나 낙인이란 고정된 것이라기 보다는 사회적 역동 속에서 만들어지고 작용하는 것으로서, 일상에 대한 구체적인 천착 없이 선험적으로 이해할 수 있는 것이 아니다. 이를 위해 2014년4월부터 8월까지 약 4개월 여 동안 25명의 중증 질환, 주로 암을 앓은 경험을 가진 여성들을 대상으로 한국여성민우회와 함께 진행한 인터뷰 조사를 자료로 삼았다. 본 논문은 정상과 비정상의 경계에 선 이들 여성들이 일상으로 복귀하는 과정에서 가족이나 일터, 병원에서 겪은 경험을 사회적 고통의 측면에서 살펴볼 것이며, 이를 통해 아픈 몸에 대한 사회적 낙인이 이루어지는 구체적인 과정에 주목하고, 동시에 그러한 낙인은 어디에서 어떻게 오는가에 대한 분석을 시도하고자 한다.This paper examines the way social stigmatization of the non-normative body occurs in contemporary Korean society. Critiques of stigma often target the normative level and focus on the way society creates and strengthens social stigma; yet, they tend to perceive stigma in a commonsensical way and not as a social science concept. Thus, this approach often leads to the idea that we already know what stigma actually is and how it is experienced. However, stigmatization is not an automatic process, and stigma is being created and functioning in the dynamics of a specific social configuration. In this sense, stigma is not something that can be understood a priori without a concrete inquiry into everyday life. For this research, the author, with Korean WomenLink, a feminist NGO, interviewed 25 women who had experiences of severe illnesses, mainly cancer, from April to August 2014 for about 4 months. This paper explores their experience in family and at workplaces or hospitals in the process of returning to their normal lives. By focusing on the specific process of social stigmatization, this paper aims to locate the way social stigma as social suffering emerges, expands and disappears.