Contribution Of Social Sciences Research Articles

The specter of authenticity: Social science after the deconstruction of Romanticism

In a long-forgotten essay, Alvin Gouldner defended the distinctive contributions of Romantic social science. Today, half a century later, very few would risk making a similar plea. Owing to its deconstruction, the discourse of Romanticism has increasingly fallen out of favor in the social sciences, meaning social scientists have progressively come to see Romanticism as less a resource for critique than a bourgeois ideology warranting critical scrutiny. Yet the truth is quite a bit more complicated. For despite its disapproval at the level of social science's explicit culture, Romanticism continues to serve, at the level of implicit culture, as a potent resource for social analysis. We start with a clarification of what we mean by Romanticism. While Romanticism may be an amorphous and multifaceted structure of thought and feeling, like Gouldner, we do not think it lacks coherence. Thus, we outline what we take to be the core dimensions of the ‘Romantic syndrome’, and then survey some of its key figures in Western social thought. Next, we move to a discussion of three select studies about the infiltration of Romanticism into the capitalist heartland—the sphere of work. We demonstrate how, consistent with our argument that Romanticism has become increasingly symbolically polluted within social science, each of these studies critiques the Romantic turn at work, while nevertheless anchoring their critiques in Romanticism, albeit in increasingly implicit fashion. We conclude by offering some reflections on why Romanticism continues to haunt contemporary social science—and why this matters.

Key topics in social science research on COVID-19: An automated literature analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a significant increase in academic research in the realm of social sciences. As such, there is an increasing need for the scientific community to adopt effective and efficient methods to examine the potential role and contribution of social sciences in the fight against COVID-19. This study aims to identify the key topics and explore publishing trends in social science research pertaining to COVID-19 via automated literature analysis. The automated literature analysis employed utilizes keyword analysis and topic modelling technique, specifically Latent Dirichlet Allocation, to highlight the most relevant research terms, overarching research themes and research trends within the realm of social science research on COVID-19. The focus of research and topics were derived from 9733 full-text academic papers. The bulk of social science research on COVID-19 centres on the following themes: 'Clinical Treatment', 'Epidemic Crisis', 'Mental Influence', 'Impact on Students', 'Lockdown Influence' and 'Impact on Children'. This study adds to our understanding of key topics in social science research on COVID-19. The automated literature analysis presented is particularly useful for librarians and information specialists keen to explore the role and contributions of social science topics in the context of pandemics.

Contribution of Social Sciences in Strengthening the Character Education of Elementary School Students

One of the objectives of social studies education is to form good citizens. To be a good citizen, every student must have good character as well. This implies that social studies education must be able to contribute to shaping student character. In this study, we will review the role of social studies education in strengthening character education in elementary schools. This research uses a library research approach. Sources of data are obtained from research results that have been published in scientific journals, books, and legislation related to the education system. The results of the study show that social studies education has a very important role in strengthening character education in elementary schools. The role of Social Studies Education in character building is to contribute in the form of basic values, concepts, and rules in shaping student behavior both in the school environment and in the community environment.

Social Science Contributions to Earthquake Warnings: Commemorating the Work of Dennis S. Mileti

The pioneering work of Dennis Mileti and those with whom he collaborated have established a sound basis in understanding how human beings behave when encountering hazard warnings. His work greatly expanded our understanding of the social environment into which warnings are issued and provided clear guidelines on how warnings should be delivered to optimize behavioral compliance; how warning message content can be construed to motivate protective actions; and why people may fail to comply or delay actions after receipt of a warning. This paper addresses Mileti’s work in earthquake warnings, first in the context of earthquake predictions and later, as optimism waned that accurate earthquake predictions were possible, as his insights were applied to newer approaches in the form of earthquake early warnings and operational earthquake forecasting. This paper will first briefly trace the historical development of approaches to warn of a potentially damaging earthquake because it is important to place Mileti’s work in the historical context in which it was carried out. It then assesses the manner in which the current methods of earthquake warning for short- and intermediate-term time frames via earthquake early warning and operational earthquake forecasting have benefited from Mileti’s very significant observations and insights. His work in evaluating and clarifying the social environment in which warnings are issued is an important and enduring element of his legacy, has significantly influenced how hazard warnings are now formulated, and has greatly shaped the work of those of us who carry on the study of hazard warning systems.

Bias in human data: A feedback from social sciences

AbstractThe fairness of human‐related software has become critical with its widespread use in our daily lives, where life‐changing decisions are made. However, with the use of these systems, many erroneous results emerged. Technologies have started to be developed to tackle unexpected results. As for the solution to the issue, companies generally focus on algorithm‐oriented errors. The utilized solutions usually only work in some algorithms. Because the cause of the problem is not just the algorithm; it is also the data itself. For instance, deep learning cannot establish the cause–effect relationship quickly. In addition, the boundaries between statistical or heuristic algorithms are unclear. The algorithm's fairness may vary depending on the data related to context. From this point of view, our article focuses on how the data should be, which is not a matter of statistics. In this direction, the picture in question has been revealed through a scenario specific to “vulnerable and disadvantaged” groups, which is one of the most fundamental problems today. With the joint contribution of computer science and social sciences, it aims to predict the possible social dangers that may arise from artificial intelligence algorithms using the clues obtained in this study. To highlight the potential social and mass problems caused by data, Gerbner's “cultivation theory” is reinterpreted. To this end, we conduct an experimental evaluation on popular algorithms and their data sets, such as Word2Vec, GloVe, and ELMO. The article stresses the importance of a holistic approach combining the algorithm, data, and an interdisciplinary assessment.This article is categorized under: Algorithmic Development > Statistics

Transdisciplinary transformative change: an analysis of some best practices and barriers, and the potential of critical social science in getting us there

Biodiversity experts now widely acknowledge that transformative change is best supported through transdisciplinary collaborations. Yet, such collaborations rarely successfully occur in major biodiversity research institutions and those that do rarely achieve the paradigmatic effects they aim to deliver. To gain some insight into this global phenomenon, we surveyed Swiss-based researchers and non-academic stakeholders addressing global change and biodiversity. In this article, we connect our findings to global patterns in transdisciplinary transformative change initiatives (TTCIs) and heuristically divide collaboration barriers into two categories: lack of resources and lack of vital functional elements. Two of the major themes that emerged from this research were the continued difficulties with (1) establishing a common ‘language’, understanding, and goals, and (2) meaningful pluralization of knowledge in transdisciplinary collaborations aimed at addressing global change and biodiversity loss. The former is widely cited in the literature as contributing to the failure of TTCIs in the form of incoherent problem-framing, while the latter is often identified as contributing to the lack of structural transformative change (e.g., paradigmatic shifts) in completed initiatives. Another major theme reflected in TTCI literature was limited time. Moreover, based on our own extensive inter- and transdisciplinary experience, we agree with other experts that there is a persistent lack of understanding of the potential contributions of critical social science (CSS) to TTCIs. We thus argue that enhancing resource availability for TTCIs, especially tools for improving CSS literacy, could save time and support both problem-framing alignment and delivery of the structural/paradigmatic changes we aspire to.

A Systematic Literature Review of the Phenomenon of Disinformation and Misinformation

Disinformation threatens the virtue of knowledge. The notion of truth becomes corrupted when citizens believe and give credibility to false, inaccurate, or misleading messages. This situation is particularly relevant in the digital age, where users of media platforms are exposed to different sorts of persuasive statements with uncertain origins and a lack of authenticity. How does academia understand the disinformation problem, and are we equipped to offer solutions? In response to this question, our study provides an overview of the general definitions, trends, patterns, and developments that represent the research on disinformation and misinformation. We conducted a systematic review of <em>N</em> = 756 publications covering eight years, 2014–2022. This period captures phenomena such as Trump’s emergence as a candidate for the US presidency, his term in office, as well as the leadership of figures such as Erdogan in Turkey, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Modi in India, and various similar populist and nationalist leaders across a range of democratic and semi-democratic societies. This period is also one that witnessed the first global pandemic, when misinformation and disinformation not only threatened societal cohesion but the lives of people. This systematic review explores the critical terminology used, the areas of social life where disinformation is identified as problematic, the sources identified as creating or circulating this material, as well as the channels studied, the targets, and the persuasiveness of the discourse. What this article offers, then, is an overview of what we know about disinformation and what gaps in research should be pursued. We conclude that given the problems that misinformation and disinformation are seen to cause for democratic societies, we need to assess the contribution of social science in providing a foundation for scientific knowledge.

Seeking consilience: Traditional ecological knowledge and Western social science contributions to orca conservation knowledge

Consilience is the integration of disciplinary knowledges in search of a more complete truth. In the complex context of conservation, where human activities are increasingly impacting the population status of many species, this endeavor is particularly important. Yet, to date, we have had limited attempts at unifying diverse sources of knowledge around a conservation issue. Focusing on orca conservation specifically, we share the perspectives of five scholars from five disciplines to demonstrate how Indigenous Knowledges and Social Sciences can inform the conservation of Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKWs). We see Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as an original consilient knowledge and Western social sciences as the fields that can best identify and describe the norms and patterns of how to engage conservation. The integration of these broader knowledge systems, driven by individuals trained in their respective fields, with the already existing biophysical data around SRKWs, can help us make better decisions for SRKW conservation.

Mind the net! Unpacking the contributions of social network science for heritage and Bilingualism research

While heritage language (HL) research initially spun off the larger field of first and second language acquisition, it soon became its own field of study. The last two decades have seen an increase in the depth and breadth of HL research, yet due to its relationship to the larger field of language acquisition, it has long relied on the methodologies and paradigms of this research area. Current advances in the field of bilingualism suggest that alternative methods could help answer specific HL research questions by identifying the multiplicity of profiles that encompass HL speakers. This manuscript examines the use of Personal Social Network Science for the field of HL bilingualism and outlines ways in which this methodology can help answer questions about the variability in the speakers’ backgrounds and experiences and how they relate to linguistic outcomes.

Wind erosion in European agricultural landscapes: More than physics

Abstract Wind erosion from agricultural land is an underrated and understudied environmental challenge in Europe. Its societal and policy relevance will likely increase in the near future due to climate change and associated increases in the frequency, severity and patterns of atmospheric events such as droughts. We review the research on this issue and find it to be fragmented, siloed and dominated by natural sciences, leaving important research gaps. The most important gaps that circumscribe a research agenda for the future include specific effects of future climate change on wind erosion, the relevance of wind erosion for public health and ecosystem functioning, farmers' behaviour affecting erosion risk and feedback between land management and environmental change, and appropriate policy approaches to address wind erosion risks. Social science contributions are thus required to make wind erosion research relevant for addressing the related societally most pressing questions. We provide a social–environmental systems perspective to highlight the potential of inter‐ and transdisciplinary research into wind erosion in times of climate change and the increasingly recognized need to transform agriculture towards more sustainability and climate resilience. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Social science for conservation in working landscapes and seascapes

Biodiversity is in precipitous decline globally across both terrestrial and marine environments. Therefore, conservation actions are needed everywhere on Earth, including in the biodiversity rich landscapes and seascapes where people live and work that cover much of the planet. Integrative landscape and seascape approaches to conservation fill this niche. Making evidence-informed conservation decisions within these populated and working landscapes and seascapes requires an in-depth and nuanced understanding of the human dimensions through application of the conservation social sciences. Yet, there has been no comprehensive exploration of potential conservation social science contributions to working landscape and seascape initiatives. We use the Smithsonian Working Land and Seascapes initiative – an established program with a network of 14 sites around the world – as a case study to examine what human dimensions topics are key to improving our understanding and how this knowledge can inform conservation in working landscapes and seascapes. This exploratory study identifies 38 topics and linked questions related to how insights from place-based and problem-focused social science might inform the planning, doing, and learning phases of conservation decision-making and adaptive management. Results also show how conservation social science might yield synthetic and theoretical insights that are more broadly applicable. We contend that incorporating insights regarding the human dimensions into integrated conservation initiatives across working landscapes and seascapes will produce more effective, equitable, appropriate and robust conservation actions. Thus, we encourage governments and organizations working on conservation initiatives in working landscapes and seascapes to increase engagement with and funding of conservation social science.

Nurturing urban innovation and knowledge in the ongoing COVID-19 world

Amidst the catastrophe of COVID-19, segments of the population globally experienced changes in their perspectives on life and the desire to live a more fulfilling life. The study here examines this emergent trend with secondary data available as published survey reports and personal observations using the inductive-reflective method of understanding and theorizing. The findings support the identification of five facets of this new mindset, namely, rise in altruism, growing community-mindedness, increasing focus on health and financial security, searching for work-life balance, and increasing experiences with nature. To channel this emergent mindset, this study proposes five categories of urban innovations: (1) revival of neighborhoods; (2) expansion of parks and nature; (3) investment in urban transportation and greenspaces, (4) incentivizing entrepreneurs for ecology and local “maker economy,” and (5) staging community projects for collective good. The study describes the benefits of these innovations to general population and sets an agenda for urban planners, city managers, and social agencies as citizens begin their ongoing COVID lives. The study closes by advancing ten research proposals for future social science contributions in innovation and knowledge

The role of qualitative social science. Discussion of “Guiding principles for hydrologists conducting interdisciplinary research and fieldwork with participants”

ABSTRACT To understand two-way linkages between water and society, achieve sustainable water management, and effectively communicate science and policy outcomes, Rangecroft et al. (2021) highlight the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between hydrologists and social scientists and outline considerations for conducting fieldwork with participants.1In this discussion, I expand upon Rangecroft et al. (2021) to propose two contributions of qualitative social science for research about social-hydrological systems. First, qualitative social science research can help build an understanding of the lived experiences and perspectives of individuals within hydrological systems with the aim of sustainable water management. Second, drawing from a constructivist theoretical framework, qualitative social science research can highlight nuance and complexity within social-hydrological systems. In my discussion of these contributions, I provide real-world examples of effective data integration from research on the impacts of natural hazards, groundwater governance, understanding systematic vulnerabilities and adaptation to water scarcity, and sustainability science and planning.

Blazing the trail: Social innovation supporting wildfire-resilient territories in Catalonia (Spain)

Mediterranean territories have co-evolved and been shaped by fire throughout history. However, global environmental change conditions are increasing the size, intensity and severity of wildfires, which have gone from a regular natural disturbance to a serious threat for civil protection, surpassing firefighting capacities. Therefore, building resilience in fire-prone territories is an increasingly relevant policy and management objective. However, the notion of resilience has been criticized for paying insufficient attention to key social issues such as socio-political dynamics, power imbalances and societal change. At the same time, social science contributions to wildfire research are still rather limited. In this paper, we bridge social innovation theory to resilience theory in order to create a territorially embedded and socially sensitive framework for assessing socio-ecological resilience. From this perspective, we then examine how Forest Defence Groups (ADFs, by their Catalan acronym) have evolved from grassroots, bottom-up initiatives to well-established bottom-linked institutions and we evaluate their contributions to socio-ecological resilience in the territories where they operate. Our results show that ADFs contribute in several aspects to socio-ecological resilience and that the pave the way for opening up spaces of dialogue and collaboration through which local communities can engage with the issues that directly affect them, such as wildfires.

Social Sciences and Rural Studies in Argentina during the 20th century

This work intends to provide a broad overview of social science contributions in the study of Argentinian agrarian processes and rural contexts. It is intended as a way of organising the literature without too much of a focus on its theoretical or methodological underpinnings. Regardless, the mere fact of selecting some works and not others involves decisions that are not exempt from some kind of academic evaluation. This is evident particularly in the last period in which, surprisingly, I found an abundant and heterogenous production.

One Health: A social science discussion of a global agenda.

This article introduces the Parasite issue dedicated to part of the research in social sciences supported by the Domaine d’Intérêt Majeur de la Région Île-de-France (DIM) One Health [2016–2022]. We show how the four papers of this special issue are related. Jérôme Michalon recalls the genealogy of One Health and analyzes it as an “epistemic watchword”. Using antibiotic resistance as a case study, Estera Badau demonstrates how “One Health” results from a series of formulas and the bringing together of a plurality of fields and actors. Nicolas Lainé and Serge Morand show how One Health fits in with attempts already initiated in the colonial period and context. They highlight the need to (re)legitimize local and non-human knowledge, in order to truly decolonize One Health and better prevent epidemic emergence. Finally, Frédéric Keck, Nicolas Lainé, Arnaud Morvan and Sandrine Ruhlmann show how zoonotic reservoir and cultural practices are linked in the context of three specific societies. This paper highlights two main contributions of social sciences: 1) To think about One Health genealogy, how the question is framed and by which actors. The questions of practices, social representations but also of the environment are less present than the issues of human and animal medicine. The Anthropocene, the Capitalocene, even some of its variations such as the “domesticoscene” thus appear to be key elements. 2) To propose methods and tools that make One Health operational, advocating a less asymmetrical view of types of knowledge (scientific, local, non-human) and more contextualized global health recommendations.

Making sense of unfamiliar COVID-19 vaccines: How national origin affects vaccination willingness.

Vaccination willingness is a critical factor in pandemics, including the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, investigating underlying drivers of vaccination willingness/hesitancy is an essential social science contribution. The present study of German residents investigates the mental shortcuts people are using to make sense of unfamiliar vaccine options by examining vaccination willingness for different vaccines using an experimental design in a quantitative survey. German vaccines were preferred over equivalent foreign vaccines, and the favorability ratings of foreign countries where COVID-19 vaccines were developed correlated with the level of vaccination willingness for each vaccine. The patterns in vaccination willingness were more pronounced when the national origin was shown along with the vaccine manufacturer label. The study shows how non-scientific factors drive everyday decision-making about vaccination. Taking such social psychological and communication aspects into account in the design of vaccination campaigns would increase their effectiveness.

Assyrian merchants meet nuclear physicists: history of the early contributions from social sciences to computer science. The case of automatic pattern detection in graphs (1950s–1970s)

ABSTRACT Community detection is a major issue in network analysis. This paper combines a socio-historical approach with an experimental reconstruction of programs to investigate the early automation of clique detection algorithms, which remains one of the unsolved NP-complete problems today. The research led by the archaeologist Jean-Claude Gardin from the 1950s on non-numerical information and graph analysis is retraced to demonstrate the early contributions of social sciences and humanities. The limited recognition and reception of Gardin's innovative computer application to the humanities are addressed through two factors, in addition to the effects of historiography and bibliographies on the recording, discoverability, and reuse of scientific productions: (1) funding policies, evidenced by the transfer of research effort on graph applications from temporary interdisciplinary spaces to disciplinary organizations related to the then-emerging field of computer science; and (2) the erratic careers of algorithms, in which efficiency, flaws, corrections, and authors' status, were determining factors.

EL SUPUESTO DECLIVE DEL CONSTRUCCIONISMO SOCIAL EN LA PSICOLOGÍA SOCIAL CRÍTICA

Social constructionism has been one of the greatest contributions of social sciences to epistemology debates, which has led to numerous critics; it has been accused of irrational, nullifying the discussion and not allowing political and ethical positioning. On the other hand, supporters of social constructionism contemplate that the position of becoming hegemonic in social sciences have lost their critical capacity, besides that their emphasis on the symbolic has invisibilized the material component of social relations, advocating a post-constructionist scenario, replacing and updating the trend. In the first point, this essay will develop some aspects of antirealism, relativism and the ontological level of construction in order to defend the constructionism from critics and move away from the cartoon with which it has been described. From the steps toward a post-constructionist scenario, it will be argued that several of the ideas proposed by the new theories were already in the conceptions of social constructionism. With the objective to give ideas of social constructionism analyzed from the perspective of critical social psychology.

What do you mean by values? Integration of social with biophysical knowledge in the development of a landscape decision support system

Environmental decision-making is recognised as requiring integration of biophysical and social knowledge, but integration of knowledges based in different epistemic assumptions is challenging. We used an action research approach to observe integration in the development of a landscape decision support system (DSS) for forest and fire management in Victoria, Australia. We found two different knowledge integration processes, conceptually-driven to shape the structure of the DSS and technically-driven through modelling. Project framing dominated by biophysical sciences and technically-driven integration presented a barrier to many potential social science contributions that could connect a DSS with the surrounding social and decision contexts. Nonetheless, some conceptually-driven integration occurred when social researchers contributed their analysis of values of the public to the DSS design. The need for this integration emerged through initial conflict over disciplinary understandings of ‘value’. While initially uncomfortable, this opened the way to differentiate knowledge related to the term and to negotiate some conceptual synthesis and an agreed multidisciplinary list of values to structure the DSS. Technically-driven integration occurred through incorporation of social and biophysical metrics in model software. Our research highlights that bridging concepts such as values and related frameworks act as boundary objects that help in overcoming barriers to integration between social and biophysical knowledge. Integration is itself a potential boundary object and early discussions to differentiate and clarify how the term is understood can help in designing interdisciplinary processes. Critically, projects need adequate time for interdisciplinary differentiation, tolerance amongst the team for uncomfortable conversations, and leadership that fosters interdisciplinary interactions to achieve a high degree of knowledge integration.