Contribution Of Social Sciences Research Articles

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.

Expectations in Past and Modern Economic Theory. Foreword

This topic is not really new. Every economist or person interested by economic activity knows the crucial direct or indirect importance of the forecasts or views that decision makers hold about future prices, sales, incomes, profitability or other key microeconomic or macroeconomic magnitudes. As many commentators (see, for instance, Leijonhufvud [1986: 4]) mentioned, the central difference between economics and natural sciences precisely lies in the forward-looking predictions and decisions made by economic agents since certainty and determinism do not often prevail in the working of the economic system. Therefore, the analysis of the contents and the impact of expectations on the micro- and the macro-economic variables is complex and often requires sophisticated reflections and tools as well as the use of the contributions of other natural (mathematics, physics) or social (psychology, sociology, philosophy) sciences. This is the reason why expectations provide a basic building block of economic theory. Notably they lie at the core of economic dynamics as they usually determine, not only the behavior of the agents, but also the main properties of the economy related to the evolution of these behavior in time. A central aspect of economic theories is indeed that expectations influence the time path of the economy, and conversely it must be the case that time path influences expectations.

Agroforestry-Based Ecosystem Services: Reconciling Values of Humans and Nature in Sustainable Development

Agroforestry as active area of multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary research aims to bridge several artificial divides that have respectable historical roots but hinder progress toward sustainable development goals. These include: (1) The segregation of “forestry trees” and “agricultural crops”, ignoring the continuity in functional properties and functions; the farm-scale “Agroforestry-1” concept seeks to reconnect perennial and annual, woody and nonwoody plants across the forest–agriculture divide to markets for inputs and outputs. (2) The identification of agriculture with provisioning services and the assumed monopoly of forests on other ecosystem services (including hydrology, carbon storage, biodiversity conservation) in the landscape, challenged by the opportunity of “integrated” solutions at landscape scale as the “Agroforestry-2” concept explores. (3) The gaps among local knowledge of farmers/agroforesters as landscape managers, the contributions of social and ecological sciences, the path-dependency of forestry, environmental or agricultural institutions, and emerging policy responses to “issue attention cycles” in the public debate, as is the focus of the “Agroforestry-3” concept. Progress in understanding social–ecological–economic systems at the practitioners–science–policy interface requires that both instrumental and relational values of nature are appreciated, as they complement critical steps in progressing issue cycles at the three scales. A set of hypotheses can guide further research.

Advancing translational research in environmental science: The role and impact of social sciences

Increasing recognition of the complexity of environmental problems, and the need to understand social processes and human values, is leading environmental management agencies in many nations, including the USA, to integrate more research from the social sciences through the inclusion of social scientists on interdisciplinary teams. For this study we conducted focus groups at three research laboratories within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development to better understand how inclusion of social sciences influenced the research process and outcomes, and the barriers to and facilitators of integration. The focus groups identified effects on the research process including improved problem framing, the introduction of new methodologies, and greater stakeholder and public inclusion, while research outcomes included the inclusion or refinement of social and environmental perspectives and systems thinking, increased translatability of research, and new partnerships. Barriers identified included lack of familiarity with social sciences which affected perceptions of social sciences and organizational capacity to absorb and apply social science expertise. Facilitators included receptivity of team members, intentional communication strategies, and project structures and organizational commitment that support interdisciplinary work. Finding a key barrier to be lack of clarity about the different roles social sciences play in translational research, we present a conceptual model defining the roles and contributions of social scientists that clarifies the distinction between “integration” of social sciences in research and “application” of skills and knowledge from the social sciences which play distinct but equally important roles in translational research approaches and solutions-driven research. These insights on the ways social sciences contribute to translational research efforts advance integration of social and natural sciences in environmental science research, particularly in applied contexts.

Social dimensions of evidence-based policy in a digital society

ABSTRACT A plethora of evidence demonstrates the effects of the digitisation of society on everyday life. Developments in web science (the world wide web), online technologies (internet of things, social media, e-governance), artificial intelligence and robotics present major challenges for contemporary societies. These technological advances create risks (loss of autonomy, cybercrime, online abuse, threats to children’s safety and national security) and opportunities (climate change mitigation, responses to global health scourges, medical therapies, intergenerational connectivity, smart cities). This article focusses on the contribution of the social sciences to the digital revolution, whether it be in the public or private sectors, civil society or households. The authors explore how technological innovations can result from international cooperation between researchers in different disciplines. They consider how evidence from the social sciences is used to measure the societal impacts of technological change in different cultural, economic and political contexts. They review the ethical issues raised by the datafication of society and autonomous learning machines, while assessing the contribution of social sciences to the policymaking process in the digital age.

Alternative energy imaginaries: Implications for energy research, policy integration and the transformation of energy systems

The paper highlights shortcomings in the contribution of qualitative social sciences and humanities (SSH) research to tackling challenges connected with energy and climate change. These shortcomings are illustrated based on analysis of data gathered in relation to EU (e.g. Horizon 2020; FP7) and European national research funding and energy policy. The paper finds that a techno-economic energy imaginary continues to dominate European energy systems and governs expectations of energy research and its conduct, the integration of SSH with energy policy-making and the framing and foci of policy. A more nuanced, context-sensitive approach is presented as an alternative ‘practices and cultural change’ energy imaginary. This emphasises attention to social practices relevant to energy use, interdisciplinarity and the coproduction of knowledge with diverse actors. Adoption of such an imaginary can help to enhance policy integration of SSH and the contribution of SSH to ameliorating energy and climate change challenges while providing insight into why gaps occur between (supra)national energy policy and local practices.

Strengthening Family Resilience through Financial Management Education in Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic

The spread of Covid-19 in a short time paralyzed the order of life as well as had a real impact on social and economic aspects. Mitigation and preparation for household economic recovery are the contributions of social science that are used as the basis for policy change for the Indonesian nation. Households are at the core of the nation's economic resilience. The household is a unit of analysis that cannot be ignored considering that this country cannot have high resilience when the household cannot survive properly. This research is aimed at examining how the economic impact of households in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and how the solution focuses on the accuracy of household financial management.

Debito, finanza, rischio e crisi

Starting from the events that led to the 2007 financial crisis, interest in the contribution of social sciences to debt analysis has grown steadily. The book The Sociology of Debt edited by Mark Featherstone aims to provide the reader with the map of the most recent perspectives and issues on this topic, focusing in particular on the social embeddedness of debt and its effect in the debtor-creditor relationship, both at the micro-level (individuals and families) and the macro-level (between states). However, this critical note argues that the authors’ goal is only partially achieved. In fact, the text provides interesting theoretical and analytical considerations, but: i) part of the available scientific literature on the social role and implications of debt is ignored; ii) the empirical analysis of the phenomenon is poorly developed: iii) the appreciable aspiration to multidisciplinarity leads to neglect the extensive knowledge already existing on debt from a sociological perspective.

The Contribution of the Humanities and Social Sciences to Pharmacy Education: Literature Review and Perspectives.

Background: Healthcare systems worldwide adapt to patients’ needs and expectations, following social evolutions. Pharmaceutical practice has shifted towards activities such as therapeutic education. Such new missions require to prioritize human and social sciences, which now play a predominant role in training. Objective: This work consists of assessing the contribution of human and social sciences to the field of pharmacy, with a twofold focus on practice and training. Method: A literature review was carried out according to the PRISMA guidelines focusing on the last 10 years. Selected full texts were read and analyzed to elicit the contribution of human and social sciences to pharmacy. Results: Overall 36 articles were included. Three specific topics were identified during an inductive process of full text analysis: public health policy, patient care, and interprofessional collaboration. Conclusions: Although human and social sciences are essential to the evolution of the pharmacist profession, their impact on health care costs remains difficult to evaluate. Moreover, teaching human and social sciences can prove difficult to standardize. Such approaches must be supported and organized by governments and universities with a view of upscaling practices.

A multidimensional framework to inform stakeholder engagement in the science and management of invasive and pest animal species

Beyond measurement of the ecological and economic impacts of invasive species and pest control on conservation, agricultural productivity and ecosystem services, there are multiple social and human dimensions which influence how stakeholders perceive and respond to research and management strategies. Given the increasing global attention on interdisciplinarity to enhance conservation research and management outcomes, we present a multidimensional framework to inform stakeholder engagement which consolidates current social sciences contributions to invasion science. Beyond unpacking the multiple drivers for considering the social dimensions of knowledge, emotions, trust and risk, we identify the ethical considerations for including social perspectives in research planning and decision-making. The framework captures the multiple personal, individual, institutional and governance dimensions of invasive species control and demonstrates how these dimensions relate. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for invasion science, policy and practice.

Energy recovery on the agenda. Waste heat: a matter of public policy and social science concern

Waste heat from industry or urban facilities represents a largely underused and long disregarded energy source, while heating and cooling count for half the final energy demand in Europe. From the early 2010s onwards, waste heat recovery (WHR) is being recognized as a key challenge for energy transition and tends to be integrated into energy strategies at different levels. This paper provides an analysis of how WHR became a matter of public policy in Europe and in France. Based on a literature review, the analysis shows that WHR has been framed as a techno-economic problem, while some barriers (legal, organizational) to its development remain largely unaddressed. A study of European and French energy agendas illustrates how WHR progressively started to be recognized as an energy resource next to renewables. As a result, questions are raised as to further social science contributions to an extended research agenda addressing WHR.

The COVID-19 Contagion–Pandemic Dyad: A View from Social Sciences

The objective of this concept paper focuses on the relevance of the analytical potential of Social Sciences for understanding the multiple implications and challenges posed by the COVID-19 contagion–pandemic dyad. This pandemic is generating a global threat with a high number of deaths and infected individuals, triggering enormous pressure on health systems. Most countries have put in place a set of procedures based on social distancing, as well as (preventive) isolation from possible infected and transmitters of the disease. This crisis has profound implications and raises issues for which the contribution of Social Sciences does not seem to be sufficiently mobilised. The contribution of Social Sciences is paramount, in terms of their knowledge and skills, to the knowledge of these problematic realities and to act in an informed way on these crises. Social Sciences are a scientific project focused on interdisciplinarity, theoretical and methodological plurality. This discussion is developed from the systems of relationships between social phenomena in the coordinates of time and place, and in the socio-historical contexts in which they are integrated. A pandemic is a complex phenomenon as it is always a point of articulation between natural and social determinations. The space of the discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic can be understood as the expression of a coalition of discourses, i.e., the interaction of various discourses, combined in re-interpretative modalities of certain realities and social phenomena. The circumstantial coalitions of interests, which shape the different discursive records and actions produced by different agents of distinct social spaces, enable the acknowledgement and legitimation of this pandemic threat and danger, and the promotion of its public management.

Industry 4.0 and the Roles of Social Sciences and Humanities

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) has become a new reality at a global scale. The exponential growth of technology is changing many aspects of human lives including economy, culture, society and lifestyles while posing new challenges in the areas of workforce, state management and ethics in a digital age. This article serves as an introductory account to examine such issues and highlight the contribution of social sciences and humanities in raising awareness, skill training and shaping ethical values in the era of Industry 4.0. Social sciences and humanities may find opportunities in utilizing their advantages in provides the workforce with soft/transferrable skills, enhancing their capacities in optimizing technological advancements. Besides, the rise of artificial intelligence also put forward issues which requires expertise of social scientists and humanities scholars in order to ensure the harmony of technology and humanistic elements. We also argue that in order to take the most out of the technological advancements brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the cooperation among social sciences and humanities, sciences and technology is extremely crucial.

Environmental imaginaries and the environmental sciences of antimicrobial resistance

The environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance has expanded the scope and scale of policy concern and research interest in antimicrobial resistance to include not just clinical and agricultural settings but a wide variety of environmental spaces and places. This article examines the ways in which environmental scientists researching the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance produce culturally specific forms of environmental imaginaries as a means of stabilising complex, uneven and open-ended environmental, human and microbial relations. These imaginaries work to structure the gaze of scientific enquiry towards particular places, objects and scales, and justify particular decisions and practices over others. Drawing on the imaginaries literature from Science and Technology Studies and Cultural Geography, our analysis examines the spatial and temporal dimensions of environmental imaginaries. In doing so, we identify four imaginaries, the environmental hotspot, the pristine environment, the fluid environment and the environmental reservoir. These distinct but interconnected imaginaries produce a constellation of ideas and assumptions that shape scientific practices, the ways and places in which the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance becomes known, and the types of interventions and actions that are made apprehensible as a result. In opening these imaginaries to interrogation at this relatively formative stage, we aim to identify ways in which social science contributions can complement and enhance the ways in which the figure of ‘the environment’ is brought to bear on responses to antimicrobial resistance.

Towards a better integration of social sciences in arbovirus research and decision-making: an experience from scientific collaboration between Cuban and Quebec institutions.

In 2017, the Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí, University of Montreal Public Health Research Institute, and McGill University joined efforts to provide scenarios for scientific exchange and knowledge dissemination about the social science contribution on arboviral research. This commentary describes the scientific collaboration between Cuban and Canadian (Quebec) institutions, illustrating the need and opportunities to facilitate research and effective decision-making processes for arboviral prevention and control, going beyond traditional biomedical aspects. We organized a set of scientific activities within three international events conducted in Cuba between 2017 and 2018. Given the collaborating institutions’ expertise and the knowledge gaps in arboviral research, we selected three main thematic areas: social determinants and equity, community-based interventions and use of evidence for decision-making. The partnership shows that interdisciplinary collaboration and the use and integration of quantitative and qualitative methods from the social sciences is essential to face the current challenges in arbovirus research.

Geographies of qualification in the global fine wine market

Although questions of “quality” have gained prominence in economic geography, research has not fully explored recent discussions on processes of qualification in economic sociology. This paper has two key aims. The first is to introduce the way qualification processes have been conceptualized in recent pragmatism-inspired, process-oriented social science contributions, drawing particularly on work relating to actor-network theory, as well as on studies focusing on status/aesthetic markets. The second is to make this body of literature fruitful for a geographical perspective on product qualification in status/aesthetic markets. For the second aim, the paper empirically focuses on the global fine wine market. Since consumer products have increasingly become aestheticized in recent decades, an analysis of the geographies of fine wine qualification—an agricultural product that is also a key example of an aesthetic/status product—can provide insights into the dynamics of aestheticization in the food and beverages market more broadly. In order to advance a global perspective on fine wine qualification, this paper draws on qualitative empirical research in three wine regions around the world: South Tyrol (Italy), Salta (Argentina) and Marlborough (New Zealand). It argues that qualifying products is not only a highly reflexive and dynamic process, as contributions from economic sociology have revealed, but also, and crucially, a profoundly geographical matter.

OVERCOMING SOCIAL INCLUSION BARRIERS FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

The cultural changes that have taken place and the social sciences contributions that have been published over the last few decades have inaugurated a new vision of people with disabilities that upholds the values of rights, equality, participation, and social inclusion. Although these changes have been widely supported through the ratification of important international treaties (for example, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and by scientific evidence, however, they are still struggling to penetrate into the wider social and cultural system, or to become common practice in services directed at people with disabilities. Social inclusion for people with disabilities, and in particular intellectual disabilities, remains, in fact, a difficult objective to achieve. Above all, cultural barriers are still a hindering factor in social inclusion processes. This paper is a commentary on the research carried out within the two-year European project ESEC (Extending Social Educators Competences).

Highlighting Contributions of Behavioral and Social Sciences in Advancing Public Health: Where We've Come, Where We're Headed.

Social and behavioral sciences, a cross-disciplinary field that examines the interaction among behavioral, biological, environmental, and social factors, has contributed immensely to some public health achievements over the last century. Through collaboration with community organizations and partners, social and behavioral scientists have conducted numerous program interventions involving community engagement and advocacy efforts at the local, state, federal, and international levels. This article traces select historical underpinnings of the applications of social and behavioral sciences theories and evidence to public health and highlights 4 areas in which health education specialists have distinctly contributed to public health achievements by building on theory and evidence. Applied social and behavioral sciences have formed the basis of various health education interventions. These 4 areas include the following: (1) Theory, Model Development, and the Professionalization of Health Education; (2) Participation and Community Engagement; (3) Health Communication; and (4) Advocacy and Policy. We present contemporary challenges and recommendations for strengthening the theory, research, and practice of health education within the context of social and behavioral sciences in addressing emerging public health issues.

‘Everything is designed to make an impression’: The moralisation of aesthetic judgement and the hedonistic ethic of authenticity

Viewing both ethics and aesthetics as reflections of the social, cultural sociologists fail to thoroughly account for the complex interrelations between these realms. This article explores this relationship through a study of ‘farterism’, a discursive category that emerged in Israel during the 1990s and is used to denounce vain pretence. Not only do aesthetic surfaces operate as emotionally-laden shortcuts to deeper layers of ethical meaning, the very act of aesthetic judgement is moralized, subjected to normative regulation. The article analyses the use of ‘farterism’ in the lay evaluation of architecture, restaurants and films, while reconstructing its implied ethic of aesthetic, ‘the hedonistic ethic of authenticity’. I discuss this ethic’s philosophical-cultural roots (including the performative contribution of critical social science) and the continuities between its application in cultural evaluation and in wider moral contexts. The pattern that emerges in the data relies on the Emperor’s New Clothes tale: uncovering the hidden influence of the social on the aesthetic is at the centre of the normative regulation of aesthetic judgement. This allows laypersons to challenge cultural hierarchies shaped by cultural fields, experts and markets, and denounce them as corrupted by the social.