Empirical Turn Research Articles

Teachers’ subject competence in digital times

The study aims to generate new knowledge regarding how subject teachers in children's and young people's education conceive of the didactic relationship between their own subject knowledge and the computer's infinite possibilities concerning information and knowledge.The theoretic frames of the study lie within modern phenomenology with special inspiration from the concept of the life-world. This applies to both the relationship among subject knowledge, technology and human beings, and the theory of science and methodological instrumentation and analysis.The empirical turn of the life-world phenomenology makes it possible to collect data through research interviews. The study comprises 41 teachers in five different schools who have worked in One-to-One environments for varying lengths of time, between 24 and 36 months.The analysis of the interviews shows that the teachers perceive and distinguish 11 different qualities compiled in three main categories where they describe the didactic relationship between their own subject knowledge and the computer's infinite potential concerning information and knowledge.

The return of sociology in Danish socio-legal studies: a survey of recent trends

AbstractThis paper surveys recent trends in the development of the sociology of law in Denmark. The overall argument of the paper is that, currently, the sociology of law in Denmark is marked by a striking sociological and more specifically institutional and empirical turn. This new direction in scholarship suggests not only a renewed research focus on the institutional dimensions of law but it also – and very differently from work from the 1980s and 1990s – suggests a re-orientation towards sociology more generally. A clear consequence of this return to the sociological core of the sociology of law has been an empirical orientation towards how law is practised, how legal institutions work and, as part of that, how the legal profession takes part in both legal change and transformations of state and society. This new research relies not only on general sociological theory and method but also on the more specific elite sociology, sociology of professions and sociology of knowledge.

Rewriting the Constitution: A Critique of ‘Postphenomenology’

This paper builds a three-part argument in favour of a more transcendentally focused form of ‘postphenomenology’ than is currently practised in philosophy of technology. It does so by problematising two key terms, ‘constitution’ and ‘postphenomenology’, then by arguing in favour of a ‘transcendental empiricist’ approach that draws on the work of Foucault, Derrida, and, in particular, Deleuze. Part one examines ‘constitution’, as it moves from the context of Husserl’s phenomenology to Ihde and Verbeek’s ‘postphenomenology’. I argue that the term tends towards different senses in these contexts, and that this renders its sense more problematic than the work of Ihde and Verbeek makes it appear. Part two examines ‘postphenomenology’. I argue that putatively ‘poststructuralist’ thinkers such as Derrida, Foucault, and Deleuze may be better characterised as ‘postphenomenologists’, and that approaching them in this way may allow better access to their work from a philosophy of technology perspective. Part three argues for a ‘transcendental empiricist’ approach to philosophy of technology. In doing so, it argues for a rewriting of contemporary philosophy of technology’s political constitution: since an ‘empirical turn’ in the 1990s, I argue, philosophy of technology has been too narrowly focused on ‘empirical’ issues of fact, and not focused enough on ‘transcendental’ issues concerning conditions for these facts.

Power, Legitimacy, and Order

Legitimacy is not something distinct from power; it is one of the vital sources of power. And if power shapes the nature and development of international orders, then the politics of legitimacy features prominently in the construction, maintenance, and dissolution of such orders. This article begins by exploring the concepts of power and legitimacy, their theoretical interconnection, and the impact that crises of legitimacy have on the maintenance of political power. It then takes an empirical turn, examining, however briefly, two sites in which the politics of legitimacy had a profound effect on the development of the modern international order. The first concerns the globalization of the system of sovereign states, a four-century long process of imperial extension, crisis, and fragmentation into successor states, a process in which struggles over individual rights played a key role. The second concerns the definition and distribution of special responsibilities for managing functional challenges among states. In orders characterized by formal sovereign equality, on the one hand, and imbalances of material capabilities, on the other, a mechanism needs to be found for containing and harnessing power to meet the problems faced by the international community. Historically, this has been achieved through the allocation of special responsibilities to particular states, usually great powers. But if regimes of special responsibilities create patterns of more or less formal hierarchy among states, they are also sites of intense battles over legitimacy.

The Judicialization of International Law: Reflections on the Empirical Turn

The proliferation of international courts and tribunals in the last two decades has been an important new development in international law, and the three books under review are at the vanguard in substantiating the claim that the judicialization of international law reflects its deepened legalization. All three have adopted ambitious empirical frameworks through which to assess the impact of international courts, and present valuable insights with respect to the phenomenon. Whilst all seek to make intelligible the growing relevance of the various international courts, their empirical methodology and mapping exercise reflects a faith that the legalization/judicialization of international law is a positive development, one that might nevertheless be contested. With the Oxford Handbook's mapping exercise, Karen Alter's altered politics model of effectiveness, and Yuval Shany's goal-based method for assessing effectiveness, the three books represent the forefront of scholarly efforts to study the practice of international courts. One should be careful, however: because the empirical exercise attempted in these three books goes beyond mere description into an attempt to model future outcomes, it has the drawback of privileging certain modes of cognizing the phenomenon of the proliferation of international courts. Although an important contribution, a solely empirical approach would create the impression of a purely linear progression in the judicialization of international law, one which might not be borne out in reality.

The New Empirical Turn in International Law Scholarship

International law is increasingly broad in scope and dynamically changing. If we do not understand empirically how international law operates, the limits it confronts, and efforts to make it more effective, international law scholarship will be irrelevant. This short essay for the 2014 ASIL Proceedings introduces the panel papers at the 2014 ASIL Annual Meeting on “New Voices: Empirical Perspectives on International Law.” The papers addressed the interaction between international law and domestic legal orders (Pierre-Hugues Verdier and Mila Versteeg), state foreign policy and international investment law (Adam Chilton), sub-national training organizations and the law of war (Andrew Bell), and non-governmental organizations and international health law (Anna Schrimpf). The introduction briefly summarizes the importance of this work.

A Dubious Montesquieuian Moment in Constitutional Scholarship: Reading the Empirical Turn in Comparative Constitutional Law in the Light of William Twining and his Hero

This essay takes a close look at the empirical turn in contemporary comparative constitutional law, analysing whether the ‘global approach’ to comparative law suggests the realisation of what Twining calls a ‘genuinely global perspective’. I argue that this suggestion falls short of realisation because constitutional empiricists provide a refracted scientific view of constitutional law. I first show that empiricists focus attention on institutional design in written constitutional codes. I then discuss how this methodological written constitutionalism points to a legal formalism in constitutional empiricism, which is aimed at excluding subjective judgments from constitutional studies to safeguard its claimed scientific character of comparative constitutional law. I suggest that constitutional empiricists extricate themselves from the spell of formalism and live out Montesquieu's genuine empiricist spirit. Neither climate nor soil nor coding can reveal to us the spirit of constitutional laws, the pursuit of which should be the spirit of serious constitutional scholarship.

Contemporary Trends Of Deliberative Research: Synthesizing A New Study Agenda

Deliberation is among the most widely acknowledged figures of thought in social theory. Taking the growing interest in the research conducted around deliberative democracy as an initial position, this paper seeks to provide an overview of recent predispositions and paradigm shifts of approaches taken towards the analysis of real-world discourses. Therefore, as a first step three different – nevertheless correlating – trends of deliberative research are identified: (1) an “empirical turn” and an effort to test and “falsify” assumptions of deliberative theories, (2) the consideration of certain epistemic dimensions of deliberative democracy and (3) the conceptual opening towards not fully rationalizable modes of communication. Based on those trends, the task is to make suggestions of how to incorporate those predispositions and paradigm shifts fruitfully into future research designs.

Psychologism in Finnish Educational Science: From Herbartianism to Constructivism

This article deals with the relationship between pedagogical science and psychology in Finnish educational science from the end of the 19th century to the present day. The development process can be described in terms of the psychologization of pedagogical science. Psychological theories have played a central role in the most important shifts in pedagogical science in Finland, particularly in Finnish Herbartianism at the end of the 19th century, experimental pedagogy at the beginning of the 20th century, the empirical turn of the 1960s, and the modern learning-theoretical constructivism of recent decades.

Ecological validity and the study of publics: The case for organic public engagement methods

This essay argues for a method of public engagement grounded in the criteria of ecological validity. Motivated by what Hammersly called the responsibility that comes with intellectual authority: "to seek, as far as possible, to ensure the validity of their conclusions and to participate in rational debate about those conclusions" (1993: 29), organic public engagement follows the empirical turn in citizenship theory and in rhetorical studies of actually existing publics. Rather than shaping citizens into either the compliant subjects of the cynical view or the deliberatively disciplined subjects of the idealist view, organic public engagement instead takes Asen's advice that "we should ask: how do people enact citizenship?" (2004: 191). In short, organic engagement methods engage publics in the places where they already exist and through those discourses and social practices by which they enact their status as publics. Such engagements can generate practical middle-range theories that facilitate future actions and decisions that are attentive to the local ecologies of diverse publics.

Teoria Crítica e democracia deliberativa: diálogos instáveis

Este artigo discute a relação entre as abordagens deliberacionistas de democracia e a Teoria Crítica. Para tanto, apresentam-se três argumentos que sugerem uma dissociação entre os dois corpos teóricos: 1) A deliberação reforça quadros de dominação existentes; 2) A deliberação conformou-se às instituições liberais em voga; e 3) A guinada empírica dos estudos deliberativos aproximaram-nos da teoria tradicional. A partir desses argumentos, o texto ressalta a existência de um diálogo instável entre a abordagem deliberativa e o legado frankfurtiano.

Participant responsibility, researcher vulnerability and empirical ethics: a reply to Loughlin

In a recent issue of this journal, Michael Loughlin offers a critique of work we undertook that we described and discussed in the same issue, and which might be seen as forming part of the so-called empirical turn in ethics. Here we respond to Loughlin's criticisms of our work. While he declares that generally, there is potential value in empirically informed ethics, we understand him to be concerned about our particular project on two counts. First, he is worried by the extent to which participants exercised responsibility within the work; and second, he is concerned about the degree to which we, as researchers, were prepared rigorously to examine and question participant assertions and assumptions. We argue that Loughlin's worries are based on a relatively limited view of the context in which empirically informed ethics related to health care takes place. A more complex understanding than he allows, of both the responsibility of participants and the vulnerability of researchers who are involved in projects of empirical ethics in this context, is required in order to recognize the ambiguities and difficulties faced by those involved in such projects.

ROBERT E. PARK: Sociología, comunidad y sociedad (Presentación: Emilio M. Martínez Gutierrez)

Robert Park’s institutional and scientific works are part of the most suggestive periods of sociological research. He completed the empirical turn that the department of Sociology at University of Chicago started, especially in William Thomas’ perspective, and this contribution improved the scientific statute of sociology. His development of human (and urban) ecology proposes new theoretical and methodological frameworks of analysing social and territorial processes 174 emilio martínez gutiérrez la investigación ecológica… EMPIRIA. Revista de Metodología de Ciencias Sociales. N. o 25, enero-junio, 2013, pp. 173-194. ISSN: 1139-5737 in local communities. Moreover, his approach has improved different particular techniques and procedures (widespread at present) as, for instance, ecological cartography (morphological level) and qualitative techniques that study social interactions (cultural or moral level).

A Paradox Between Technological Autonomy and Ethical Heteronomy of Philosophy of Technology

With entering postmodern techne time since 1960s, society has experienced technical turn in 1985. After the emergence in 1877, philosophy of technology has undergone engineering ethics turn in 1970s and empirical turn in 1980s. A paradox (technoethics)(TE) highlights between technological autonomy (TA) and ethics heteronomy (EH) from philosophy of technology. Traced with the underlined reasons and responsibility party, social control system for TE need set up a set of social control principles (respect TA, enhance EH, minimize risk and maximize perfection via responsibility, imagine diversification via uplifting) and social control strategies (technical control mechanism, technical ethical education, technical law mechanism) among technicians, engineers, philosophers of technology, and technical users etc. Then, techne can develop towards rational perfection, under the reflection and supervising from ethics of philosophy of technology and law.

El hilo del Terror. Quitando el halo estalinista a la Revolución Francesa

... The Terror by David Andress suggests a “destalinizing” current of the French Revolution, which could include the cultural studies of Robert Darnton and the integral stories of George Rude and Peter McPhee. This is an empirical turn opposed to that initiated by Alfred Cobban in 1950 and taken to its most brilliant expression by Francois Furet. That revisionism called for distrust of conclusions that compared of defensive Terror of the jacobins in the face of royal threats with stalinist purges. Instead this new revisionism revalues the “thesis of circumstances”, prioritizing the drama of the factual sequence after the King’s failed flight over the semiotic circuit Furet dominated by the Revolution.

IEEN workshop report: aims and methods in interdisciplinary and empirical bioethics

Bioethics is a diverse field that accommodates a broad range of perspectives and disciplines. The recent explosion of literature on methods in interdisciplinary and empirical ethics might appear, however, to overshadow the fact that ‘bioethics’ has long been an interdisciplinary field. The Interdisciplinary and Empirical Ethics Network (IEEN) was established, with funding from the Wellcome Trust, to facilitate critical and constructive discussion around the nature of this disciplinary diversity and shift focus away from the ‘empirical turn’, towards the ongoing development of bioethics as an evolving field of interdisciplinary study. In April 2012 the IEEN organized a workshop at the Centre for Public Policy Research, King's College London, dedicated to discussing the relationship between aims and methods in interdisciplinary and empirical bioethics. This paper reports on that first meeting.

Three-dimensional non-LTE radiative transfer effects in Fe I lines

In network and active region plages, the magnetic field is concentrated into structures often described as flux tubes (FTs) and sheets (FSs). 3-D radiative transfer (RT) is important for energy transport in these concentrations. It is also expected to be important for diagnostic purposes but has rarely been applied for that purpose. Using true 3-D, non-LTE (NLTE) RT in FT/FS models, we compute Fe line profiles commonly used to diagnose the Sun's magnetic field by comparing the results with those obtained from LTE/1-D (1.5-D) NLTE calculations. Employing a multilevel iron atom, we study the influence of basic parameters such as Wilson depression, wall thickness, radius/width, thermal stratification or magnetic field strength on all Stokes $I$ parameters in the thin-tube approximation. The use of different levels of approximations of RT may lead to considerable differences in profile shapes, intensity contrasts, equivalent widths, and the determination of magnetic field strengths. In particular, LTE, which often provides a good approach in planar 1-D atmospheres, is a poor approximation in our flux sheet model for some of the most important diagnostic Fe I lines (524.7nm, 525.0nm, 630.1nm, and 630.2nm). The observed effects depend on parameters such as the height of line formation, field strength, and internal temperature stratification. Differences between the profile shapes may lead to errors in the determination of magnetic fields on the order of 10 to 20%, while errors in the determined temperature can reach 300-400K. The empirical FT models NET and PLA turn out to minimize the effects of 3D RT, so that results obtained with these models by applying LTE may also remain valid for 3-D NLTE calculations. Finally, horizontal RT is found to only insignificantly smear out structures such as the optically thick walls of FTs and FSs, allowing features as narrow as 10km to remain visible.

Toward Methodological Innovation in Empirical Ethics Research

Empirical ethicists occupy an uncomfortable place in the field of practical ethics. Although much has been written about the ‘‘empirical turn’’ in ethics, those researchers who see value in using empirical data to inform the ethical analysis of practical dilemmas face a barrage of criticisms. On one flank, moral philosophers, well armed with three centuries worth of arguments about the fact-value distinction, target the validity of empirical ethics research and critique what they see as the empirical ethicists’ untenable efforts to develop prescriptive conclusions from descriptive evidence. On the opposing flank, social scientists (and others) attack the distinctiveness of empirical ethics research, with criticisms ranging from empirical ethicists’ naive appropriation of the complex methodologies and methods developed from within their disciplines, to their apparent ignorance of social scientists’ own attempts to account for the ways in which social practices are laden with judgments of moral value. Yet, notwithstanding these ongoing battles, empirical ethics continues to flourish. What is to be made of this? Our starting point here is twofold. First, empirical ethics, when elucidated carefully, can be a valid and distinctive enterprise, and, second, when deployed as a catchall term to describe each and every approach to using empirical data within ethical analysis, it can lose both its validity and distinctiveness. This, we believe, is because empirical ethics has failed to shore up its defenses against the criticisms posed by moral philosophers and social scientists, and we propose that these failings threaten the long-term viability of the empirical ethics project. Such criticisms raise important challenges to the theoretical and methodological foundations of empirical ethics research and cannot be dismissed or sidelined. In the first part of this article, we establish our defense to these challenges by justifying a narrow account of empirical ethics research that is built on a particular claim about the character of ethical and empirical argument. In so doing, we tease out what is distinctive about empirical ethics research, and how such research can develop and implement justified and practically useful normative claims. In the second part of the article, we consider methodological strategies for integrating the empirical and the ethical and show how these come up short in providing adequate responses to the criticisms outlined previously. Instead, we argue, from our claim in the first part of the article, that, in order to fulfill its aims, empirical ethics requires innovative methodological practices that are tailored to bring the traditions of philosophical and social scientific inquiry together in new ways. In the final part of the article, we take the first steps in outlining what such methodologies might be.

Analysing conversation: Studying design as social action

Since the ‘empirical turn’ in design studies, many methods drawn from the social and human sciences have been applied to the study of designers' activities. Recently, conversation analysis (CA) has been gaining some attention as one of these approaches that may offer promise for design studies. In this paper, we present an analysis of design work informed by CA. Our analysis is intended both as a means of exemplifying how the approach can be applied to design, and as empirical groundwork for sketching out what a CA program of research in design studies could offer the field. We argue that CA can provide an empirical respecification of central conceptual and theoretical topics in design research.

Have STS fallen into a political void? Depoliticisation and engagement in the case of nanotechnologies

In this paper we trace some of the key points in the history of Science and Technology Studies (STS). In particular we outline the inherently political dynamics of the field. Against We underline two emerging patterns in the curse of STS: the one of “depoliticisation” and the one of increasing “engagement”. We address the case study nanotechnologies and discuss their intertwined history with the STS. This allows us to point at the risk that the increasing institutionalisation of STS and the political mandate that frames and stabilizes the field’s relationship to the technological developments would create a political void. We conclude that STS research is at a crossroads. It is facing an important empirical turn, which may deprive it from its political significance, and constantly redefine its institutional constraints. STS has to continuously question its underlying political assumptions (as it occurs more and more regarding public participation) and to make it explicit.