Social Science Research Research Articles

Unveiling digital mirrors: Decoding gendered body poses in instagram imagery

Social media platforms have had a significant impact on people's everyday lives worldwide and imagery on social media has become a vital means of practicing views of the self and communicating them to others. Albeit a significant proportion of people frequently upload self-representations on social media, this source of information on individuals, groups, and societies remains under-examined within the social sciences and neighboring disciplines. In our study, we focus on gender-stereotypical body-posing in self-portraits on social media. While sociology has examined gender stereotypes for decades, research lacks empirical evidence on representations in digital contexts as well as novel forms of stereotyping. We present a scalable and transferable methodology for analyzing body poses in images by combining neural network pose detection with an unsupervised learning approach and applying this methodology to data from the social media platform Instagram. Based on a clustering algorithm applied to gender-annotated imagery, we identify 150 body posing clusters. Our results reveal significant gender differences in 20 percent of clusters, many of which represent gender-stereotypical body poses addressed in sociological literature. Moreover, we can identify new stereotypical poses related to smartphone technology and social media trends. This study represents a novel approach to utilizing large-scale image data for social science research and contributes to a better understanding of the consolidation and reproduction of gender stereotypes in digital realms.

Research Output, Key Topics, and Trends in Productivity, Visibility, and Collaboration in Social Sciences Research on COVID-19: A Scientometric Analysis and Visualization

COVID-19 has caused a surge in scientific publications, with increased collaboration. This study aims to elucidate scientific output, focal topics, emerging themes, and trends and patterns of productivity, visibility, and collaboration within social sciences research (SSR) on COVID-19. A scientometric analysis was conducted utilizing Biblioshiny and VOSviewer software. About 65,742 records published on WOS between 2020 and 2022 were analyzed. Topics such as “telehealth,”“well-being,” and “inequalities,” were among the key topics while “interventions” and “mental well-being” were among emerging key topics. Collaboration patterns were regional. Harvard Medical School, the University of Toronto, and the University of Oxford emerge as leaders in collaboration, productivity, and influence. The USA, Italy, India, Spain, and Brazil serve as regional hubs for facilitating collaboration. The USA, England, and China exhibit leadership and influence, playing pivotal roles In shaping the global research. These findings are important for policymakers, funding agencies, and researchers in cultivating future research topics and collaborative efforts. The findings can inform strategic decision-making, resource allocation, and policy development to address present and future health crises. Additionally, these efforts contribute to advancing global sustainability initiatives and promoting human well-being. Encouraging international collaboration is essential, particularly for tackling the regional challenges encountered by countries with limited domestic research capabilities. Future research can improve the methodology used by di-versifying data sources beyond WOS.

Unfolding the relationship between change management, employee engagement and productivity: resistance to change and emotional intelligence as moderators

PurposeThe objective of this study is to investigate the effect of change management (CM) on employee productivity (EP). A double-layered conceptual model involving resistance to change and emotional intelligence (EI) as moderators and employee engagement (EE) as a mediator between CM and EP.Design/methodology/approachFour industries from India (education, healthcare, information technology and manufacturing) are selected to test the hypothesized relationships. The data from 406 respondents were collected through a survey instrument and was analyzed using Hayes’s PROCESS macros.FindingsThe results reveal that CM is a precursor to EE and EP. The findings also indicate that resistance to change (first moderator) and EI (second moderator) significantly influenced the relationship between CM and EP mediated through EE.Research limitations/implicationsAs with any social science research, this study suffers from the limitations of common method bias and social desirability bias. However, the researchers have taken adequate care to minimize these biases. This study has several theoretical and practical implications.Originality/valueThe moderated-mediated model concerning CM is the first of its kind to study in the Indian context and hence makes a substantial contribution to the literature on CM. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.

New Normative Values for the German Short Version of the Resilience Scale (RS-13)

In a representative survey conducted in Germany, normative values for the German short version of the RS-13 resilience scale were updated and compared with the data from a previous representative survey conducted in 2001. In a representative study conducted by the social science research institute USUMA GmbH in 2021, people aged 16 to 95 years (N=2,505) were randomly selected and interviewed by telephone. Data were compared to representative data collected in 2001 (N=2,045), and the influence of demographic variables on resilience was examined. The internal consistency of the RS-13 was α=0.92. Current norm data of the RS-13, differentiated by gender and age, were generated. Access to these data is provided by an online tool, which can be used for the norm-oriented interpretation of individual resilience values (http://rs13.shinyapps.io/RS13). In the current 2021 sample, the mean resilience score was significantly higher than in 2001 (d=0.28, 95% CI [0.22-0.34]). Age was significantly negatively associated with resilience, education and net household income showed a significant negative correlation. The RS-13 has good psychometric properties. Providing updated normative values of the RS-13 is justified due to the significantly higher scores in 2021 compared to 2001. The updated normative values allow for the comparison of future data with those of the German general population. In addition, the online tool can be used for the norm-oriented interpretation of individual resilience scores as part of diagnostic procedures. The RS-13 is a reliable, valid and economical instrument for assessing resilience in its theoretical understanding of a stable personality trait. Future studies investigating resilience should consider age, education and income as relevant influencing variables.

The Carceral State: Implications for Information and Technology Research and Practice

ABSTRACTThis systematic literature review synthesizes published sources from the ASIS&T Digital Library and the ACM Digital Library to develop a definition of the carceral state and to show how the term has been used in contemporary technology‐focused research. The carceral state concept has been adopted and applied widely in multiple areas of social scientific research to refer to the formal institutions of the criminal justice system proper and other social arrangements, ideologies, practices, and technologies that punish, surveil, and contain populations. Our review reveals a recent and increasing engagement with the carceral state in the collections surveyed. Encouraged by this increasing attention, this review is an attempt to introduce the carceral state as a guiding framework for tech‐society research and to consider implications for advancing responsibility, reflexivity, and care in the creation and evaluation of information systems, programs, and services.

Climate risk maps as boundary objects for future forests

Climate change poses significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. Conventional management strategies often fall short, leading to uncertainties in addressing these challenges. Natural and environmental scientists play a crucial role by providing evidence-based guidance. Social science research, at the same time, highlights the complexity of transferring and applying knowledge across different social and professional groups and shows that further research is needed. Using a German case study, my research addresses this issue by examining the dynamics between predictive climate risk maps, intended as decision-support tool for forest management, the developing scientists, the receiving environmental managers and further political actors. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with representatives from these groups were conducted and analyzed, revealing that climate risk maps can function as predictive boundary objects, balancing flexibility and robustness. With their high level of visual and epistemic power, these maps generate knowledge tensions, facilitate interactions, and foster the implicit co-production of broader environmental management discourse. At the same time the maps are continuously contested, discussed, and updated through feedback, becoming themselves part of an ongoing informal co-productive process. This dual role creates ambiguity: they provide concrete answers to specific management related questions while highlighting simultaneously limitations that prompt more fundamental inquiries, driving an overall societal learning process. Hence, future efforts should enhance formal support for co-productive processes to ensure evidence-based advisory tools are scientifically robust, contextually adapted, and democratize knowledge dynamics through continuous dialogue, mutual learning, and integration of scientific as well as local knowledge.

Gender, Race, and Entrepreneurship: A Randomized Field Experiment on Venture Capitalists and Angels

We study gender and race in high-impact entrepreneurship using a tightly controlled randomized field experiment. We sent out 80,000 pitch emails introducing promising but fictitious start-ups to 28,000 venture capitalists and angels. Each email was sent by a fictitious entrepreneur with randomly assigned gender and race. Female entrepreneurs received 9% more interested replies than males pitching identical projects and Asians received 6% more than Whites. Our results suggest that investors do not discriminate against female or Asian entrepreneurs when evaluating unsolicited pitch emails and that future research on investor biases should focus on networks and in-person interactions. This paper was accepted by Tomasz Piskorski, finance. Funding: The grant is Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development [Grant 430-2019-00306] “Gender and racial discrimination in venture capital” through the University of British Columbia. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.4990 .

БИЛЕР ДҮНИЕТАНЫМЫНДАҒЫ АДАМИ ҚАСИЕТКЕ ТОЛЫ АР ІЛІМІ

In this article, when a truly new history of independent Kazakhstan is being created today, it is necessary to consider it comprehensively, this is a spiritual requirement arising from the need of the hour to form true views on our past history and generalize it from a scientific and methodological point of view. That is, revise the established guidelines and emphasize their completeness. This is especially necessary for all areas of social scientific research in accordance with the radical political and social changes taking place in the country, including in the field of oratory knowledge, which constitutes a certain part of the history of socio-philosophical thought. However, in the history of Kazakh social thought, based on class ideology, the personality of the judges was not fully revealed and there was no special word. It is clear to all of us that behind class ideology there is an exaggeration in the assertion that the basis of society is economic relations. As a result, absolute importance was given to the idea that man is a totality of social relations. The idea that “it is not man who controls society, but society that controls man” has taken a firm place.

Service Quality Perceived by Athletes: The Case of Local Government Youth Centre

Meeting the needs in social life is given to local governments by the state. Local governments are responsible for meeting the social needs of individuals. Today, youth center areas are built by local governments to meet the social needs of young people and to create social areas. These are areas opened by local governments to protect the mental and physical health of all young people, to provide socio -cultural support, to contribute to the education of young people in line with their interests and to develop their skills. Athletes mostly use these areas for their physical development. These explanations and expressions, in our research, athletes local administrations youth in the centers perceived service of the quality examination is intended. In our research, we used a 10-question personal information forum (Gender, Educational Status, Branch, Monthly Income Status, Age, Your Mother's Educational Status, Your Father's Educational Status, Your Mother's Profession, Your Father's Profession) created by the researchers. The "Perceived Service Quality Scale in Youth Centers" , whose validity and reliability study was conducted by Polat et al. (2013), consisting of 23 items and a 5-point Likert type consisting of three sub-dimensions ( Physical Environment Quality , Interaction Quality, Output Quality ) , was used. The sample of the research consists of 349 (n=145 Female, n=204 Male) volunteer athletes who are actively involved in three different sports branches (n=177 Athletics, n=116 Table Tennis, n=116 Cycling). The data of the research, which was designed as an analytical cross-sectional type, was collected face to face after receiving approval from the Siirt University Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Committee. The data obtained in the research were evaluated in the SPSS 25.0 package program. As a result of the normality analysis of the scale, it was seen that the significance values were greater than 0.05 and it was decided to use non-parametric analyzes in the analysis. In our research, Kruskal Wallis H Test and Man Witney U Test were applied. In the statistical analysis, there was a statistically significant difference in the variables of gender, education level, monthly income level, your mother's education level, your father's education level and the sub-dimensions of the perceived service quality scale in youth centers and the scale general scores. It was observed that there was no statistical difference in the sub-dimensions of the scale of perceived service quality in youth centers and the overall scores of the scale with the variables of profession, your father's profession. As a results;In line with the findings obtained in our research, athletes local administrations youth in the centers perceived service of the quality mom and father education status , gender , education status , monthly income status with statistical aspect difference it shows detection has been made .

Research Scholar Awareness with reference to Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Support, Research Services and Programmes

The study focuses on the level of awareness of ICSSR Services and Programs among research scholars at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari, Bihar. 218 questionnaires were distributed to research academics and 109 of them were completed. The data was collected through a questionnaire, covering areas such as program and service awareness, library usage, satisfaction with services, and awareness of current information on research in the social sciences disciplines. The results indicate that the majority of research scholars are knowledgeable about the services, resources, and programs offered by ICSSR.

Introduction to the Special Issue: The Catholic Priesthood in Times of Change

This special issue of Review of Religious Research, titled “The Catholic Priesthood in Times of Change,” is dedicated primarily to social-scientific inquiry into the Roman Catholic presbyterate in the United States. The issue’s main focus is to analyze and discuss data from a new and original nationally representative study, The National Study of Catholic Priests. The rationale for dedicating a special issue to this topic stems from the considerable new quantitative and qualitative data made available through this study, which presents a unique opportunity for scholars and practitioners interested in Catholicism to examine contemporary issues facing the priesthood. The issue also aims to place this study within its broader context by including recent research on lay American Catholics, as well as reviewing new books on Catholicism in Europe and Asia. The issue thus comprises three original research articles, two research notes, and four book reviews.

A transformative model for teaching and learning emotional intelligence for aspiring entrepreneurial leaders

ABSTRACT Entrepreneurial leaders, social-science researchers, and small business practitioners call for the early development of emotional intelligence (EI). Although several programs integrate key EI concepts, there are few examples of how to develop an integrated learning framework for teaching and learning EI skills for daily use. This article introduces a practical transformative model of emotional intelligence (TEI) that emphasizes the personally meaningful development of personal, emotional, relationship, and life skills that are so important for school, work, and life success. A 1-day seminar experience embedded in a European-based international summer school course in the School of Management Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland, generated new evidence for how a skills-based curriculum in EI can be used to empower future entrepreneurs and leaders. The study reveals new findings for integrating a practical approach for engendering TEI for leaders.

Processing violence: the continuum between fear, doubt, and joy among German soldiers in Afghanistan

Violence in war and the emotions and meanings connected to it can only be understood through a broad social science research approach to tackle the complexity of human reactions to extraordinary experiences in theatres of war. This article looks at the significance of the continuum of emotions from fear, to doubt, to joy for German military personnel in Afghanistan when processing experiences of war-related violence. For a long time, this question of the significance of emotions connected to war and violence was of little interest to military research. The emotional dimension of the human element of war thus remained understudied. Acts of violence, both suffered and committed, however, can be processed socially and culturally in very different ways. They can trigger a plurality of emotions along the continuum between fear, doubt, and joy and between acts of desperation and acts of enjoyment and fun. I want to contribute to a new and more nuanced understanding of the multidimensionality of war and soldiering through a study of the role and implications of violent experiences for soldiers. To gain a more nuanced understanding of these experiences of violence, this article discusses various and shifting emotions among German soldiers who have been deployed to Afghanistan, ranging from fear and joy to relief, doubt, and moral conflict.

Systematic Literature Review of Disseminating Health Information to BIPOC Communities

Purpose This study aims to systematically review the literature to examine best practices for disseminating health information and strategies useful for advancing equitable health outcomes in communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Methods Databases such as Science.gov, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Social Science Research Network, and CHAT AI were searched using terms like “health promotion,” “information dissemination/methods,” “minority communities,” “urban health,” “health education/methods,” and “health promotion/methods.” The search focused on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies conducted between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2023. An academic expert evaluated the manuscripts for quality. Dissemination methods were categorized based on cultural, linguistic, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results/Expected results Out of 4,726 articles identified, 23 were included in the full review. The study found that the most effective methods for disseminating health information involved direct community interaction using versatile communication strategies. Real-time engagement and accessibility to public health experts increased community trust and participation. Narrative storytelling, focus groups, workshops, and the use of technology for visual representation were particularly effective. Major obstacles included the lack of stakeholder interaction, language barriers, cultural, educational, and generational differences, and limited funding for human resources. The unavailability of information from previous research also caused frustration among decision-makers. Conclusion Effective engagement with BIPOC communities requires diverse communication methods. Involving community members in selecting settings, language, cultural activities, and other specific aspects helps non-community stakeholders understand evidence-based best practices for health information dissemination, thereby improving healthcare outcomes. Implications This comprehensive literature review enhances understanding of evidence-based best practices for disseminating health information to BIPOC communities. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, healthcare providers, community organizations, and researchers to develop targeted and effective health communication strategies.

The Development of Non-Formal Learning Organization Skills in Preservice Math Teachers

Although the effects of out-of-school learning on students' learning have attracted significant attention among education researchers in science and social sciences, little is known about the development of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers' skills in utilizing out-of-school learning in mathematics lessons. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of activities conducted within the scope of the out-of-school learning environments in mathematics education on pre-service elementary mathematics teachers' skills in organizing non-formal learning. The study utilized a sequential explanatory design, which is a mixed-method approach. The quantitative part of the research employed a "single-group pretest-posttest design without a control group" from experimental designs. This study involved 35 third-year teacher candidates enrolled in the Primary Education in Math Program (PREDMAP) at a state university located near Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. The data collection instrument used in the study was the Out-of-School Learning Regulation Scale (OOSLRS). Additionally, teacher candidates were asked to write reflective essays about their thoughts on the program at the end of the study. The analyses revealed that prior to the program, pre-service math teachers had the highest scores in the knowledge dimension and the lowest scores in the implementation dimension of organizing out-of-school learning. Significant differences were found in the pretest scores of preservice math teachers only in the knowledge dimension based on their previous experiences in organized out-of-school learning environments during their educational lives. Significant improvements favoring the post-test application were observed across all dimensions between pretest and posttest scores. Data from reflective essays written by the preservice math teachers indicated their emphasis on active participation and included suggestions particularly in the implementation dimension.

Holding ourselves to account: The precarity dividend and the ethics of researching academic precarity

This article uses critical reflexivity as a method to document and analyse the ethical dilemmas that emerge when researching academic precarity across the permanent/precarious divide. With our project on long-term academic precarity as a case study, and as people who experienced long-term academic precarity, we take as the starting point other researchers’ silences on their positionality and about who does the work in the production of research on academic precarity. Although our small, unfunded project was driven by feminist ethics and transformative feminist praxis, there were some ethical issues we did not foresee, nor could we resolve. We focus on three main ethical dilemmas that arose as moments of discomfort, triggering extensive reflection and discussion: (1) authenticity and subjectivity, (2) disclosure of employment status and (3) complicity in and benefit from the precarisation of academic work, or what we term the ‘precarity dividend’. The article seeks to push the boundaries around how researchers hold themselves to account in the process of knowledge production. We suggest that precarity and especially the precarity dividend must become an inherent ethical consideration in all social scientific research design. It is a call for social researchers to make explicit – in writing, in ethics reviews and in presentations of their work – the labour process and labour conditions of all those involved.

An empirical investigation of open access scholarly publishing trends in social sciences at high-ranked central universities of India

Purpose This study aims to analyze the adoption of open access (OA) publishing in social sciences within central universities in India, focusing on various aspects such as the growth of OA literature, the use of different OA routes and collaboration patterns in OA publications. Design/methodology/approach Ten central universities were selected based on their rankings in the National Institute Ranking Framework 2022. Data on OA publishing in social sciences were collected from the Social Science Citation Index of the Web of Science (WoS) database using the advanced search query “(CU=India OR AD=India) AND PY=(2003–2022) NOT PY=(2023).” Data analysis was conducted using MS Excel (v16.0), BibExcel (version 2017), Biblioshiny (version 4.1.2) and Google Open Refine (version 3.7). Findings The study found that 30.40% of total publications were OA, with BHU as leading institute in OA publishing. OA publishing in social sciences saw a consistent increase, peaking in 2022 with 209 publications. “Sustainability” and “Plos One” were among the top ten journals, with 103 and 34 OA papers, respectively. OA publications had a higher mean citation rate than closed access publications. Collaboration with seven and nine authors had higher mean citation rates, while six-author collaborations were lower. Indian researchers received the most citations collaborating with the USA, UK and Australia. The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia received the fewer citations, when collaborating with Indian authors. Research limitations/implications The study’s main limitation is its reliance on WoS data, excluding many OA publications from smaller or specialized journals. Additionally, the focus on high-ranked central universities may not represent the entire academic landscape, as OA publishing patterns vary across other institutions and disciplines. Practical implications The study’s findings suggest that advancing OA publishing in social sciences at Indian universities requires raising awareness of OA concepts, enhancing institutional support and policies and informing researchers about funding opportunities. Emphasizing Gold OA and funding publication fees can broaden access to research. Universities with low OA ratios should adopt similar policies, mandate public research deposits and develop technical infrastructure. Encouraging multi-author collaborations can boost research impact and citation rates. Insights from the study can help institutions and policymakers shape effective OA strategies, enhancing the visibility and impact of social science research. Originality/value This is the first study analyzing the adoption of OA in the field of social sciences in high-ranked central universities in India. It has implications for promoting OA and increasing accessibility to research outputs. Universities with higher OA ratios can lead in this regard and encourage others to adopt similar practices for overall OA growth.

Conducting power analysis for meta-analysis with dependent effect sizes: Common guidelines and an introduction to the POMADE R package.

Sample size and statistical power are important factors to consider when planning a research synthesis. Power analysis methods have been developed for fixed effect or random effects models, but until recently these methods were limited to simple data structures with a single, independent effect per study. Recent work has provided power approximation formulas for meta-analyses involving studies with multiple, dependent effect size estimates, which are common in syntheses of social science research. Prior work focused on developing and validating the approximations but did not address the practice challenges encountered in applying them for purposes of planning a synthesis involving dependent effect sizes. We aim to facilitate the application of these recent developments by providing practical guidance on how to conduct power analysis for planning a meta-analysis of dependent effect sizes and by introducing a new R package, POMADE, designed for this purpose. We present a comprehensive overview of resources for finding information about the study design features and model parameters needed to conduct power analysis, along with detailed worked examples using the POMADE package. For presenting power analysis findings, we emphasize graphical tools that can depict power under a range of plausible assumptions and introduce a novel plot, the traffic light power plot, for conveying the degree of certainty in one's assumptions.

What's in the Blood? Temporalities at Play in Diet-Related Risk Management Testing Practices

In this paper, I look at two different sets of practices that are part of the risk management apparatus in place in Québec & Canada to apprehend and control risks associated with food consumption. More specifically, I contrast diabetes and chemical contaminants risk management testing practices, so as to compare how both frame and approach risks, in a context where recent research in social sciences, epigenetics and environmental sciences increasingly points to “environmental” pathways of disease causation while many chronic conditions remain highly individualized in public and health discourses. The analysis pays close attention to the different temporalities discursively created, considered, and neglected in these practices in order to understand how risk is approached and worked on. This highlights the power relations that inform how we care (or not) for (certain) bodies, inflecting in particular ways their—uneven—becomings. I argue that the Canadian biotechnological apparatus of testing practices meant to apprehend and control diet-related risks contributes to foreclosing the temporalities of health and illness considered and acted upon. As such, the apparatus contributes to (re)producing inequalities, here mostly health related ones, as well as creating differentiated biological materialities.

Environmental conflicts in the mass media: insight from the media representation of ecological distributive conflicts (EDCs) in Italy

ABSTRACT Despite the increasing prominence of local ecological-distributive conflicts (EDCs) as subjects of social science research in recent decades, interaction between the media and territorial conflict has remained overlooked, still requiring further investigation. Indeed, there is currently a lack of systematic, up-to-date analysis of the relationship between the media and ecological-distributive protests that goes beyond the investigation of NIMBY narratives to provide a general overview of territorial protest representations and their implications for conflict. Based on the application of Political Claims Analysis to the national newspaper, la Repubblica, and its reporting of six Italian local EDCs, this article aims to discuss the ambivalent representations of territorial protest in the media, while also highlighting the implications of different narrative patterns for the values and perspectives embedded in public opinion. The twofold aim is to investigate the media’s narrative strategies with regard to local protests and their evolution throughout the mobilizations and to assess how the cultural context influences the likelihood that different messages will gain support. This investigation is crucial not only for filling the existing gap regarding the relationship between media and the ongoing spread of EDCs in Italy, but also for grasping broader dynamics concerning media management of environmental conflict, something that is becoming increasingly relevant to both the political and media spheres.