Social Research Research Articles

Consumer Social Responsibility: A Systematic Literature Review

ABSTRACT While organizations continually focus on social responsibility, research and practice increasingly emphasize consumers’ role and importance in this domain. This study explores consumer social responsibility (CnSR) through a systematic literature review of 72 academic articles from reputable journals. The results indicate that CnSR is gaining research attention, as reflected in the growing number of publications. Most studies come from advanced economies, mainly the U.S., and researchers have predominantly used quantitative methods, though qualitative and mixed methods are in use. Content analysis reveals that CnSR is conceptualized around several themes, including economic, environmental, health, philanthropic, social, and ethical dimensions. Literature shows a shift in CnSR from firm-oriented (reactive) to self-oriented (proactive) responsibility. This study is limited to peer-reviewed academic articles published in English in reputable business and management journals, extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. While the study provides valuable insights into consumers’ role in promoting social responsibility and their impact on society and the environment, it may not fully represent non-English perspectives or other disciplines. Business practitioners and policymakers can utilize this research to promote responsible consumption. Although earlier studies have explored aspects of CnSR, this study presents a systematic literature review.

Internationalisation for higher education: International coordinators’ perspectives on challenges and virtual exchange

International outlook constitutes, together with teaching, research, and knowledge transfer, one of the university core missions. Spain remains as a preferred destination for outbound mobilities, which constitutes an opportunity in terms of international rankings. Vice-Rectorates are designing strategies to retain this flow of international students, as well as to promote outbound mobilities. The present piece of research is a qualitative study based on Deyo’s Qualitative Social Constructionist Inquiry (2018), a semi-structured interview. Such design was supervised by experts and approved by the Ethics Committee of Social Studies. Results address the viewpoints of 17 international coordinators of the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, based on four different campuses. The sample was made in terms of convenience, as it is the authors’ institution. Questions concentrate on coordinators’ understanding of the goals and needs of study abroad programmes, together with the needs of international students, their main challenges, and the role of the three communicative subcompetences of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages on these programmes, and more specifically their connection with the Theory of Identity Development (Chickering and Reisser, 1993), to help determine the strengths and weaknesses of such mobilities. Results reveal important information in relation to both the role of international coordinator and the effects these exchanges have on the students. Considering the former aspect, the answers evinced that this job post requires more attention in terms of training, tasks specification, recognition, and assistance. Regarding the latter, the responses highlight multiple benefits derived from these exchanges; in particular, the development of personal and social abilities to be more independent to solve problems, to collaborate with other people from different backgrounds, to communicate in a foreign language, and to expand their worldview. Nonetheless, the answers also show that this experience could be further enriched by academic, social, and emotional support for the students. In this line, the study suggests a set of recommendations and seeks for alternative instances to reach the goals of international exchange, such as excellence, equity, or education innovation (European Commission, 2021) by means of virtual exchange in COIL programmes such as eTwinning.

Response to the Respondents: The NIMH Task Force Report on Social Work Research

Response to the Respondents: The NIMH Task Force Report on Social Work Research

The current relevance of three classical cases of social research: Milgram, Humphreys, and Zimbardo

The current relevance of three classical cases of social research: Milgram, Humphreys, and Zimbardo

Children’s Rights and Online Age Assurance Systems

Abstract Age assurance is a way to prevent children accessing content, products or services that are potentially harmful to them, ranging from gambling services or alcohol or tobacco or, increasingly, certain products and services online. Now that children’s lives are mediated by digital technologies, policymakers are deliberating over the legal, technical and practical challenges. These have been little examined from the perspective of children’s rights. By combining legal and social research methods, this article examines the legal requirements for age assurance in Europe, assesses compliance by companies and reveals the consequences for family life. In law and practice, we show that age assurance is often ineffective in protecting children from online risk of harm. Further, as currently implemented it risks children’s other rights – to non-discrimination, privacy, to be heard, and their civil rights and freedoms, and remedy. We identify promising directions for the use of age assurance in child online protection, focusing on European policy, regulators and civil society actors.

Agency and structure in regional development: in search of a social science research programme

ABSTRACT As a concept, agency stretches from philosophical and meta-theoretical elaborations to studies documenting largely idiosyncratic happenings in a particular empirical context, which could be dismissed as anecdotal. In between, and the source for the recent revival of scholarly interest, lies the promise to explain transformation processes, multiplex governance, and varieties in wellbeing and development pathways, which are needed in a world overshadowed by crises. Have studies on agency and structure lived up to the promise? Only partly, we argue and suggest that we need to develop a common ontological commitment as well as adequate mid-range theories and methods coherent with such a commitment. We suggest critical realism as the backbone of such a common ontological commitment and discuss potential ways forward for a social science research programme with emancipatory potential, this is to say to contribute to our capabilities to make a difference in the world.

The Understanding America Study (UAS)

PurposeThe Understanding America Study (UAS) is a probability-based Internet panel housed at the Center for Economic and Social Research at the University of Southern California (USC). The UAS serves as...

Identifying Tools and Techniques for Picking out Cultural Bottlenecks: Another Crucial Component of the Symbiotic Approach to Socio-Cultural Change

This paper is built upon our earlier papers on the symbiotic approach to sociocultural change, and extends them meaningfully in new directions. This is done by proposing different types of tools and techniques that can be used in identifying cultural bottlenecks, and can therefore be used to usher in, or bring about a faster pace of sociocultural change. We therefore, aptly and appropriately begin this paper by carrying out a brief overview of our earlier papers on sociocultural change, and by briefly laying down their various concepts and postulates. Subsequently, and resultantly, various tools and techniques for identifying and overcoming cultural bottlenecks are also proposed. These include an alignment with a cultural taxonomy, a comparative method to compare cultures, a high low analysis of values, a root cause analysis of cultural performance, analysis of cultural orientations, an evaluation of cultural performance by laying down metric and measurements and analyzing the pace of sociocultural change, etc. We also briefly discuss ethnographic techniques that can be used to evaluate cultures, including long-term ethnography and the ethnography of enculturation. Likewise, social science research methods, and components of research design are reviewed, besides some other approaches to identifying and analyzing cultural bottlenecks. We hope and anticipate that this paper will become a useful cog in the machine to bring about faster sociocultural change, and will become an intrinsic part of our globalization of science movement as well.

Abstract surrealism: the New York Schoolers’ ‘Personalized Surrealism’

ABSTRACT Drawing from New York School artists’ witness accounts, correspondence, and archival records from lesser-consulted New York gallery archives (e.g. Hugo Gallery, Iolas Gallery, etc.), this paper challenges recent retellings that abdicate witness accounts in general and abrogate Roberto Matta’s influence on the New York School in particular. This paper’s thesis is that Matta’s influence on the nascent New York School American artists in the early-to-mid 1940s gave critical shape to the constituent American artists’ conception of automatism and refined the ambit of their project. I begin by situating Matta’s conception of automatism vis-à-vis the art historical semblance of Duchamp’s and Breton. Looking at a range of archival material hitherto unconsidered in the extant literature, I then expound on the New York School’s reception of key confluences/events, including: Gordon Onslow Ford’s lecture at the New School of Social Research on 5 March 1941, which many New York School artists attended and where Matta’s work was underscored as spearheading a novel approach to Surrealist automatism; the six Fall-Winter 1942–43 collaborative automatist studio sessions that Matta led with Jackson Pollock, Gerome Kamrowski, Peter Busa, Robert Motherwell, and William Baziotes; and witness accounts on Matta’s institutional support of the Americans’.

Bringing the Ocean to the Stage: Performing Coastal Values and Marine Management

Recent years have witnessed a seemingly constant call for improved understanding of human–ocean relationships, resulting in a “boom” of marine social science research, sometimes framed through the lens of ocean literacy. Defined as having an understanding of your influence on the ocean, and its influence on you, ocean literacy has gained traction in recent years as a way of better understanding the complexities of human–ocean relationships. However, despite this interest in the human dimensions of the ocean, coasts and seas, and a corresponding increase in broader marine social sciences research, qualitative and arts‐based research approaches continue to remain on the periphery of ocean research. This article explores the role of two ocean research “outliers,” intersecting arts‐based practice and marine social sciences through the lens of interconnected performances designed to explore the diverse values held by communities about their marine and coastal environment. Undertaken as part of the Diverse Marine Values project, the performances brought together ocean scientists, coastal and marine managers, and community members to create original performance pieces in Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland, and Portsmouth, England. Drawing heavily on applied theatre practice and scholarship, these distinct but interrelated performances utilised elements of forum theatre, devised theatre, and storytelling to address marine issues important to each respective community, with a view to understanding and fostering ocean literacy. In each location, the performance work illustrated ways in which theatre can serve as not only a tool for science communication, but also a research method to explore a range of ocean literacy dimensions. The performances helped the research team, comprised jointly of specialist theatre practitioners and experts in ocean literacy, coastal management, and plastics pollution to reshape data collection and stakeholder engagement. This collaborative theatre‐making process led to deeper conversations and embedded engagement within each coastal community. It also led to a fundamental reshaping of the questions and approaches that the marine managers and scientists asked of the communities in question. The article presents a discussion of the challenges of bridging these related, but often distant, disciplines, and highlights the role of arts‐based research practice in broader ocean literacy research and discourse.

Design Thinking in Innovation Processes: A Market Segmentation Tool in Social Networks Research

This paper outlines the purposeful adaptation and utilization of the design thinking process in an innovation case involving market segmentation in social network research. Based on a case study, this paper combines the design thinking process with systems approach methods to foster innovation in social network analyses. The paper details the entire process, from the initial stages to the development of a viable solution defined in the final assignment for programmers. The case study emphasizes the effective use of systems thinking tools and demonstrates the value of combining these two approaches to meet the needs of the innovation process. The paper aims to narrate the entire process and highlight critical points in a real-world case study. The focus was on the challenge of creating a market segmentation tool for researchers and marketers in the realm of social network analysis.

Las Polémicas de la Relación Espacio Social y su Influencia en la Forma Urbana en Ciudades Contemporáneas

This essay explores the polemics of the concept “social spatial.” Four main axes of thought can be distinguished: social space as the material environment of social groups; social space as a relational establishment of positions; social space as a dialectical approach to the society-space relationship; and, finally, the threads of constructivism that question the opposition of society and space from a post-structural perspective. This essay attempts to situate these four perspectives within the literature that pays attention to social theory, social geography, urban studies and their implications for the spatial professions of urban planning, urban design, architecture and civil engineering. These four perspectives of social space are complementary from a theoretical point of view. Its application in social research often occurs simultaneously within and among different disciplines, depending largely on the object of analysis, and how geography is defined. I argue that these four theoretical perspectives define geography differently as either functional space, central places, territoriality, or lived places. Moreover, these perspectives and their respective definitions of geography influence practice and professional policy that affect urban form. This essay pays attention to the link between knowledge and practice that have created contemporary socio-spatial environments.

Global Biodiversity: Extinct Arctic Mammoth Tusks as Substitute Resource to Save Live Elephants

Objective: The aim of this article is to justify an approach to natural resource substitution using fossilised mammoth bones from the Arctic to conserve live elephants. Theoretical Framework - The theoretical idea and basis of the article is the replacement of ivory with the tusks of extinct mammoths against the background of melting permafrost in the Arctic. This approach is considered within the framework of a kind of 'mammoth pipeline' - the journey of extinct fossil mammoth tusks and their transformation into eternal values in the form of exclusive products, as well as their ultimate contribution to the conservation of living elephant populations. The theoretical basis of the study is the concept of sustainable development, the theory of natural resource substitution, biodiversity conservation, the concept of benefit sharing paradigm in Arctic mining. Method - The study is based on an interdisciplinary approach using methods from economics and management, ethnology and palaeontology, social research and monitoring. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the ivory to mammoth tusk substitution scheme is considered in terms of the benefits to global biodiversity conservation, including the maintenance of wild elephant populations and the development of traditional fisheries by indigenous peoples of the North. Results and Discussion - This article assesses the world resource of mammoth bone remains, concentrated in the Russian Arctic, and shows the possibilities of their use as a substitute natural resource for elephant conservation and socio-economic development of areas inhabited by indigenous peoples of the North. The influence of ongoing climate change on the increase in the extraction of fossil mammoth tusks is shown. The stages and links of the 'mammoth pipeline' under consideration, including the extraction of mammoth bones, the export and trade of tusks, and the substitution of mammoth tusks for ivory, are substantiated. The factors influencing the formation of the world demand for mammoth tusks are identified and the directions of their use for elephant conservation and socio-economic development of the local population in the Arctic territories in the areas of their extraction are shown. Research Implications - The results of the study can be used to conserve global biodiversity, develop a green economy, substitute mammoth tusks for ivory and conserve elephant populations. The authors estimate that supplying the world market with an average of 10 kilograms of mammoth ivory can save one elephant; exporting even half of the mammoth tusks extracted in Yakutia can save 60,000 elephants. At the same time, issues of social and economic support for the traditional trades and livelihoods of the indigenous peoples of the North are being addressed. Originality/ Value - The originality of the research and its value lie in the new scientific formulation of the solution to the scientific problem of global biodiversity conservation through the substitution of natural resources, the use of own empirical data obtained in the Arctic territories, as well as the possibility of practical application of the results obtained in the field of green economy.

Co-creation of social innovations for healthy ageing in rural Europe – a process evaluation of a volunteer-led guided conversation toolkit using Normalisation Process Theory (NPT)

ABSTRACT We critically explored the use of Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) in the evaluation of a co-designed intervention toolkit for Healthy Ageing through Innovation in Rural Europe (HAIRE). The toolkit was co-designed and implemented in rural communities in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. NPT was applied as a novel analytical framework to shed light on key practices and processes that supported implementation. Further, the paper discusses how social innovation research helps frame co-designing such interventions with local communities. During the study, 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with project partners and volunteers who were involved in toolkit co-design and implementation. A need for co-designing toolkits that explore ageing holistically was identified. Holistic understandings of ageing can be developed by paying attention to person-centred and place-based (context-specific) aspects of ageing. Finally, we illustrate how NPT can guide future evaluation frameworks as it offers the flexibility required to understand context-specific implementation.

Family Frugality Scale: Development, Validation, and Usage of an Implicit Financial Socialization Modeling Measure

The Family Frugality Scale (FFS) was developed to retrospectively measure an individual’s perception of the degree to which their family was frugal in the management of resources while the individual was growing up. Research in financial socialization has increasingly noted the significance of family and parental socialization modeling behaviors. This scale is unique in that it focuses on a specific family socialization behavior that young adults can reflect on from their adolescence—family frugality—one that may or may not have been implicitly modeled in their family during their younger years. The scale items were constructed using a combination of existing scales, qualitative focus group analysis, survey data from a national sample of 1,245 young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 years, and structural equation modeling. Multiple test results show that the FFS was reliable and valid and can be used to evaluate its relationships with other individual and familial financial behaviors.

Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Revised Attitudes Toward Research Scale for Use with MSW Students.

Evaluating students' attitudes toward research is essential for instructors of any research methods class, as students' general attitudes toward research may impact if and how they integrate research into practice decision making. However, few psychometrically sound, multidimensional instruments that can be used with Master of Social Work (MSW) students exist. This work used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Revised Attitudes Toward Research Scale with a diverse sample of 396 master's level social work students. Multiple indicators, multiple causes models and a series of Monte Carlo simulations were then used to assess the relationship between various dimensions of students' attitudes toward research, their prior research exposure/training, and their sociodemographic characteristics. Results indicate that the overall performance of the measure with this sample of MSW students was strong, and the factor structure was consistent with that found when evaluated with different samples in previous research. Moreover, various sociodemographic characteristics predicted scores on the research usefulness, research anxiety, and positive research predisposition subscales. The use of this tool allows instructors to identify students with high levels of research-related anxiety and those who may not intuitively comprehend the need to understand empirical research findings and integrate them into practice decision making. The authors offer suggestions for integrating this validated tool into social work research methods classes to assist in developing students' ability to engage in all steps of the evidence-based practice process once in the field.

What is my truth and who decides?: exploring viable social identity scripts and performances with latina/x artivists in an arts-based youth participatory action research troupe

This seven-month critical performance ethnographic study explores the lived experiences of Latina/x youth artivist-researchers. The data collected through participant observations, arts-based elicitation and semi-structured interviews, artifacts, and analytic memos reveal how Latina/x youth utilize artmaking to understand and construct a viable social identity. Their participation in an arts-based youth participatory action research (YPAR) project and intergenerational theatre ensemble we call Estrella Theatre (ET) company indicates how art and social justice-driven inquiry provokes reflection on the identity scripts and performances youth use in our daily lives. Findings reveal that Latina/x youth identity scripts and performances appear across personal, interpersonal, and social planes of identity where they experience identity clashes, artful identity development, new identities, and identity code-switching.

Elements of trust and trust-building in gerontological social work. The social worker’s perspective

ABSTRACT Although trust between social workers and their clients emerges as a critical factor in social work, it has often been taken for granted and rarely placed under detailed scrutiny in social work research. This study explores the elements on which clients’ trust is built, and social workers’ trust-building practices in gerontological social work (GSW) in Finland. We analysed seven focus group discussions of gerontological social workers abductively, using Russell Hardin’s model of trust as an analytical tool. This study identifies six elements of clients’ trust: (1) trust in the individual social worker and in the institution, (2) trust as mutually recognised goals, (3) trust in the professional’s competence, (4) trust as a risk, (5) trust as dynamic, (6) trust as cognitive. A social worker builds trust by listening carefully to clients, considering their interests when choosing their own goals and actions, clearly articulating the goals and premises of social work, and demonstrating that the social worker can contribute meaningfully to the client’s life. In GSW, clients’ distrust and refusal of services are common. Consequently, trust-building often requires plenty of time, creativity and perseverance from the social worker. This is challenged by the fact that there is not always enough time to build trust, trust’s essential nature is not often recognised in the service system, and social workers may lack competence and understanding of the elements of trust and trust-building. In order to meet older adults’ complex needs, it is essential to meet these challenges and place trust at the centre of GSW.

What Social Research Can Learn from Archaeology: Comparison as Juxtaposition and Conduction

Methodological inspiration from the discipline of archaeology can spur new developments of logic of inquiry in social research beyond contemporary debates among empiricist, rationalist, and pragmatist positions with their corresponding modes of inference: induction, deduction, and abduction. Archaeological methodology pursues comparison not in terms of similarities and differences among cases but through the juxtaposition of heterogeneous yet coexisting finds. On this basis, it pursues inferences by what I call ‘conduction’ about the relationship among finds, understood as their conditions of coexistence. Archaeological methodology will prove especially useful to studies that face uncertainty about the constituting relationships of a phenomenon, surprising coexistences, or a need to transgress established disciplinary or social demarcations. On this background, I particularly discuss the usefulness of archaeological methodology for the broad literature on problems, problematization, issues, and concerns building on the works of Dewey, Callon, and Foucault.

Regression Model in Social Science Research: The Issue of Multicollinearity, Detection Method, and Solution in SPSS

One of the objectives of social science researchers in an inferential test is to build a reliable regression model. Multi-linear regression aims to find or predict the effect of predictor variables on predicted variables. However, when there is a high linear correlation between predictor variables in multi-linear regression, the predictor variables in the model cannot accurately define their impact on predicted variables. This statistical condition is called multicollinearity. Without testing and detecting multicollinearity and its precise treatment, the regression model can create difficulties in defining the impact of individual predictor variables on the predicted variable, leading to a faulty interpretation of the impact on the whole model. In this study, 36 primary-level teachers were selected randomly as the respondents. The respondents’ data included their tentative salary, age, years of education, academic percentage in their final degree, and years of service. In the first round, the Karl Pearson correlation test is conducted among four independent variables: tentative current salary, age of respondent teachers, years of education completed, academic percentage in the final degree, and years of service s/he is involved in. SPSS version 25 is applied to find a correlation matrix between predictor variables, a matrix scatter plot, and linear regression with a collinearity diagnostic test. After finding a strong correlation between two variables, a collinearity diagnostic test is performed to locate and confirm the multicollinearity issue between the predictor variables. Once multicollinearity is confirmed, precise treatment is provided to solve the issue. The study found multicollinearity issues in two predictor variables; thus, further solutions were explained.