Cutting NSF Is Like Liquidating Your Finest Investment
Look closely at your mobile phone or tablet. Touch-screen technology, speech recognition, digital sound recording and the internet were all developed using […]
Share Your Social Science Story
COSSA is calling for the social science community to submit stories of social sciences successes, whether it be advances in research, an example of how social science is being used effectively in your community, an educational experience or teacher who shaped the trajectory of your social science career.
Leon Redbone, Fact Checking, and Ethnography
In recent popular music, there have been few if any performers as enigmatic as the late Leon Redbone, who died on May 30. With a vintage repertoire featuring tunes from ragtime, blues, vaudeville, and Tin Pan Alley, and always appearing in dark glasses and a Panama hat, he looked like a figure straight out of the 1920s.
Sam Friedman on Class
“Education,” says sociologist Sam Friedman, “doesn’t wash away the effects of class background in terms of allocating opportunities. That’s quite profound – I believe there are a lot of people who believe quite strongly that these sorts of educational institutions can and do act as sort of meritocratic sorting houses.”
Sci-Hub: The Librarian’s Response
In this post by Ruth Harrison, Yvonne Nobis & Charles Oppenheim they tell about the challenges that Sci-Hub presents to librarians who are advocating for open access to scholarly content. We published this post in recognition of lasts weeks Open Access Week around the country. The article highlights issues associated with open access and scholarly communications and the views reflect that of the authors.
Misinformation and Biases Affect Social Media, Intentionally and Accidentally
Information on social media can be misleading because of biases in three places – the brain, society and algorithms. Scholars are developing ways to identify and display the effects of these biases.
Understanding the Slave Trade
Our Robert Dingwall says he has long thought that sociologists should read more history. It might correct some of their sweeping generalizations about the emergence and development of Western societies. This reflection has been reinforced by a recent book, ‘A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution.’
