Author: Robert Dingwall

Robert Dingwall is an emeritus professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University. He also serves as a consulting sociologist, providing research and advisory services particularly in relation to organizational strategy, public engagement and knowledge transfer. He is co-editor of the SAGE Handbook of Research Management.

Ebola – What’s the Point of the World Health Organisation?
International Debate
October 26, 2014

Ebola – What’s the Point of the World Health Organisation?

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The Scottish Referendum: Social Science and National Identity
International Debate
September 29, 2014

The Scottish Referendum: Social Science and National Identity

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Is Doctor Who a Sociologist?
International Debate
August 11, 2014

Is Doctor Who a Sociologist?

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On the Ethics of Facebook – and Drawing the Right Conclusions
News
July 16, 2014

On the Ethics of Facebook – and Drawing the Right Conclusions

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Return to Planet Quantophrenia

Return to Planet Quantophrenia

Robert Dingwall argues that numeracy and and a grasp of quantitative method of course have a place in the education of a social scientist, but they shouldn’t be the only skills in the graduate’s quiver. How about he ability to walk around, for one?

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Quantophrenia is Back in Town

Quantophrenia is Back in Town

Many social scientists find themselves members of a cult of quantification, argues Robert Dingwall, in love with numbers for their own sake even when those numbers produce no useful knowledge.

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Tamiflu and the Ethics of the British Medical Journal

Tamiflu and the Ethics of the British Medical Journal

No one expected Tamiflu to be a wonder drug, but indications are that it’s moderately useful in fighting a serious public health threat. But that message was lost last week in an ill-starred rush to beat up on ‘wicked’ Big Pharma, argues Robert Dingwall.

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Publication Ethics and Biomedical Imperialism

Publication Ethics and Biomedical Imperialism

Applying ethics to social science research can raise as many issues as it answers. A new set of guidelines on which Robert DIngwall consulted gives clarity in some cases like manipulation of images and duplicate publication but leaves some other controversies unsettled.

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Floods, Politics and Science: The Case of the Somerset Levels

Floods, Politics and Science: The Case of the Somerset Levels

Feel-good interventions that don’t provide a practical good, or at least one not supported by evidence, generate questions that hinge specifically on future responses to climate change and more broadly on government decision-making in general.

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The Ethics of Impact

The Ethics of Impact

Back in the summer, John Holmwood, the current BSA President, sent me an email about impact and research ethics. Various contingencies have […]

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The Rule of Optimism – Thirty Years On

The Rule of Optimism – Thirty Years On

Not many social scientists introduce a phrase into the English language and its subsequent history is instructive about the ways in which the impact of successful sociology becomes invisible. It is also a nice example of how ideas become assimilated into a societal environment that finds it hard to accept the sociologist’s focus on systems and organizations.

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Why Social Science Education is as Important as STEM…

Why Social Science Education is as Important as STEM…

A recent Ipsos-Mori survey reveals the crucial role that social science has to play in modern democracy, a role which is frequently sabotaged.

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