Could Distributed Peer Review Better Decide Grant Funding?
The landscape of academic grant funding is notoriously competitive and plagued by lengthy, bureaucratic processes, exacerbated by difficulties in finding willing reviewers. Distributed […]
The Meaning of the Platinum Jubilee
Robert Dingwall recalls the observations of Edward Shils and Michael Young regarding to coronation of Queen Elizabeth II to offer an insight in the Platinum Jubilee.
Pandemic Management – The Path Not Taken
New data from the WHO show that during the pandemic’s first two years, Sweden had half the excess death rate of the UK, Germany or Spain – and a quarter of the excess death rate of many countries in Eastern Europe.
The Science Media Centre at 20
The UK’s Science Media Centre (SMC) is an internationally admired, and occasionally emulated, model for facilitating interactions between the science community and […]
Not Rewriting the History of the Pandemic
As we pass two years from the beginnings of the pandemic, many commentators are scrambling to distance themselves from their initial responses, […]
Lockdown is Another Triumph of Populism Over Science – Most People Have Behaved Rationally So Far
By popular request, I am posting this as a free-access version of one of the first commentary pieces that I wrote for […]
(Belated) New Year Thoughts on the Barriers to Ending the Pandemic
A year ago, we in the UK were approaching Christmas and New Year with quiet optimism as the first COVID vaccines rolled […]
COVID-19, Face Masks and Research Integrity
Robert Dingwall asks if claims about the effectiveness of face masks in stopping COVID consistent with current standards of research integrity.
Has UK Sociology Marginalized Itself on Some of the Great Issues of Our Time?
Anything may be justified in the name of biosecurity, suggests an alarmed Robert Dingwall. This emotional manipulation spills into the wider worlds of politics, science and, indeed, sociology.
