A space to explore, share and shape the issues facing social scientists

Welcome to the blog for the Social Science Bites podcast: a series of interviews with leading Social Scientists. Each episode explores an aspect of our social world. You can access all audio and the transcripts from each interview here. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @socialscibites to keep up to date on the latest activities.

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James Robinson on Why Nations Fail

By Social Science Bites | Published: December 3, 2018

Metrics on the average living standards from the best-off countries in the world (say, Norway) to the worst-off (such as the Central African Republic) vary by a factor of 40 to 50. So notes James...

Posted in Social Science Bites | Tagged Inclusiveness, Inequality, Institutions, James Robinson | Leave a comment

Nick Adams on Textual Analysis

By Social Science Bites | Published: November 1, 2018

Fake news, whether truly phony or merely unpalatable, has become an inescapable trope for modern media consumers. But apart from its propagandist provenance, misinformation and disinformation in our media diets is a genuine threat. Sociologist...

Posted in Public Policy, Social Science Bites | Tagged Fake News, Nick Adams, Public Editor, Tag Works, Textual Analysis | Leave a comment

Andrew Leigh on Randomistas

By Social Science Bites | Published: October 1, 2018

When Angus Deaton crafted the term 'randomista' to denigrate the rampant use of randomized controlled trials in development economics, Angus Leigh saw an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons. In this Social Science Bites...

Posted in Public Policy, Research, Social Science Bites | Tagged Andrew Leigh, Angus Deaton, Randomised Controlled Trial, Randomista | Leave a comment

Diane Reay on Education and Class

By Social Science Bites | Published: September 4, 2018

One thing has become clear to sociologist Diane Reay across her research - “It’s primarily working-class children who turn out to be losers in the educational system.” Whether it’s through the worst-funded schools, least-qualified teachers,...

Posted in Impact, International Debates, Social Science Bites | Tagged Class, Education, Inequality, Sociology | Leave a comment

Mahzarin Banaji on Implicit Bias

By Social Science Bites | Published: August 2, 2018

“The brain is an association-seeking machine,” Harvard social psychologist Mahzarin R. Banaji tells interviewer David Edmonds in this Social Science Bites podcast. “It puts things together that repeatedly get paired in our experience. Implicit bias...

Posted in Impact, Social Science Bites | Tagged Bias, Implicit Bias, Mahzarin Banaji, Social Psychology | 1 Response

Richard Wilkinson on How Inequality is Bad

By Social Science Bites | Published: July 3, 2018

In this Social Science Bites podcast, social epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson lays out the case that inequality should be fought specifically because it fosters a litany of ill effects.

Posted in Public Policy, Social Science Bites | Tagged Equality, Inequality, Kate Pickett, Richard Wilkinson | Leave a comment

Celia Heyes on Cognitive Gadgets

By Social Science Bites | Published: June 1, 2018

How did humans diverge so markedly from animals? Apart from physical things like our “physical peculiarities,” as experimental psychologist Celia Heyes puts it, or our fine motor control, there’s something even more fundamentally – and...

Posted in Social Science Bites | Tagged Celia Heyes, Cognition, Cognitive Gadgets, evolution, evolutionary psychology | Leave a comment

Alison Liebling on Successful Prisons

By Social Science Bites | Published: May 1, 2018

In determining what makes a successful prison, where would you place ‘trust’? Alison Liebling, director of the Cambridge University Institute of Criminology’s Prisons Research Centre, would place it at the top spot. As she tells...

Posted in Social Science Bites | Tagged Alison Liebling, Corrections, Criminology, Prisons | Leave a comment

David Spiegelhalter on Communicating Statistics

By Social Science Bites | Published: April 2, 2018

While they aren’t as unpopular as politicians or journalists, people who work with statistics come in for their share of abuse. “Figures lie and liars figure,” goes one maxim. And don’t forget, “There are three...

Posted in Public Engagement, Social Science Bites | Tagged David Spiegelhalter, Royal Statistical Society, Statistics | Leave a comment

Sander van der Linden on Viral Altruism

By Social Science Bites | Published: March 1, 2018

When online charitable appeals take off, social psychologist Sander van der Linden perks up. He studies ‘viral altruism,’ and in this Social Science Bites podcast he details to host David Edmonds how he studies this...

Posted in Research, Social Science Bites | Tagged Social Psychology, Vital Altruism | 2 Responses

Melinda Mills on Sociogenomics

By Social Science Bites | Published: February 1, 2018

Combining sociology and genetics, Melinda Mills and her collaborators abandon the nature v. nurture controversy for empirical research on family formation, inequality, child-rearing and other real-life concerns. In this Social Science Bites podcast, she discusses...

Posted in Social Science Bites | Tagged Genetics, Melinda Mills, Sociogenomics, Sociology | Leave a comment

Jo Boaler on Fear of Mathematics

By Social Science Bites | Published: January 2, 2018

There's a lot of myths that get in the way of learning maths, says Stanford University's Jo Boaler, and her research not only topples conventional wisdom but gives solid ways of allowing everyone to harness...

Posted in Higher Education Reform, Research, Social Science Bites | Tagged Education, Jo Boaler, Mathematics, Teaching Math Phobia | Leave a comment

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