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.

Gina Neff on Smart Devices

By Social Science Bites | Published: March 1, 2019

Gina Neff doesn’t approach smart devices as a Luddite or even that much of an alarmist; she bought first-generation Fitbit when they were brand new and virtually unknown (all of five years ago!). She approaches...

Posted in Social Science Bites | Tagged Digital Technology, Smartphones, Sociology, Technology, Tracking Devices | Leave a comment

Les Back on Migrants

By Social Science Bites | Published: February 1, 2019

Reflecting on his new book Migrant City, Goldsmiths sociologist Les Back tells interviewer David Edmonds in this Social Science Bites podcast, co-author and co-researcher Shamser Sinha and Back learned their work was "not really just...

Posted in International Debate, Public Policy, Social Science Bites | Tagged Immigration, Les Back, London, Migrant City | 1 Response

David Halpern on Nudging

By Social Science Bites | Published: January 2, 2019

In this Social Science Bites podcast, experimental psychologist David Halpern, the British Nudge Unit's chief executive, offers interviewer David Edmonds a quick primer on nudging, examples of nudges that worked (and one that didn’t), how...

Posted in Public Policy, Social Science Bites | Tagged Behavioural Insights Team, Cass Sunstein, David Halpern, Nudge, Nudge Unit | Leave a comment

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 Debate, 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 | 2 Responses

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

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SAGE Open
Sociology in Action Blog
Social Science Bites
- Gina Neff on Smart Devices March 1, 2019 Social Science Bites
- Les Back on Migrants February 1, 2019 Social Science Bites
- David Halpern on Nudging January 2, 2019 Social Science Bites
- James Robinson on Why Nations Fail December 3, 2018 Social Science Bites

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Gina Neff on Smart Devices

Les Back on Migrants

David Halpern on Nudging

James Robinson on Why Nations Fail

Nick Adams on Textual Analysis

Andrew Leigh on Randomistas

Diane Reay on Education and Class

Mahzarin Banaji on Implicit Bias

Richard Wilkinson on How Inequality is Bad

Celia Heyes on Cognitive Gadgets

Alison Liebling on Successful Prisons

David Spiegelhalter on Communicating Statistics

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Sociology in Action Blog

Social Science Bites

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