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 Branded Sociologist: Can We Still Be On Anyone’s Side?
Sociology is a brand. To survive or even thrive in the academic marketplace, sociology needs to take care of its image. But at what cost?
Congressional Briefing on social surveys and statistics (American Academy of Political and Social Science)
Last month The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) put together a Congressional Briefing on the impact of falling response rates to social surveys and what can be done about it.
The Nonresponse Challenge to Surveys and Statistics
Survey researchers are increasingly unable to get people to respond to surveys. This is a real worry because nonresponse can lead to biased research and because nonresponse poses a significant threat to the federal statistical system in its entirety.
Gathering Data for Policy Makers, Business and the Public
Federal surveys have been getting more expensive to administer, in part because the number of people who actually respond to surveys has been progressively declining.
Stand Out and Be Counted: Quantitative Skills
The British Academy recently published a guide for students encouraging those studying the humanities and social sciences to become statistically savvy.
Using Quantitative Skills in Politics and the Public Sector
Quantitative Skills (QS) are invaluable in the public sector and politics. They provide robustness to political debates and policy decisions. Find out more from a member of the House of Lords, the National Statistician and Director of Operations at the British Library.
Property Crime, Violence and Recession
There is no inevitability in the rise in homicide, domestic and acquaintance violence in the coming year. Sadly, though, it would be more surprising if they did not increase than if they did.
Accountability, Compliance and Bureaucratisation in Higher Education
Around the educational mission we are now spinning a web of ‘accountability’ that has little to do with explaining or justifying our activities, and much to do with obscuring our responsibility through the creation of elaborate processes.
