Social Science Space

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

Tag: Social Science

Reimagining the UK Sociology Curriculum: Internationalization, Decolonialization and Employability

By Robert Dingwall | Published: July 13, 2017

How well do sociology departments in the UK teach sociology that originated in the UK? Asking that surprisingly hard question may produce usable insights for academic Britain, argues our Robert Dingwall.

Posted in Brexit, International Debate, News, Public Engagement, Research, Science & Social Science, Teaching | Also tagged Economics, Inequality, Sociology, Teaching | Leave a comment

In Search of Conservative Sociology

By Robert Dingwall | Published: April 4, 2017

As sociology has drifted further and further from any conservative touchstones, argues Robert Dingwall, it has become less and less able to understand the society that provides its subsistence.

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Policy, Teaching | Also tagged Academic Freedom, Conservative, social policy, Sociology | 3 Responses

Sociology’s (Selective) Diversity

By Robert Dingwall | Published: January 3, 2017

Our Robert Dingwall reflects on Tinder's in-house sociologist and on the just-announced New Year's Honours list to question just how diverse are current understandings of diversity.

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Engagement, Public Policy, Recognition | Also tagged Diversity, Inequality, Policy, Public honors, Public honours, Social Recognition, Sociology | Leave a comment

Zika – What Are the Real Lessons from Ebola?

By Robert Dingwall | Published: February 1, 2016

Another disease in the tropics has the World Health Organisation in a lather, and again biomedicine's response will not be all that useful in the short term. Social science can help now to address the underlying problems that help the Zika virus to spread -- if policymakers will listen.

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Policy, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Ebola, Policy, Public Health, World Health Organization, Zika | Leave a comment

Deregulating Social Science Research Ethics – Clipping the Wings of IRBs?

By Robert Dingwall | Published: November 5, 2015

The Federal Register is surely not everybody’s bedtime reading. It is where the US Government formally publishes certain official documents, including advance notice of its intention to make rules that implement Executive policies. For social science researchers, one of the most important of these has long been the so-called Common Rule, introduced in 1981 and […]

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Policy, Research, Research Ethics | Also tagged Ethics, IRB, Policy, Research, Social Research, Social Science Research | Leave a comment

Suffragette – More than a Feminist Movie

By Robert Dingwall | Published: October 26, 2015

With most works of art looking at the past, the real focus is the present. The new movie 'Suffragette,' writes Robert Dingwall, invites us to think about the consequences of political systems that are supposedly democratic but systematically exclude many voices.

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Engagement, Public Policy | Also tagged Anti-Terrorism, Feminism, film, Political Science, Politics, Sociology, Sociology of Violence, Suffragette, Terrorism | 1 Response

Ebola: WHO and the Consequences of Ignoring Social Science

By Robert Dingwall | Published: July 10, 2015

A new report from the World Health Organization on the response to the African Ebola outbreak backs up what our Robert Dingwall has been writing all along -- by downplaying social science lives have been lost. The question now is whether a new WHO can improve.

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Engagement, Public Policy, Research, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Ebola, Public Health, World Health Organization | Leave a comment

Ebola – WHO (Still) Don’t Get It: Social Science Saves Lives

By Robert Dingwall | Published: February 9, 2015

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa reminds us of a key lesson in public health, notes Robert Dingwall: Biomedical solutions will always come late, while social science-based interventions can break the cycle much sooner.

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Policy, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Ebola, pandemic, Policy, Well-being, World Health Organization | Leave a comment

Ebola: The Human Cost of Neglecting the Social Sciences

By Robert Dingwall | Published: December 7, 2014

There is a genuine cost from ignoring lessons from social science in the fight against Ebola. What's even sadder -- these lessons were taught in blood three decades ago in the fights against AIDS. Are we ready for the next malady?

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Engagement, Public Policy, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Anthropology, Ebola, Health, Media, Policy, Public Health, Sociology | Leave a comment

The Scottish Referendum: Social Science and National Identity

By Robert Dingwall | Published: September 29, 2014

As the independence vote moves from all-consuming question to historical incident, what are the lessons that Scottish universities and in particular Scottish social scientists should take away?

Posted in International Debate, News, Science & Social Science, Teaching | Also tagged Higher Education, Humanities, Policy, Scotland, Teaching | 4 Responses

Is Doctor Who a Sociologist?

By Robert Dingwall | Published: August 11, 2014

Doctor Who's sobriquet implies he's earned a doctorate in something. The Doctor's not telling what he might have studied, but his actions and attitudes make a strong case for one discipline ...

Posted in International Debate, News, Public Engagement, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Academia, Campaign for Social Science, Doctor Who, Higher Education, Humanities, Sociology | Leave a comment

On the Ethics of Facebook – and Drawing the Right Conclusions

By Robert Dingwall | Published: July 16, 2014

What does the Facebook emotional contagion study really tells us about research ethics? Perhaps, argues Robert Dingwall, that its time to deregulate public social science.

Posted in News, Open Access, Public Policy, Research Ethics | Also tagged Ethics, Policy, Psychology, Social Media, Social Psychology, Social Research, Social Science Research, The Conversation | Leave a comment

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