Floods, Politics and Science: The Case of the Somerset Levels
Feel-good interventions that don’t provide a practical good, or at least one not supported by evidence, generate questions that hinge specifically on future responses to climate change and more broadly on government decision-making in general.
Facebook and Uncritical Contemporary Culture
There they sit, giving the ‘thumbs-up’ to our lives, affirming that all is okay in our world. The ubiquitous “like” button, the […]
The Ethics of Impact
Back in the summer, John Holmwood, the current BSA President, sent me an email about impact and research ethics. Various contingencies have […]
Mental Health Measurement and the Workplace
Due to the confusion over what counts as evidence, mental health research has largely failed to make a significant impact on workplace wellbeing and employment relations practices. Elizabeth Cotton argues that in order to make a positive difference, academic research will have to involve new technologies and communication strategies aimed at helping people to improve their mental health at work.
Social Sciences Need a Collective Voice
Social science may be faring better politically in UK than US, says Ziyad Marar, but let’s avoid complacency at all costs
Words Vs. Numbers Social Science in the Commercial World
I am a Qualitative Social Scientist. I believe in that words tell you more than numbers and the emphasis on numbers in my current working environment has led me to think about why I feel so strongly about the importance of words and what Qualitative Social Science can offer the Commercial world. This leads me to make suggestions for ECRs considering leaving the Academy.
The New National Service for Social and Economic Data
This year’s British Sociological Association annual conference saw countless presentations from all over the country, many of which were based on secondary […]
We need more mainstream social science, not less.
A recent New York Times op-ed has provoked a great deal of debate over the relevance and reinvigoration of the social sciences. Alex Golub welcomes some of the criticism levied at the social sciences as a whole but finds the lack of evidence supporting many of the sweeping claims on why social science is stagnating to be unreconcilable given massive funding differentials and the history of social and natural sciences. But social scientists must continue to work to ensure mainstream social science is communicated in more accessible ways.
