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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social research & statistics
The book explores different approaches towards the 'entrepreneurial university' paradigm, explores channels and mechanism used by universities to implement the paradigm and contributes to the public discussion on the impact of commercialization on university research and knowledge. It argues that different types of university-industry interaction may have repercussions even on funding of basic research if an appropriate balance is ensured between the two. University activities - both research and education in all forms - should provide economic and social relevance directed towards open science and open innovation. This book adds value to current knowledge by presenting both a conceptual framework and case studies which describe different contexts.
Contingency Tables from Maps. More Specialized Techniques for Contingency Tables. Mobility Analysis. Circular Statistics. Spherical Statistics. References. Appendices. Index of Notation for Chapter 9. Author Index. Subject Index. Example Index.
Speculative modernists-that is, British and American writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror during the late 19th and early 20th centuries-successfully grappled with the same forces that would drive their better-known literary counterparts to existential despair. Building on the ideas of the 19th-century Gothic and utopian movements, these speculative writers anticipated literary Modernism and blazed alternative literary trails in science, religion, ecology and sociology. Such authors as H.G. Wells and H.P. Lovecraft gained widespread recognition-budding from them, other speculative authors published fascinating tales of individuals trapped in dystopias, of anti-society attitudes, post-apocalyptic worlds and the rapidly expanding knowledge of the limitless universe. This book documents the Gothic and utopian roots of speculative fiction and explores how these authors played a crucial role in shaping the culture of the new century with their darker, more evolved themes.
Knowledge and expertise, especially of the kind that can shape public opinion, have been traditionally the domain of individuals holding degrees awarded by higher learning institutions or occupying formal positions in notable organizations. Expertise is validated by reputations established in an institutionalized marketplace of ideas with a limited number of "available seats" and a stringent process of selection and retention of names, ideas, topics and facts of interest. However, the social media revolution, which has enabled over two billion Internet users not only to consume, but also to produce information and knowledge, has created a secondary and very active informal marketplace of ideas and knowledge. Anchored by platforms like Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, this informal marketplace has low barriers to entry and has become a gigantic and potentially questionable, knowledge resource for the public at large. Roles, Trust and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets will discuss some of the emerging trends in defining, measuring and operationalizing reputation as a new and essential component of the knowledge that is generated and consumed online. The book will propose a future research agenda related to these issues. The ultimate goal of research agenda being to shape the next generation of theoretical and analytic strategies needed for understanding how knowledge markets are influenced by social interactions and reputations built around functional roles. The authors, including leading scholars and young innovators, will share with the readers some of the main lessons they have learned from their own work in these areas and will discuss the issues, topics and sub-areas that they find under-studied or that promise the greatest intellectual payoff in the future. The discussion will be placed in the context of social network analysis and "big data" research. Roles, Trust and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets exposes issues that have not been satisfactorily dealt with in the current literature, as the research agenda in reputation and authorship is still emerging. In a broader sense, the volume aims to change the way in which knowledge generation in social media spaces is understood and utilized. The tools, theories and methodologies proposed by the contributors offer concrete avenues for developing the next generation of research strategies and applications that will help: tomorrow's information consumers make smarter choices, developers to create new tools and researchers to launch new research programs.
Surveys enjoy great ubiquity among data collection methods in social research: they are flexible in questioning techniques, in the amount of questions asked, in the topics covered, and in the various ways of interactions with respondents. Surveys are also the preferred method by many researchers in the social sciences due to their ability to provide quick profiles and results. Because they are so commonly used and fairly easy to administer, surveys are often thought to be easily thrown together. But designing an effective survey that yields reliable and valid results takes more than merely asking questions and waiting for the answers to arrive. Geared to the non-statistician, the Handbook of Survey Methodology in Social Sciences addresses issues throughout all phases of survey design and implementation. Chapters examine the major survey methods of data collection, providing expert guidelines for asking targeted questions, improving accuracy and quality of responses, while reducing sampling and non-sampling bias. Relying on the Total Survey Error theory, various issues of both sampling and non-sampling sources of error are explored and discussed. By covering all aspects of the topic, the Handbook is suited to readers taking their first steps in survey methodology, as well as to those already involved in survey design and execution, and to those currently in training. Featured in the Handbook: * The Total Survey Error: sampling and non-sampling errors. * Survey sampling techniques. * The art of question phrasing. * Techniques for increasing response rates * A question of ethics: what is allowed in survey research? * Survey design: face-to-face, phone, mail, e-mail, online, computer-assisted.? * Dealing with sensitive issues in surveys. * Demographics of respondents: implications for future survey research. * Dealing with nonresponse, and nonresponse bias The Handbook of Survey Methodology in Social Sciences offers how-to clarity for researchers in the social and behavioral sciences and related disciplines, including sociology, criminology, criminal justice, social psychology, education, public health, political science, management, and many other disciplines relying on survey methodology as one of their main data collection tools.
This Open Access book investigates the methodological and ethical dilemmas involved when working with digital technologies and large-scale datasets in relation to ethnographic studies of digital migration practices and trajectories. Digital technologies reshape not only every phase of the migration process itself (by providing new ways to access, to share and preserve relevant information) but also the activities of other actors, from solidarity networks to border control agencies. In doing so, digital technologies create a whole new set of ethical and methodological challenges for migration studies: from data access to data interpretation, privacy protection, and research ethics more generally. Of specific concern are the aspects of digital migration researchers accessing digital platforms used by migrants, who are subject to precarious and insecure life circumstances, lack recognised papers and are in danger of being rejected and deported. Thus, the authors call for new modes of caring for (big) data when researching migrants' digital practices in the configuration of migration and borders. Besides taking proper care of research participants' privacy, autonomy, and security, this also spans carefully establishing analytically sustainable environments for the respective data sets. In doing so, the book argues that it is essential to carefully reflect on researchers' own positioning as being part of the challenge they seek to address.
This collection presents stories from the field that were gathered from researchers using a breadth of visual methods. Visual methods refer to the use of still or moving images either as forms of data, to explore research topics and explorations of artistic practice. In addition to well-established visual methods, such as photo-voice and photo-elicitation, the possibilities for visual methods are flourishing through the proliferation of visual culture and developments in digital technologies. Methodological and ethical issues are emerging as visual methods are adapted and applied to answer new kinds of research questions, and in varied settings and populations. Authors offer practical and thoughtful discussions of emerging methodological and ethical dilemmas they encountered in innovative projects that used visual methods either in combination with other methods or as a stand-alone method. The discussions will be of interest to those seeking to understand the value, and potential ethical risks, of visual methodologies for social research.
First book to show how qualitative and quantitative methods in health and social care are used in practice. Ideal for helping students make an informed decision on what research methods to use for their research projects. Relates social research methodology to social research studies done in the real world and demonstrates the link between research and changing and improving practice. Ideal for students at level 4 to 6.
Six Steps to Preparing Exemplary Principals and Superintendents is the first book to inspire and guide professors and program administrator's proven ways to prepare exemplary principals and superintendents for schools. The authors review issues surrounding extreme criticism of leadership education and counter with positive new research and practices that clearly highlight successful programs that link preparation to on-the-job successes of graduates. The reader will find a step-by-step guide to selecting the best students, creating a pre- and post-assessment of student learning, a well-designed procedure to pretest and assure that all masters degree students actually acquire a strong knowledge base and score well on state licensure exams. The final step provides proven questionnaires to survey graduates of the masters or doctoral programs to gather valuable feedback for constant program improvement and relevance to the real world of schools.
This book focuses on performing hands-on meta-analysis using MetaXL, a free add-on to MS Excel. The illustrative examples are taken mainly from medical and health sciences studies, but the generic methods can be used to perform meta-analysis on data from any other discipline. The book adopts a step-by-step approach to perform meta-analyses and interpret the results. Stata codes for meta-analyses are also provided. All popularly used meta-analytic methods and models - such as the fixed effect model, random effects model, inverse variance heterogeneity model, and quality effect model - are used to find the confidence interval for the effect size measure of independent primary studies and the pooled study. In addition to the commonly used meta-analytic methods for various effect size measures, the book includes special topics such as meta-regression, dose-response meta-analysis, and publication bias. The main attraction for readers is the book's simplicity and straightforwardness in conducting actual meta-analysis using MetaXL. Researchers would easily find everything on meta-analysis of any particular effect size in one specific chapter once they could determine the underlying effect measure. Readers will be able to see the results under different models and also will be able to select the correct model to obtain accurate results.
The second edition of Qualitative Research Methods for Community Development teaches the basic skills, tools, and methods of qualitative research with special attention to the needs of community practitioners. This book teaches students entering planning, community development, nonprofit management, social work, and similar applied fields the core skills necessary to conduct systematic research designed to empower communities and promote social change. Focusing on the basic elements of qualitative research, such as field observation, interviewing, focus groups, and content analysis, this second edition of this book provides an overview of core methods and theoretical underpinnings of successful research. It also includes two new chapters on qualitative data analysis software and techniques for conducting online qualitative interviews and focus groups. From housing, community organizing, neighborhood planning, and urban revitalization, this book gives students the skills they need to undertake their own projects and provides professionals a valuable reference for their future research. This book serves as a primary text for courses in applied qualitative research and as a reference book for professionals and community-based researchers.
Social Movements and Global Social Change teaches students not only about how social change occurs but also how social movements can contribute to this change. The book links two concepts in sociology that are often related in real life, but that can seem disconnected in traditional approaches to teaching these courses. The book examines different types of social movements, including those often ignored in social change textbooks, such as riots, migration, and disorganized protest. It also looks at citizens' rights and inequality in connection to social movements and change. The book features global perspectives and examples throughout.
This book addresses the application of statistical techniques and methods across a wide range of disciplines. While its main focus is on the application of statistical methods, theoretical aspects are also provided as fundamental background information. It offers a systematic interpretation of results often discovered in general descriptions of methods and techniques such as linear and non-linear regression. SPSS is also used in all the application aspects. The presentation of data in the form of tables and graphs throughout the book not only guides users, but also explains the statistical application and assists readers in interpreting important features. The analysis of statistical data is presented consistently throughout the text. Academic researchers, practitioners and other users who work with statistical data will benefit from reading Applied Statistics for Social and Management Sciences.
With today's social and geopolitical order in significant flux this project offers vital insight into the future global order by comparatively charting national media perceptions regarding the future of global competition, through the lens of Ontological Security (OS). The authors employ a mixed-method approach to analyze 620 news articles from 47 Russian, Chinese, Venezuelan, and Iranian news sources over a five-year period (2014-2019), quantitatively comparing the drivers of their visions while providing in-depth qualitative case studies for each nation. Not only do these narratives reveal how these four nations understand the current global order, but also point to their (in)flexibility and agentic capacity for reflection in adapting, even shaping the future order, and their identity-roles within it, around an economic and diplomatic battleground. The authors argue these narratives create trajectories with inertial effects grounded in their OS needs, providing enduring insights into their behavior and interests moving into the future. The Future of Global Coopetition will help readers understand how influential nations typical aligned in opposition to the US, envision the drivers of global competition and the make-up of the future international system. Those engaged in the study of media, global politics, international relations, and communication will find this book to be a critical source.
This book develops an approach to both method and the socio-political implications of knowledge production that embraces our embeddedness in the world that we study. It seeks to enact the transformative potentials inherent in this relationship in how it engages readers. It presents a creative survey of some of the newest developments in critical research methods and critical pedagogy that together go beyond the aims of knowledge transfer that often structure our practices. Each contribution takes on a different shape, tone and orientation, and discusses a critical method or approach, teasing out the ways in which it can also work as a transformative practice. While the presentation of different methods is both rigorously practice-based and specific, contributors also offer reflections on the stakes of critical engagement and how it may play an important role in expanding and subverting existing regimes of intelligibility. Contributions variously address the following key questions: What makes your research method important? How can others work with it? How has research through this method and/or the way you ended up deploying it transformed you and/or your practice? How did it matter for thinking about community, (academic) collaboration, and sharing 'knowledge'? This volume makes the case for re-politicizing the importance of research and the transformative potentials of research methods not only in 'accessing' the world as an object of study, but as ways of acting and being in the world. It will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, critical theory, research methods and politics in general.
This is a book on methods, how scholars embody them and how working within, from or against Constructivism has shaped that use and embodiment. A vibrant cross-section of contributors write of interdisciplinary encounters, first interactions with the 'discipline' of International Relations, discuss engagements in different techniques and tactics, and of pursuing different methods ranging from ethnographic to computer simulations, from sociology to philosophy and history. Presenting a range of voices, many constructivist, some outside and even critical of Constructivism, the volume shows methods as useful tools for approaching research and political positions in International Relations, while also containing contingent, inexact, unexpected, and even surprising qualities for opening further research. It gives a rich account of how the discipline was transformed in the 1990s and early 2000s, and how this shaped careers, positions and interactions. It will be of interest to both students and scholars of methods and theory in International Relations and global politics.
As a consequence of the rapid diffusion of online media, the conditions for political communication, and research concerning it have radically changed. Is empirical communication research capable of consistently describing and explaining the changes in political communication in the online world both from a theoretical and methodological perspective? In this book, Gerhard Vowe, Philipp Henn, and a group of leading international experts in the field of communication studies guide the reader through the complexities of political communication, and evaluate whether and to what extent existing theoretical approaches and research designs are relevant to the online world. In the first part of the book, nine chapters offer researchers the opportunity to test the basic assumptions of prominent theories in the field, to specify them in terms of the conditions of political communication in the online world and to modify them in view of the systematically gained experiences. The second methodological section tests the variations of content analysis, surveys, expert interviews and network analyses in an online environment and documents how successful these methods of empirical analysis have proven to be in political communication. Written accessibly and contributing to key debates on political communication, this bookshelf essential presents an indispensable account of the necessary tools needed to allow researchers decide which approach and method is better suited to answer their online problem.
Focus Groups: From Structured Interviews to Collective Conversations is a conceptual and practical introduction to focus group. As the title indicates, focus groups traditionally encompass a wide range of discursive practices. These span from formal structured interviews with particular people assembled around clearly delimited topics to less formal, open-ended conversations with large and small groups that can unfold in myriad and unpredictable ways. Additionally, focus groups can and have served many overlapping purposes-from the pedagogical, to the political, to the traditionally empirical. In this book, focus groups are systematically explored; not as an extension or elaboration of interview work alone, but as its own specific research method with its own particular affordances. This book comprehensively explores: The nature of focus groups Politic and activist uses of focus groups Practical ways to run a successful focus group Effective analysis of focus group data Contemporary threats to focus groups Focus Groups: From Structured Interviews to Collective Conversations is essential reading for qualitative researchers at every level, particularly those involved in education, nursing, social work, anthropology, and sociology disciplines.
What existential threats does humanity face? And how can we secure our future? 'The Precipice is a powerful book . . . Ord's love for humanity and hope for its future is infectious' Spectator 'Ord's analysis of the science is exemplary . . . Thrillingly written' Sunday Times We live during the most important era of human history. In the twentieth century, we developed the means to destroy ourselves - without developing the moral framework to ensure we won't. This is the Precipice, and how we respond to it will be the most crucial decision of our time. Oxford moral philosopher Toby Ord explores the risks to humanity's future, from the familiar man-made threats of climate change and nuclear war, to the potentially greater, more unfamiliar threats from engineered pandemics and advanced artificial intelligence. With clear and rigorous thinking, Ord calculates the various risk levels, and shows how our own time fits within the larger story of human history. We can say with certainty that the novel coronavirus does not pose such a risk. But could the next pandemic? And what can we do, in our present moment, to face the risks head on? A major work that brings together the disciplines of physics, biology, earth and computer science, history, anthropology, statistics, international relations, political science and moral philosophy, The Precipice is a call for a new understanding of our age: a major reorientation in the way we see the world, our history, and the role we play in it.
This book is an introduction into stochastic processes for physicists, biologists and financial analysts. Using an informal approach, all the necessary mathematical tools and techniques are covered, including the stochastic differential equations, mean values, probability distribution functions, stochastic integration and numerical modeling. Numerous examples of practical applications of the stochastic mathematics are considered in detail, ranging from physics to the financial theory. A reader with basic knowledge of the probability theory should have no difficulty in accessing the book content.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Unapologetically optimistic and bracingly realistic, this is the most inspiring book on 'ethical living' I've ever read.' Oliver Burkeman, Guardian 'A monumental event.' Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind 'A book of great daring, clarity, insight and imagination. To be simultaneously so realistic and so optimistic, and always so damn readable... well that is a miracle for which he should be greatly applauded.' Stephen Fry Humanity is in its infancy. Our future could last for millions of years - or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today. As we approach a critical juncture in our history, we can make profound moral decisions about how humanity's course plays out. We can create positive change on behalf of future generations, to prevent the use of catastrophic weapons and maintain peace between the world's great powers. We can improve our moral values, navigating the rise of AI and climate change more fairly for generations to come. The challenges we face are enormous. But so is the influence we have. If we choose wisely, our distant descendants will look back on us fondly, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world that is beautiful and just.
Originally published in 1930, this title brings to its conclusion a work first published, in part, in the earlier volume The Science and Method of Politics. The work was undertaken at first with a view to discovering the forces at work which form the anatomy and determine the physiology of States. However, it became apparent that not States but Society must be the object of study if any progress were to made, and if the inquiry were to be radical enough to disclose, and indicate the means of controlling, the causes which conduce to such social disorders as war. The subject might very well have been treated from a very different point of view. However, the author felt that the approach to politics from the angle of political philosophy and the humanities was less important for the needs of the time than an approach from the angle of psychology and of statistics.
This book seeks to chart and evaluate the impact of social research on the military itself. By "impact", the authors in this volume simply mean that which has a marked effect or influence on changing military policy, practices, knowledge, skills, behaviour, or living conditions. The book comprises a series of reflective contributions from scholars who have conducted research on the military as external scholars with no formal ties to the armed forces, as "native" researchers formally linked to them, as well as various kinds of contracted social scientists enabled by the military to carry out their investigations. The authors were asked to make the question of the impact of social scientific research on the armed forces an object of study in itself and to situate their reflections in terms of wider analytical questions. As a result, the chapters can be divided, broadly speaking, into two types of orientation: some are centered on theoretical and analytical issues, while others focus on the researchers' lived experiences. This book will be of interest to students of military studies, sociology, organisational studies, psychology and political science.
Semantic Network Analysis in Social Sciences introduces the fundamentals of semantic network analysis and its applications in the social sciences. Readers learn how to easily transform any given text into a visual network of words co-occurring together, a process that allows mapping the main themes appearing in the text and revealing its main narratives and biases. Semantic network analysis is particularly useful today with the increasing volumes of text-based information available. It is one of the developing, cutting-edge methods to organize, identify patterns and structures, and understand the meanings of our information society. The first chapters in this book offer step-by-step guidelines for conducting semantic network analysis, including choosing and preparing the text, selecting desired words, constructing the networks, and interpreting their meanings. Free software tools and code are also presented. The rest of the book displays state-of-the-art studies from around the world that apply this method to explore news, political speeches, social media content, and even to organize interview transcripts and literature reviews. Aimed at scholars with no previous knowledge in the field, this book can be used as a main or a supplementary textbook for general courses on research methods or network analysis courses, as well as a starting point to conduct your own content analysis of large texts.
Semantic Network Analysis in Social Sciences introduces the fundamentals of semantic network analysis and its applications in the social sciences. Readers learn how to easily transform any given text into a visual network of words co-occurring together, a process that allows mapping the main themes appearing in the text and revealing its main narratives and biases. Semantic network analysis is particularly useful today with the increasing volumes of text-based information available. It is one of the developing, cutting-edge methods to organize, identify patterns and structures, and understand the meanings of our information society. The first chapters in this book offer step-by-step guidelines for conducting semantic network analysis, including choosing and preparing the text, selecting desired words, constructing the networks, and interpreting their meanings. Free software tools and code are also presented. The rest of the book displays state-of-the-art studies from around the world that apply this method to explore news, political speeches, social media content, and even to organize interview transcripts and literature reviews. Aimed at scholars with no previous knowledge in the field, this book can be used as a main or a supplementary textbook for general courses on research methods or network analysis courses, as well as a starting point to conduct your own content analysis of large texts. |
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