scholarly journals Applying Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafeng Shan ◽  
Jon Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Causal Claim ◽  
Mechanistic Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Evidential Pluralism

AbstractEvidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to establish the existence of an appropriate conditional correlation and the existence of an appropriate mechanism complex, so when assessing a causal claim one ought to consider both association studies and mechanistic studies. Hitherto, Evidential Pluralism has been applied to medicine, leading to the EBM+ programme, which recommends that evidence-based medicine should systematically evaluate mechanistic studies alongside clinical studies. This paper argues that Evidential Pluralism can also be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. In particular, Evidential Pluralism provides (i) a new approach to evidence-based policy; (ii) a new account of the evidential relationships in more theoretical research; and (iii) new philosophical motivation for mixed methods research. The application of Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences is also defended against two objections.

scholarly journals The feasibility and malleability of EBM+

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Evidence Based Medicine ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Mechanistic Studies ◽  
Medical Interventions ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Way

The EBM+ programme is an attempt to improve the way in which present-day evidence-based medicine (EBM) assesses causal claims: according to EBM+, mechanistic studies should be scrutinised alongside association studies. This paper addresses two worries about EBM+: (i) that it is not feasible in practice, and (ii) that it is too malleable, i.e., its results depend on subjective choices that need to be made in order to implement the procedure. Several responses to these two worries are considered and evaluated. The paper also discusses the question of whether we should have confidence in medical interventions, in the light of Stegenga's arguments for medical nihilism.

Evidence-Based Global Public Health

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincanne Adams
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Populations ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
The Impact

This chapter examines the impact of “evidence-based medicine” (EBM) on global public health. An epistemic transformation in the field of global health is underway, and it argues that the impact of EBM has been twofold: (1) the creation of an experimental metric as a means of providing health care; and (2) a shift in the priorities of caregiving practices in public health such that “people [no longer] come first.” The production of experimental research populations in and through EBM helps constitute larger fiscal transformations in how we do global health. Notably, EBM has created a platform for the buying and selling of truth and reliability, abstracting clinical caregiving from the social relationships on which they depend.

Mixed Methods

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-174
Author(s):  
Manfredi Valeriani ◽  
Vicki L. Plano Clark
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Central Idea ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

This chapter examines mixed-methods research, which is an approach that involves the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods at one or more stages of a research study. The central idea behind mixed-methods research is that the intentional combination of numeric-based methods with narrative-based methods can best provide answers to some research questions. The ongoing attempts to construct a simple and common conceptualization of mixed-methods provide a good indicator of the status of mixed-methods itself. mixed-methods research has emerged as a formalized methodology well suited to addressing complex problems, and is currently applied throughout the social sciences and beyond. Nowadays, researchers interested in combining quantitative and qualitative methods can benefit from the growing knowledge about the epistemological foundations, essential considerations, and rigorous designs that have been advanced for mixed-methods research.

Social Science and the Evidence-based Policy Movement

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Young ◽  
Deborah Ashby ◽  
Annette Boaz ◽  
Lesley Grayson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Effective Contribution

There is a growing interest in ‘evidence-based policy making’ in the UK. However, there remains some confusion about what evidence-based policy making actually means. This paper outlines some of the models used to understand how evidence is thought to shape or inform policy in order to explore the assumptions underlying ‘evidence-based policy making.’ By way of example, it considers the process of evidence seeking and in particular the systematic review as a presumed ‘gold standard’ of the EBP movement. It highlights some of the opportunities and challenges represented in this approach for policy research. The final part of the paper outlines some questions of capacity that need to be addressed if the social sciences are to make a more effective contribution to policy debate in Britain.

State border protection from the perspective of the tasks and functions of the border guard and border checkpoints

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (34) ◽  
pp. 203-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Wiśniewski
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Control System ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Range Of Functions ◽  
Traffic Control System

The aim of the article is to present the major issues related to the protection of the Polish border from the perspective of the tasks and functions of the Border Guard and border checkpoints. The present analysis is a result of research conducted with use of theoretical research methods used in the social sciences. The aforementioned research was carried out with the purpose of diagnosing the functioning of the state border protection and traffic control system. The result of the research leads to the conclusion that the Polish border protection and traffic control system is being gradually improved, which is a result of changes in the security environment, primarily related to the emergence of new threats and increasing levels of existing threats. This leads to the expansion of the range of functions performed not by the Border Guard in general, but specifically by border checkpoints, which are closely related to field government and local authority administration bodies. These bodies have a definitive influence on local security, and thus on the security of areas controlled by the Border Guard.

Introduction: Themed Section on Evidence-Based Policy as a concept for Modernising Governance and Social Science Research

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam E David
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technological Developments

The concept of evidence-based policy and practice has many origins but its relation to the growth of the social sciences is arguably the most important. The uses of the social sciences for both understanding and transforming social policies and political systems has come to be assumed – complex and problematic though these may be. The concept is also closely linked with the concepts of globalisation, technological developments, and the ‘knowledge economy’. Thus the notions of ‘evidence’ and social science research have often been elided with political movements for social and economic change. In other contexts, these notions have been contextualised, so that ‘evidence’ and research are not deemed to be the same. Indeed, it is possible to argue that the notion of legal ‘evidence’ illustrates just how ideological it can be, how it can be used to marshal particular arguments and sustain a specific case rather than present it in a dispassionate manner.

scholarly journals Methodology, Fake Learning, and Emotional Performativity

2021 ◽  
pp. 209653112098478
Author(s):  
Bruce Macfarlane
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
The Social

Purpose: Academics are at the forefront of criticisms about so-called “fake news” considered to undermine evidence-based approaches to the understanding of complex social, political, and economic issues. However, universities contribute to the production of fake news through the legitimization of measures that promote student performativity rewarding their academic non-achievements. This conceptual article will seek to illustrate how this can occur via the writing of methodology chapters by postgraduate students. Design/Approach/Methods: This article provides a critical analysis of the writing of methodology chapters in dissertations and theses in postgraduate education in the social sciences. In so doing, it applies the concept of performativity to student learning. Findings: It is argued that the pressures on students to comply with the requirements of emotional performativity in respect to ideology and method in close-up, qualitative research can lead to fake learning. This phenomenon may be exemplified by reference to a number of practices, namely, phony positionality, methodolatry, ethical cleansing, participatory posturing, and symbolic citation. Originality/Value: This article provides an illustration of the concept of student performativity. It demonstrates that emotional performativity plays a significant role in the way in which students are required to comply with expectations that give rise to inauthenticity in learning.

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