Dilemmas of a Vitalizing Vaccine Market: Lessons from the MMR Vaccine/Autism Debate

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredrik Bragesjö ◽  
Margareta Hallberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Mmr Vaccine ◽  
Rubella Vaccine ◽  
Profit Margins ◽  
The Public ◽  
Financial Conditions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

ArgumentA number of issues related to vaccines and vaccinations in society are discussed in this paper. Our purpose is to merge an analysis of some recent changes in the vaccine market with social science research on the relationship between citizens and authorities. The article has two empirical parts. The first shows how the vaccine market, which for many years has had immense financial problems, nowadays seems to becoming economically vitalized, mostly due to the production of new and profitable vaccines. However prosperous the future may appear, certain reactions from the public regarding vaccination initiatives offer insight into inherent problems of vaccine policies in many Western countries. In the second part of the article, these problems are exemplified with the recent controversy over the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. We conclude that in spite of the improving profit-margins, the vaccine market remains vulnerable and insecure. Vaccines are permeated bysociety, even more so than pharmaceutics that are used to cure or alleviate illnesses. Radical changes in financial conditions with promises of a more profitable market will not, we argue, solve other even more fundamental problems.

Politics and Research: Epistemological Moments

1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 149-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelaide H. Villmoare
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Law And Society ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

In reading the essays by David M. Trubek and John Esser and Boaventura de Sousa Santos, I thought about what I call epistemological moments that have provided contexts within which to understand the relationship between social science research and politics. I will sketch four moments and suggest that I find one of them more compelling than the others because it speaks particularly to social scientists with critical, democratic ambitions and to Trubek and Esser's concerns about politics and the intellectual vitality of the law and society movement.

Introduction: Defining Moments in the British-Irish Relationship

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-47
Author(s):  
John Coakley ◽  
Jennifer Todd
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Defining Moments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Elite Interviews ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter traces the history of the relationship between the two communities in Northern Ireland and the tension between the British and Irish governments within which it was traditionally embedded. It documents the process of incremental—and sometimes radical—societal change that has transformed the nature of the conflict, as the overwhelmingly dominant position of the unionist community has been replaced by a more evenly balanced relationship. Associated with this has been the evolution of institutional machinery designed to facilitate conflict resolution and the emergence of effective channels of communication between British and Irish elites. The chapter describes the manner in which the testimonies of these elites were collected as part of research on the process of negotiation of peace in Northern Ireland. It assesses the value of elite interviews and witness seminars as significant source material for social science research.

5. Finding Answers: Theories and How to Apply Them

2020 ◽  
pp. 123-158
Author(s):  
Sandra Halperin ◽  
Oliver Heath
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Independent Variable ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter shows how to develop an answer to a particular research question. It first considers the requirements and components of an answer to a research question before discussing the role of ‘theory’ in social science research, what a ‘theoretical framework’ is, and what a hypothesis is. It then explores the three components of a hypothesis: an independent variable, a dependent variable, and a proposition (a statement about the relationship between the variables). It also looks at the different types of hypotheses and how they guide various kinds of research. It also explains why conceptual and operational definitions of key terms are important and how they are formulated. Finally, it offers suggestions on how to answer normative questions.

scholarly journals Labor Laid Waste: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Waste Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Doherty ◽  
Kate Brown
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Labor History ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Material Quality ◽  
Precarious Labor ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractWaste studies brings to labor history a suite of conceptual tools to think about precarious labor, human capital, migration, the material quality of labor in urban and rural infrastructures, and the porosity and interchangeability of workers’ bodies in the toxic environments in which they labor. In this introduction, we explore the conceptual insights that the study of waste offers for the field of labor history, and what, in turn, a focus on labor history affords to social science research on waste. We examine the relationship between surplus populations and surplus materials, the location of waste work at the ambiguous fulcrum of trash and value, and the significance of labor for the understanding of infrastructure.

scholarly journals Engaged Citizen Social Science or the public participation in social science research

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. A06
Author(s):  
Rita Campos ◽  
José Monteiro ◽  
Cláudia Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Limited Participation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Research Institution ◽  
Future Project

Acknowledging the consolidation of citizen science, this paper aims to foster a collective debate on two visible gaps of the field. First, how to overcome the limited participation of social sciences and humanities in the broader field of citizen science, still dominated by natural sciences. Second, how to develop a citizen social science that allows for an active participation of citizens and for a critical engagement with contemporary societies. The authors coordinate a state-sponsored program of scientific dissemination within a Portuguese research institution and this paper intends to lay the groundwork for a future project of Citizen Social Science based on a new concept of “engaged citizen social science”.

The Impact of Race on Environmental Quality: An Empirical and Theoretical Discussion

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Pinderhughes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Pollution Problem ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The toxic pollution problem is composed of several interrelated parts which are involved in the process of production, use, and disposal of chemicals and products considered necessary for society. Each day, millions of pounds of toxic chemicals are used, stored, disposed of, and transported in and out of communities throughout the United States. Most Americans assume that pollution and other environmental hazards are problems faced equally by everyone in our society. But a growing body of research shows that the most common victims of environmental hazards and pollution are minorities and the poor. Disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards is part of the complex cycle of discrimination and deprivation faced by minorities in the United States. This article examines social science empirical research on the relationship between race, class, and the distribution of environmental hazards and the theoretical perspectives which have emerged to explain environmental inequities. The article also discusses the link between the environmental justice movement, which seeks to confront the causes and consequences of environmental inequities, and social science research on environmental inequity.

Research and Other Forms of Rhetoric in Media Coverage of Student Achievement

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Cristina L. Lash ◽  
Amanda Frye ◽  
Prudence L. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Teacher Quality ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Education Reforms ◽  
The Public

Background Media play an important role in shaping public perceptions of education policies, yet few studies have explored how research evidence is included in media coverage of education reforms. Purpose In this study, we investigate how research appears in the public discourse of student achievement in the context of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (2011-2013). Specifically, we analyze the school reforms and strategies discussed by mainstream media outlets across a range of political perspectives and the extent that journalists used research evidence in their coverage of these issues. Research Design We conducted a content analysis of nearly 300 documents from ten mass media outlets to determine the extent of research use in coverage of student achievement between 2011 and 2013. We then conducted a discourse analysis of three focal publications— Townhall, The Washington Post, and The New York Times —to analyze the different rhetorical strategies journalists used to incorporate research and characterize key educational actors (teachers, politicians, and students). Findings The most prominent media discussions emphasized teacher quality for the improvement of student achievement, where “student achievement” was defined synonymously with “standardized test scores.” However, reporting on teacher quality incorporated little education research, while less-discussed reforms (such as increasing student learning time and IB programs) received significantly more evidentiary support. Conclusions/Recommendations We conclude that media and social science research operate within “social fields” or institutional settings with different values and norms. Thus, media coverage of student achievement uses emotional forms of rhetoric to present mainstream education reforms (such as changes to teacher evaluations) and uses social science research to report on less familiar initiatives. Our recommendations include several ways that journalists and education scholars can collaborate and exchange knowledge to more effectively inform the public of the evidence basis of education reforms.

Scope

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Goertz ◽  
James Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Causal Model ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Model Fit ◽  
Empirical Testing ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Causal Complexity

This chapter focuses on scope conditions in qualitative and quantitative research. It begins with a simple example, Hooke's law from physics, to illustrate the concept of “scope.” It then considers some of the most popular “within-model” responses to causal heterogeneity problems, showing that the option of changing the causal model to address causal heterogeneity issues is more attractive to quantitative researchers than to qualitative researchers. It also examines how the existence of causal complexity and concerns about fit with data can lead scholars to use scope conditions. Finally, it discusses the relationship between empirical testing and the proposed scope of theories and suggests that issues of scope raise Fundamental Tradeoffs in social science research, including tradeoffs concerning the tension between generality and parsimony, and between generality and issues of model fit.

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