scholarly journals Pharmaceutical HIV prevention technologies in the UK: six domains for social science research

AIDS Care ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 796-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Keogh ◽  
Catherine Dodds
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The Uk

Quality of Publication in International Context

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Lalitha ◽  
Amrita Ghatak
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Comparative Performance ◽  
International Context ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

This chapter analyses the status of India’s social science research (SSR) publications in global context. The outputs chosen to assess India’s comparative performance is the articles written and published by Indians in the field of social sciences either individually or in collaboration with researchers outside India. The study analysed journal articles published during 2008–14 drawn from Scopus database to examine the publication status of India in social sciences in an international context. The study found that the six-year period, 2009–14, India consistently ranks among the top 15 countries in the world. Discipline-wise analysis shows that the share of pure social science articles was significant but is declining. Of the total 30938 articles, 28 per cent are published with international collaboration. The USA and the UK contribute 52 per cent of total international collaborations.

scholarly journals The promise and pitfalls of social science research in an emergency: lessons from studying the Zika epidemic in Brazil, 2015–2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. e002307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Joana Passos ◽  
Gustavo Matta ◽  
Tereza Maciel Lyra ◽  
Maria Elisabeth Lopes Moreira ◽  
Hannah Kuper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Social Science Study ◽  
Congenital Zika Syndrome ◽  
The Uk

Social science generates evidence necessary to control epidemics. It can help to craft appropriate public health responses, develop solutions to the epidemic impacts and improve understanding of why the epidemic occurred. Yet, there are practical constraints in undertaking this international research in a way that produces quality, ethical and appropriate data, and that values all voices and experiences, especially those of local researchers and research participants. In this paper, we reflected on the experience of undertaking social science research during the 2015/2016 Zika epidemic in Brazil. This experience was considered from the perspective of this paper’s authors: three Brazilian academics, two UK academics and two mothers of children affected by congenital Zika syndrome. This group came together through the conduct of the Social and Economic Impact of Zika study, a mixed-methods social science study. The key findings highlight practical issues in the achievement of three goals: the conduct of high-quality social science in emergencies and efforts towards the decolonisation of global health in terms of levelling the power between Brazilian and UK researchers and optimising the role of patients within research. From our perspective, the information collected through social science was valuable, providing detailed insight into the programmatic needs of mothers and their affected children (eg, economic and social support and mental health services). Social science was considered a low priority within the Zika epidemic despite its potential importance. There were logistical challenges in conducting social science research, foremost of which are the difficulties in developing a trusting and balanced power relationship between the UK and Brazilian researchers in a short time frame. When these issues were overcome, each partner brought unique qualities, making the research stronger. The mothers of affected children expressed dissatisfaction with research, as they were involved in many studies which were not coordinated, and from which they did not see a benefit. In conclusion, the importance of social science in epidemics must continue to be promoted by funders. Funders can also set in place mechanisms to help equalise the power dynamics between foreign and local researchers, researchers and participants, both to promote justice and to create best quality data.

Teaching stats: A crisis in Irish sociology?

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-111
Author(s):  
Carmel Hannan
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Sociology Departments ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Research Councils

There is now a lack of quantitative capacity among practitioners and teachers in sociology in Ireland. Yet interest in the value of quantitative methods among governments, funding organisations and society in general are on the increase. Social science research councils and funders in other countries, notably the UK, have realised there is a problem and are now attempting to remedy this through increased funding for the recruitment of quantitatively trained academics for example, Q-Step. The paper examines a number of developments notably Big Data, increases in transdisciplinary research and developments in mixed methods research which, it is argued, underline the need for more and better quantitative methods teaching in sociology. The paper calls for sociology departments to re-think their curricula and actively promote the teaching of a range of methods at the undergraduate level.

On Sociology and STS

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Law
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Technology And Society ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Uk

This paper starts by exploring the development of Science, Technology and Society (STS) in the UK in the late 1960s, emphasising its interdiciplinary roots, and comparing and contrasting it with the concerns of Sociology. It then turns to more recent developments in STS, outlining the importance of material semiotics to important traditions within the discipline including those influenced by actor network theory, feminism, and postcolonialism. It notes, in consistency with the Foucauldian approach, that material semiotics implies that knowledge traditions are performative, helping to create the realities that they describe. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of this performatibity for the politics of research methods and for the future character of social science research.

The e-Social Science research agenda

2010 ◽  
Vol 368 (1925) ◽  
pp. 3761-3778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Halfpenny ◽  
Rob Procter
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
National Centre ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk

In this paper, we use the experience of the first 5 years of the UK Economic and Social Research Council’s National Centre for e-Social Science as a basis for reflecting upon the future development of the e-Social Science research agenda.

scholarly journals Not teaching what we practice: undergraduate conservation training at UK universities lacks interdisciplinarity

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Charlie J Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Conservation Education ◽  
Interdisciplinary Education ◽  
Science Content ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Science Training

Summary The practice and science of conservation have become increasingly interdisciplinary, and it is widely acknowledged that conservation training in higher education institutions should embrace interdisciplinarity in order to prepare students to address real-world conservation problems. However, there is little information on the extent to which conservation education at the undergraduate level meets this objective. I carried out a systematic search of undergraduate conservation degree programmes in the UK and conducted a simple text analysis of module descriptions to quantify the extent to which they provide social science training. I found 47 programmes, of which 29 provided module descriptions. Modules containing social science content ranged from 3.8% to 52.2% of modules across programmes, but only 55.2% of programmes offered a social-focused conservation module, and only one programme offered a module in social science research methods. On average, almost half of the modules offered (46.2%) comprised biology and ecology modules with no conservation focus, and 17.9% comprised skills-based modules (research and vocational skills). Conservation-focused modules comprised a mean of only 22.5% of modules. These results show that undergraduate conservation teaching in the UK is still largely biocentric and is failing to deliver the interdisciplinary education that is widely called for.

Synthetic biology and the prospects for responsible innovation

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Macnaghten ◽  
Richard Owen ◽  
Roland Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Community Setting ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Responsible Innovation ◽  
Institutional Governance ◽  
Reliable Knowledge ◽  
The Uk

In this article we provide a short review of the debate on responsible innovation and its intersection with synthetic biology, focusing on initiatives we have witnessed and been involved with in the UK. First, we describe the ways in which responsibility in science has been reconfigured institutionally, from an internal focus on the provision of objective and reliable knowledge, to a more external view that embraces the ways in which it has an impact on society. Secondly, we introduce a framework for responsible innovation as a (partial) response to this shift, highlighting its constituent dimensions and the capacities and competencies that are needed to put it into practice. Thirdly, we chart the development of social science research on synthetic biology, addressing its evolution from an ‘ethical, legal and social implications’ (ELSI) frame to a responsible innovation frame. Fourthly, we review findings from UK social science research with the synthetic biology community setting out challenges for productive collaboration. And finally, we conclude with suggestions on the need for changes in institutional governance.

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