scholarly journals The Multidimensional Research Agendas Inventory—Revised (MDRAI-R): Factors shaping researchers’ research agendas in all fields of knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-93
Author(s):  
Hugo Horta ◽  
João M. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Research Organizations ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Agendas ◽  
R Factors

This study creates a novel inventory that characterizes factors influencing the research agendas of researchers in all fields of knowledge: the Multi-dimensional Research Agendas Inventory-Revised (MDRAI-R). The MDRAI-R optimizes an initial inventory designed for the social sciences (the MDRAI) by reducing the number of items per dimension, improving the inventory’s psychometric properties, and including new dimensions (“Academia Driven” and “Society Driven”) that reflect the greater influence of social and organizational structures on knowledge production and demands for research impact. This inventory enhances our ability to measure research activities at a time when researchers’ choices matter more than ever, and it will be of interest to researchers, policy makers, research funding agencies, and university and research organizations.

Methods for mapping the impact of social sciences and humanities—A literature review

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Budtz Pedersen ◽  
Jonas Følsgaard Grønvad ◽  
Rolf Hvidtfeldt
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Methodological Pluralism ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This article explores the current literature on ‘research impact’ in the social sciences and humanities (SSH). By providing a comprehensive review of available literature, drawing on national and international experiences, we take a systematic look at the impact agenda within SSH. The primary objective of this article is to examine key methodological components used to assess research impact comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The study finds that research impact is a highly complex and contested concept in the SSH literature. Drawing on the strong methodological pluralism emerging in the literature, we conclude that there is considerable room for researchers, universities, and funding agencies to establish impact assessment tools directed towards specific missions while avoiding catch-all indicators and universal metrics.

scholarly journals To Have Practical Relevance, Scientific Claims Need to be Accurate

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Antonius Zwaan ◽  
Anita Eerland
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Social And Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scientific Claims

To have practical relevance, scientific claims should be accurate. Everyone needs scientific claims, and practices derived from them to be accurate and reliable: researchers, reviewers, editors, policy makers, funding agencies, journalists, and the general public. Nevertheless, there is evidence that questions the reliability and accuracy of findings in the social and behavioral sciences. In this article, we identify several prevalent threats to accuracy. We will then discuss ways in which these threats can be removed, or at least minimized. Finally, we will discuss how different agents in the system, researchers, reviewers, editors, policy makers, funding agencies, journalists, and the general public, can contribute to making science more accurate and thus more practically relevant.

The steering effects of citations and metrics

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lai Ma
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Social Constructivist ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ideal Speech Situation ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Data Analytic

PurposeThis paper aims to understand the nature of citations and metrics in the larger system of knowledge production involving universities, funding agencies, publishers, and indexing and data analytic services.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the normative and social constructivist views of citations are reviewed to be understood as co-existing conditions. Second, metrics are examined through the processes of commensuration by tracing the meanings of metrics embedded in various kinds of documents and contexts. Third, the steering effects of citations and metrics on knowledge production are discussed. Finally, the conclusion addresses questions pertaining to the validity and legitimacy of citations as data and their implications for knowledge production and the conception of information.FindingsThe normative view of citations is understood as an ideal speech situation; the social constructivist view of citation is recognised in the system of knowledge production where citing motivations are influenced by epistemic, social and political factors. When organisational performances are prioritised and generate system imperatives, motives of competition become dominant in shaping citing behaviour, which can deviate from the norms and values in the academic lifeworld. As a result, citations and metrics become a non-linguistic steering medium rather than evidence of research quality and impact.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the understanding of the nature of citations and metrics and their implications for the conception of information and knowledge production.

scholarly journals PROBLEMS AND RELATED CAUSES OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCESS TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABILITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.A.P. Gunawardana ◽  
◽  
Y.G. Sandanayake ◽  
G.I. Karunasena ◽  
T.S. Jayawickrama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Procurement Process ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
The Impact

Public Procurement Process (PP Process) in construction industry has identified as integral part to achieve sustainability in developing countries. Sustainability links with the social, environmental, and economic indicators. The PP Process contributes largely to the budget of developing nations. However, existing PP Processes of developing countries have shown lagging features to achieve sustainability due to a number of problems. Further, the depth and gravity of the problems depend on the impact of root causes throughout the activities and stages of procurement lifecycle of a project. Hence, this paper aims to identify the problems and related root causes during the various activities in the stages of PP Process to achieve sustainability in construction projects in developing countries. In order to achieve the aim, this study started with a comprehensive literature review to identify the stages, activities, problems and related root causes in PP Process to achieve sustainability. Subsequently, interviews with 14 subject matter experts were carried out to identify and verify the stages, activities, problems and related root causes to achieve sustainability in PP Process in developing countries. The data were analysed using manual content analysis. The findings of the study identified 10 problems and 22 root causes that affect the 39 activities in 05 stages of PP process in project procurement lifecycle in construction industry. The outcome of this paper will be beneficial to relevant authorities, funding agencies and policy makers in taking necessary steps to update the existing guidelines, bidding documents, procedures and protocols to address the identified problems and root causes to achieve sustainability of developing countries.

Political psychology in the digital (mis)information age: A model of news belief and sharing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Harris ◽  
Philip Pärnamets ◽  
Steve Rathje ◽  
Kimberly Doell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Social

The spread of misinformation, including “fake news,” propaganda, and conspiracy theories, represents a serious threat to society, as it has the potential to alter beliefs, behavior, and policy. Research is beginning to disentangle how and why misinformation is spread and identify processes that contribute to this social problem. We propose an integrative model to understand the social, political, and cognitive psychology risk factors that underlie the spread of misinformation and highlight strategies that might be effective in mitigating this problem. However, the spread of misinformation is a rapidly growing and evolving problem; thus scholars need to identify and test novel solutions, and work with policy makers to evaluate and deploy these solutions. Hence, we provide a roadmap for future research to identify where scholars should invest their energy in order to have the greatest overall impact.

Sentencing Policy as a Force for Social Cohesion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Henham
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sentencing Policy

This chapter sets out the case for adopting a normative approach to conceptualizing the social reality of sentencing. It argues that policy-makers need to comprehend how sentencing is implicated in realizing state values and take greater account of the social forces that diminish the moral credibility of state sponsored punishment. The chapter reflects on the problems of relating social values to legal processes such as sentencing and argues that crude notions of ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ approaches to policy-making should be replaced by a process of contextualized policy-making. Finally, the chapter stresses the need for sentencing policy to reflect those moral attachments that bind citizens together in a relational or communitarian sense. It concludes by exploring these assertions in the light of the sentencing approach taken by the courts following the English riots of 2011.

Fluid Multilingual Practices among Youth in Cameroon and Mozambique

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torun Reite ◽  
Francis Badiang Oloko ◽  
Manuel Armando Guissemo
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
The South ◽  
African Cities ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
The Social

Inspired by recent epistemological and ontological debates aimed at unsettling and reshaping conceptions of language, this essay discusses how mainstream sociolinguistics offers notions meaningful for studying contexts of the South. Based on empirical studies of youth in two African cities, Yaoundé in Cameroon and Maputo in Mozambique, the essay engages with “fluid modernity” and “enregisterment” to unravel the role that fluid multilingual practices play in the social lives of urban youth. The empirically grounded theoretical discussion shows how recent epistemologies and ontologies offer inroads to more pluriversal knowledge production. The essay foregrounds: i) the role of language in the sociopolitical battles of control over resources, and ii) speakers’ reflexivity and metapragmatic awareness of register formations of fluid multilingual practices. Moreover, it shows how bundles of localized meanings construct belongings and counterhegemonic discourses, as well as demonstrating speakers’ differential valuations and perceptions of boundaries and transgressions across social space.

scholarly journals Military Veterans and Welfare Reform: Bridging Two Policy Worlds through Qualitative Longitudinal Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Lisa Scullion ◽  
Katy Jones ◽  
Peter Dwyer ◽  
Celia Hynes ◽  
Philip Martin
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Military Veterans ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Veterans Affairs ◽  
Civilian Life ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk

There has been an increasing focus in the UK on the support provided to the Armed Forces community, with the publication of the Armed Forces Covenant (2011), the Strategy for our Veterans (2018) and the first ever Office for Veterans’ Affairs (2019). There is also an important body of research – including longitudinal research – focusing on transitions from military to civilian life, much of which is quantitative. At the same time, the UK has witnessed a period of unprecedented welfare reform. However, research focused on veterans’ interactions with the social security system has been largely absent. This article draws on the authors’ experiences of undertaking qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to address this knowledge gap. We reflect on how QLR was essential in engaging policy makers enabling the research to bridge the two parallel policy worlds of veterans’ support and welfare reform, leading to significant policy and practice impact.

A proposal to enhance national capability to manage epidemics: The critical importance of expert statistical input including official statistics

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
N.I. Fisher ◽  
D.J. Trewin
Keyword(s):  
Data Streams ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Economic Welfare ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Novel Virus ◽  
High Level ◽  
Integration Analysis

Given the high level of global mobility, pandemics are likely to be more frequent, and with potentially devastating consequences for our way of life. With COVID-19, Australia is in relatively better shape than most other countries and is generally regarded as having managed the pandemic well. That said, we believe there is a critical need to start the process of learning from this pandemic to improve the quantitative information and related advice provided to policy makers. A dispassionate assessment of Australia’s health and economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic reveals some important inadequacies in the data, statistical analysis and interpretation used to guide Australia’s preparations and actions. For example, one key shortcoming has been the lack of data to obtain an early understanding of the extent of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases or the differences across age groups, occupations or ethnic groups. Minimising the combined health, social and economic impacts of a novel virus depends critically on ongoing acquisition, integration, analysis, interpretation and presentation of a variety of data streams to inform the development, execution and monitoring of appropriate strategies. The article captures the essential quantitative components of such an approach for each of the four basic phases, from initial detection to post-pandemic. It also outlines the critical steps in each stage to enable policy makers to deal more efficiently and effectively with future such events, thus enhancing both the social and the economic welfare of its people. Although written in an Australian context, we believe most elements would apply to other countries as well.

scholarly journals Ethical dilemmas are really important to potential adopters of autonomous vehicles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tripat Gill
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Social Dilemma ◽  
Innovation Adoption ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Early Adopters ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal And Ethical Issues ◽  
Theoretical Standpoint

AbstractThe ethical dilemma (ED) of whether autonomous vehicles (AVs) should protect the passengers or pedestrians when harm is unavoidable has been widely researched and debated. Several behavioral scientists have sought public opinion on this issue, based on the premise that EDs are critical to resolve for AV adoption. However, many scholars and industry participants have downplayed the importance of these edge cases. Policy makers also advocate a focus on higher level ethical principles rather than on a specific solution to EDs. But conspicuously absent from this debate is the view of the consumers or potential adopters, who will be instrumental to the success of AVs. The current research investigated this issue both from a theoretical standpoint and through empirical research. The literature on innovation adoption and risk perception suggests that EDs will be heavily weighted by potential adopters of AVs. Two studies conducted with a broad sample of consumers verified this assertion. The results from these studies showed that people associated EDs with the highest risk and considered EDs as the most important issue to address as compared to the other technical, legal and ethical issues facing AVs. As such, EDs need to be addressed to ensure robustness in the design of AVs and to assure consumers of the safety of this promising technology. Some preliminary evidence is provided about interventions to resolve the social dilemma in EDs and about the ethical preferences of prospective early adopters of AVs.

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