Social Science Literature and the Naturalization Process

This article examines social science research into the socioeconomic and cultural factors associated with immigrants who naturalize. Few of the studies in this review use statistical methodologies and many of the findings are highly impressionistic. Yet, several of the studies find common factors to explain the decision to naturalize. These include: length of residence in the United States, varied potentials for acculturation among different national origin groups, motivation for immigration and formal education and language skills. However, no single study is found that examines all of the variables influencing the naturalization decision.

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‘Ultimate Introvert’ to the ‘Touchy-Chummy’: Using Simulations to Teach Interviewing Skills

Journal ◽

10.22582/ta.v10i3.476 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 21-28

Author(s):

Timi Lynne Barone ◽

Samantha K Ammons

Keyword(s):

Social Science ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Peer Interactions ◽

Social Science Research ◽

Science Research ◽

Science Literature ◽

Social Science Literature ◽

Interview Participant ◽

Relative Neglect ◽

Depth Interviews

In-depth interviews represent one of the most commons forms of qualitative data used in social science research, especially in ethnography. Yet preparing students to conduct good in-depth interviews is an area of relative neglect in social science literature, despite the potential marketability of this skill for anthropology and sociology students. Practice in communities may be impractical and/or problematic because of wariness due to historical legacies, as well as current political and economic uncertainty. However, relying on peer-interactions for “mock” interviews is problematic because of students’ collective inexperience. Without sufficient preparation, mistakes can be costly for all. In this paper, we advocate for the use of a simulated interview participant (SIP) to better prepare students as interviewers. We provide 12 SIPs and guidance for implementing them in classrooms. Through SIPs, instructors or other actors expose students to common interviewer pitfalls and better prepare them for research in diverse communities.

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Making Nano Matter

Science Technology & Human Values ◽

10.1177/0162243911429334 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 37 (6) ◽

pp. 604-626 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Elena Simakova

Keyword(s):

Social Science ◽

Scientific Practice ◽

Social Science Research ◽

Science Research ◽

The United States ◽

University Campus ◽

Relevant Research ◽

Societal Relevance ◽

Set Up ◽

Interpretive Flexibility

The article examines science-policy conversations mediated by social science in attempts to govern, or set up terms for, scientific research. The production of social science research accounts about science faces challenges in the domains of emerging technosciences, such as nano. Constructing notions of success and failure, participants in science actively engage in the interpretation of policy notions, such as the societal relevance of their research. Industrial engagement is one of the prominent themes both in policy renditions of governable science, and in the participants’ attempts to achieve societally relevant research, often oriented into the future. How do we, as researchers, go about collecting, recording, and analyzing such future stories? I examine a series of recent interviews conducted in a number of US universities, and in particular at a university campus on the West Coast of the United States. The research engages participants through interviews, which can be understood as occasions for testing the interpretive flexibility of nano as “good” scientific practice and of what counts as societal relevance, under what circumstances and in view of what kind of audiences.

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