scholarly journals Thick Concepts in Social Research: What, Why, and How?

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160940692110661
Author(s):  
Simon van der Weele
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Qualitative Social Research ◽  
Thick Concepts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Epistemological Challenge ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Practical Recommendations ◽  
Methodological Difficulties

Thick concepts are concepts that describe and evaluate at once. Academic discussion on thick concepts originated in meta-ethics, but thick concepts increasingly draw attention from qualitative researchers working in the social sciences, too. However, these scholars work in relative isolation from each other, and an overview of their ideas is missing. This article has two aims. The first is to provide such an overview, by bringing together these disparate voices on why thick concepts matter for the social sciences and how to work with them in qualitative social research. The second aim is to reflect on the methodological difficulties of working with thick concepts, by thinking through the example of my research on a specific thick concept—the concept of dependency. The article argues that thick concepts are invoked by social researchers for either epistemological or methodological purposes. It then goes on to claim that if we want to take thick concepts as our sensitizing concepts or as our objects of research, these two purposes really ought to be considered in unison: any methodological approach involving thick concepts must factor in the epistemological challenge thick concepts pose to social-scientific research. To show why—and to consider what this requires from qualitative researchers—I draw on insights acquired during my study on dependency. I end with practical recommendations for working with thick concepts in social research.

School Notes: Committee on Historical Studies

1987 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-236
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Graduate Faculty ◽  
New School ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Historical Moment

The Committee on Historical Studies was established in the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in 1984. The Graduate Faculty has long emphasized the contribution of history to the social sciences. Committee on Historical Studies (CHS) courses offer students the opportunity to utilize social scientific concepts and theories in the study of the past. The program is based on the conviction that the world changes constantly but changes systematically, with each historical moment setting the opportunities and limiting the potentialities of the next. Systematic historical analysis, however, is not merely a diverting luxury. Nor is it simply a means of assembling cases for present-oriented models of human behavior. It is a prerequisite to any sound understanding of processes of change and of structures large or small.

scholarly journals Representaciones sociales y creencias epistemológicas. Conceptos convergentes en la investigación social Social representations and epistemological beliefs. Convergent concepts in social research

2019 ◽  
pp. 412-432
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Holistic Process ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Transfer Of Information

Varios enfoques teórico-metodológicos en la ciencia social nos permiten identificar las diferentes formas en que los individuos construyen su conocimiento, así como evidenciar las condicionantes para el tránsito de la información de lo individual a lo social y viceversa. Se asume como un proceso holístico de conocimientos adquiridos y transmitidos, que puede incluso transformar comportamientos. Dos enfoques a los que nos referimos son las Representaciones Sociales (RS) y las Creencias Epistemológicas (CE). Consideramos que las RS y las CE son aproximaciones distintas, pero estrechamente vinculadas entre sí al compartir puntos de encuentro, aunque sus conceptualizaciones no lo reflejen. En este artículo se evidencian las convergencias y divergencias de ambas nociones, desde sus enfoques teóricos hasta las aproximaciones metodológicas de los diversos estudios emprendidos con base en cada una de ellas. Several theoretical-methodological approaches in the social sciences facilitate the identification of the different ways in which individuals construct knowledge. These approaches also highlight the conditions necessary for the transfer of information from the individual to the social and vice versa. They are considered to form an acquired and transmitted holistic process of knowledge, which can even transform behavior. Two of these approaches are Social Representations and Epistemological Beliefs. Although considered to be distinct approaches, Social Representations and Epistemological Beliefs are closely linked through their shared convergent points even though their conceptualizations do not reflect this. The article highlights the convergences and divergences of both notions taking into consideration their specific theoretical approach up through their specific methodological approach using different studies undertaken and based on each one of them

scholarly journals Reflexivity in qualitative social research: bridging the gap between theory and practice with Alvin Gouldner’s reflexive sociology

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Simbürger
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Academic Practice ◽  
Qualitative Social Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reflexive Sociology ◽  
The University

Reflexivity has become a buzz-word in the social sciences. In this article I provide a critical discussion of the concept of reflexivity and its use in qualitative social research in educational contexts. I argue that one of the dilemmas of a lot of literature on reflexivity in the social sciences is the frequent absence of a discussion of how academics’ aspirations to be reflexive in their research can be made accountable in academic practice. Based on the work of Alvin Gouldner I point to a different way of framing reflexivity in educational qualitative research that bridges the gap between theorising and practising reflexivity in the university and raises important questions about the implications of reflexivity or, of its lack. I thereby draw on extensive research on academic work and identity which I carried out in the UK and Chile based on qualitative interviews with academics. To conclude with, I suggest that discussions upon how to practise one’s aspirations to be a reflexive academic should depart from a collective analysis of the current structures of marketisation in higher education and how they may constrain reflexive academic practice in the university.

Qualitative research and scientific knowledge: Social science in post-totalitarian academia

Human Affairs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juraj Podoba
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Qualitative Social Research ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
Analytical Category

AbstractThe paper presents a critical analysis of the current state of qualitative research approaches in the social sciences and humanities within Slovak academic institutions. The author has been inspired by the metaphor of academic “barbaricum”. This analytical category is based on a model of the relationship between core and periphery, which has no clear function or organisational logic. From the scientific point of view, the core/centre should produce and innovate the theory, whereas the periphery should apply it. In Slovakia—contrary to the situation in Western academia—, the last two decades have seen a growth in the numbers of academic institutions dealing with the humanities (and partly with the social sciences), and stagnation in qualitative social research. The author suggests that if the Slovak social sciences aspire is to becoming part of the so-called European academic space, then this will certainly not be possible without much stronger and extensive support for social research based on qualitative approaches and methods.

scholarly journals Ontology, Methodological Individualism, and the Foundations of the Social Sciences

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 1377-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Sugden
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Methodological Individualism ◽  
New Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Scientific

This is a review essay based on a critical assessment of The Ant Trap: Rebuilding the Foundations of the Social Sciences by Brian Epstein. Epstein argues that models in the social sciences are inadequate because they are based on a false ontology of methodological individualism, and proposes a new model of social ontology. I examine this model and point to flaws in it. More generally, I argue against Epstein's methodological approach, which treats social ontology as prior to social scientific modeling and as certifying the “building blocks” that modelers then use. I argue that modelers can legitimately shape the building blocks for their own models. (JEL A10, B40)

scholarly journals On Conversation and Authorship: Legal Frameworks for Collaborative Methodologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160940692199328
Author(s):  
Lucero Ibarra Rojas
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Academic Fields ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal Frameworks

Collaborative methodologies are at the forefront of an academic movement seeking to recognize the way social research emerges out of interaction with social actors involved in the processes studied. However, the question of how this recognition can be expressed through authorship is rarely explored. Even though co-authorship is common in different academic fields, including social sciences, the inclusion of actors involved in the social processes studied as co-authors of academic reports is still quite rare. Thus, I here analyze the methodological and epistemological assumptions underlying traditional expressions of authorship embedded in intellectual property models, and how these can be challenged through collaborative methodologies and co-authorship dynamics. I then present a methodological approach that focuses on the co-authored construction of academic texts through conversations, which was developed through four different experiences with scholars and persons involved in different social and political initiatives.

scholarly journals Interpretive description: a viable methodological approach for nursing research

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilara Parente Pinheiro Teodoro ◽  
Vitória de Cássia Félix Rebouças ◽  
Sally Elizabeth Thorne ◽  
Naanda Kaana Matos de Souza ◽  
Lídia Samantha Alves de Brito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Interpretive Description ◽  
Clinical Practices ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reflective Study ◽  
Theoretical Reflection

Abstract Objective: To present a theoretical reflection about the origin and the assumptions of the "Interpretive Description" method, and to discuss its applicability in Nursing and Health research. Method: Theoretical-reflective study, based on articles and books published by proponent of this approach, as well as scientific articles in which the authors reported having used this method in their studies. Results: It was evidenced that the "Interpretive Description" arose from the need to generate a better understanding of clinical practices in Nursing. This approach has its roots in the methodological traditions of the Social Sciences, although it differs from them in terms of its excessive rigidity and essentially theoretical objectives. The proposed method has been applied in several studies either in Nursing as other areas of Health. Conclusion: The "Interpretive Description" is considered a feasible approach for the production of knowledge in Applied Sciences such as Nursing.

Stabilizing American Society: Kenneth Boulding and the Integration of the Social Sciences, 1943–1980

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Fontaine
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Main Determinant ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Right

ArgumentFor more than thirty years after World War II, the unconventional economist Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993) was a fervent advocate of the integration of the social sciences. Building on common general principles from various fields, notably economics, political science, and sociology, Boulding claimed that an integrated social science in which mental images were recognized as the main determinant of human behavior would allow for a better understanding of society. Boulding's approach culminated in the social triangle, a view of society as comprised of three main social organizers – exchange, threat, and love – combined in varying proportions. According to this view, the problems of American society were caused by an unbalanced combination of these three organizers. The goal of integrated social scientific knowledge was therefore to help policy makers achieve the “right” proportions of exchange, threat, and love that would lead to social stabilization. Though he was hopeful that cross-disciplinary exchanges would overcome the shortcomings of too narrow specialization, Boulding found that rather than being the locus of a peaceful and mutually beneficial exchange, disciplinary boundaries were often the occasion of conflict and miscommunication.

The Edwards' Report and the International Relations profession

1988 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Science Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
Science Community

The Economic and Social Research Council recently published a Report commissioned from a committee chaired by Professor Edwards, a psychiatrist, so that the Council, and the social science community in general, might know what was good and bad in British social sciences, and where the promising future research opportunities lie over the next decade. Boldly called ‘Horizons and Opportunities in the Social Sciences’, the Report condensed the wisdom of social scientists, both British and foreign, and concludes with a broadly but not uncritically favourable picture of the British scene.

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