scholarly journals Building knowledge with theory: Unpacking complexity in doctoral writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirstin Wilmot ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Social World ◽  
Doctoral Dissertation ◽  
Crucial Aspect ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Dissertation Writing ◽  
Draft Version ◽  
Doctoral Writing ◽  
Over Time

The use of theory to analyse and interpret empirical data is a valued practice in much social science doctoral research. A crucial aspect of this practice involves generating sophisticated theoretical understandings and critiques of phenomena in our social world. Despite the importance of theory, however, few concrete explanations of how to ‘theorise’ exist in literature. This paper addresses this gap by demonstrating how a set of conceptual tools can be used to unpack what the craft of theorising looks like in explicit terms, and to reveal how this ability develops over time during the drafting process of dissertation writing. It does this by drawing on select texts from a successful doctoral dissertation, as well as an earlier draft version. In doing so, the paper provides an in-depth explanation of an essential process of doctoral research that is inherently known by many supervisors, yet seldom unpacked in explicit terms.

scholarly journals From Social Sciences to Philosophy and Back Again

2018 ◽  
pp. 151-155
Author(s):  
Aleksei Zygmont
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Empirical Model ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Modern History ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Over Time

The article is devoted to the problem of the demarcation of social sciences from social philosophy. The author proposes to model the relations between these two disciplines as a continuum instead of binary opposition - a continuum in which certain authors and concepts are located depending on the nature of their statements (descriptive or prescriptive/evaluative) and the amount of empirical data involved. To illustrate a number of this continuum’s positions and features, the concept of the sacred is brought: emerging in Modern history as a cultural idea, in the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the works of French sociologists it becomes an empirical model that describes both the effect of social solidarity and the particular forms of religious existence. However, later, in the College of Sociology and in the works of such thinkers as G. Bataille, R. Caillois, etc., the concept acquires value meanings and becomes socio-philosophical. The absence of a clear boundary between the two statement formats, it makes possible both the “drifting” from one to another over time (M. Eliade) and the ambiguity of any critics of social science from social philosophy’s position and vice versa. At the same time, the historical “load” of the concept could be discarded in order to use it within the framework of “pure” social science or philosophy.

Reflexivity and Sociological Practice

1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim May
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social World ◽  
Theoretical Knowledge ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Sociological Practice ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Social

Attention to reflexivity is often assumed to be the means through which the assumptions and values of social scientists may be uncovered. Researchers are thus called upon to position themselves explicitly in terms of their place within the research process in order that their interpretations may be assessed according to situated aspects of their social selves. Taking a reconstructive social science as one whose aim is to examine our pre-theoretical knowledge in the spirit of producing more adequate accounts of the social world, this article seeks to make sense of these ideas in relation to their consequences for producing an engaged practice and body of knowledge.

scholarly journals Question the Inherent Tension between Memory and Oblivion within a Patrimonial Digital Artifact

K@iros ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lénaïk LEYOUDEC
Keyword(s):  
Situational Analysis ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
Digital Form ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Digital Heritage ◽  
Web Of Data ◽  
Digital Document ◽  
The Common ◽  
Digital Artifact ◽  
Over Time

Nowadays, the common way to transmit cultural heritage is under its digital form. The digital document suffers from a technological and cultural gap, its integrity and cultural meaning disappearing over time. We show that restoring the document intelligibility is possible through a redocumentation approach. The digital heritage document is processed into an annotational artefact, which uses the web of data as an experimental source of linked and open knowledge. We build the artefact through a double process. On the first hand, a semiotic study of digital heritage documents allows us to understand a universal interpretation path while watching a cultural archive. On the second hand, we convert the results of the semiotic study into ergonomic and editorial recommendations for the annotational device. Considering its patrimonial positioning, the artefact emphasises an editorial tension between memory and oblivion. Then, we examine the device conception environment, its editorial features and its associated prescriptive issues. This paper highlights two aspects: a situational analysis of the current semio-technological doctoral research, and an original hindsight of the editorial project through memory and oblivion concepts mobilized in a digital environment.

scholarly journals Historical Disparities and Gendered Citation Patterns

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. M. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Citation Data ◽  
Science Methodology ◽  
Social Science Methodology ◽  
Over Time

In this comment on Dion, Sumner, and Mitchell’s article “Gendered Citation Patterns across Political Science and Social Science Methodology Fields,” I explore the role of changes in the disparities of citations to work written by women over time. Breaking down their citation data by era, I find that some of the patterns in citations are the result of the legacy of disparity in the field. Citations to more recent work come closer to matching the distribution of the gender of authors of published work. Although the need for more equitable practices of citation remains, the overall patterns are not quite as bad as Dion, Sumner, and Mitchell conclude.

Theory usage in empirical operations management research: a review and discussion

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2413-2432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kenworthy ◽  
Jaydeep Balakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory Testing ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scientific Fields ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze more than three decades of theory testing published in leading operations management (OM) journals. Design/methodology/approach This piece examines the amount of theory testing, the extent to which theories are tested multiple times, and the disciplinary origins of the theories that are tested. Findings The analysis revealed that empirical OM researchers have increasingly responded to demands for more theory-driven knowledge over time. OM researchers are developing and using a wide array of domestic theories to understand empirical data. The examination also revealed a substantial focus on theory borrowed from other scientific fields. Originality/value The findings here suggest that OM is clearly a maturing discipline. As the discipline matures, it is important to consider to what extent borrowed theories and frameworks can offer value to OM. A preliminary vetting model is advanced in order to critically assess foreign theory. It is hoped that future screening promotes only the most useful non-domestic theory, thereby ensuring sufficient journal space for domestic theory and resulting in effective solutions to the pressing, practical problems of the OM field.

The Internationalization of Chinese English-Language Humanities and Social Science Journals

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-293
Author(s):  
Ying Huang ◽  
Weishan Miao
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Social Science ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Citation Indexes ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Time Type ◽  
Over Time

This paper surveys the status of Chinese English-language journals in the humanities and social sciences (HSS-CELJs). HSS-CELJs are an important vehicle for disseminating Chinese scholarly voices and culture throughout the world. We used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the status of HSS-CELJs according to a number of attributes: growth rate over time, type of publisher, discipline, region of publication, publishing frequency, independence versus co-publication, and inclusion in citation indexes. We discuss some of the challenges facing HSS-CELJ publishing and highlight several contradictions of internationalization in the Chinese context. As of March 2020, eighty-seven HSS-CELJs covered nineteen disciplines, among which economics (17 per cent) and law (13 per cent) accounted for the highest proportions. The establishment of HSS-CELJs has increased significantly since 2004. Fifty-two per cent of HSS-CELJs were jointly operated with international publishers under two different models of cooperation, and twenty-eight (32 per cent) were indexed in international databases.

Unravelling the Web of Qualitative Dissertation Writing!

2022 ◽  
pp. 260-282
Author(s):  
Nirupama R. Akella
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Social Science Discipline ◽  
Dissertation Writing ◽  
Qualitative Dissertation ◽  
The Web

This chapter, written in the first person, uses the research method of autoethnography to identify, explore, and discuss six key elements essential for writing a qualitative dissertation in a social science discipline. The author bases her autoethnographic account of reflections, dialogue, and theory within a conceptual framework of critical literacy and a grounded theory analytical approach to detail six foundational elements of qualitative dissertation writing which must be present in the doctoral student's arsenal before beginning to write the dissertation and/or draft. The chapter attempts to solve a dilemma of paucity of empirical research by doctoral students/candidates about how to write qualitative dissertations. The purpose of the chapter is to showcase and unravel the dissertation writing web from a doctoral student/candidate's active learning experience and perspective.

Practice Theory

2018 ◽  
pp. 363-383
Author(s):  
Haridimos Tsoukas
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Large Majority ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Scientific Rationality ◽  
Philosophical Critique ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Organization And Management ◽  
Over Time

The purpose of this chapter is to articulate the philosophical underpinnings of the perspective commonly known as “practice theory.” The latter originates and has grown out from the long-standing philosophical critique of the logic of scientific rationality, which underlies a large majority of theories within organization and management theory, and social science more generally. Practice theory aims to capture the basic understandings manifested in how actors and materials are entwined in a relational whole over time. Seeing actors as embedded in practices orients researchers to explore how actors follow rules and handle their experiences in enacting the practices they partake in. This chapter explores the philosophical underpinnings of practice theory, with a particular focus on Wittgenstein and Heidegger, and distinguishes three approaches to the study of practice: commonsensical theories, general theories, and domain-specific theories.

Leitmotif

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Boes
Keyword(s):  
James Joyce ◽  
Social World ◽  
Thomas Mann ◽  
Richard Wagner ◽  
Symbolic Form ◽  
Musical Compositions ◽  
Musical Theme ◽  
The Social ◽  
Original Sense ◽  
Over Time

A leitmotif (from the German Leitmotiv: ‘guiding motif’) in its original sense is a musical theme that appears multiple times over the course of a dramatic composition and thereby gives a person, object, place or concept both a symbolic form and coherence over time. It is primarily associated with the mature works of Richard Wagner, who disliked the term, however. A leitmotif differs from earlier examples of recurring musical themes by virtue of the fact that it can change over time and develop additional significance through its relationship to other musical themes. Thus, the ascending ‘nature motif’ that opens Wagner’s operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) finds a descending counterpart in the later ‘contract motif’. Taken together, the two themes thus spell out a fundamental contrast between the natural and the social world that runs throughout the cycle. Because of the huge influence of Wagner’s art on all aspects of Modernism, leitmotifs can be found not only in musical compositions, but also in literature, particularly in the novels of Thomas Mann and James Joyce.

Evolution of Trust and Formation of Preference Clusters in Distributed Networked Structure

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Purnendu Karmakar ◽  
Rajarshi Roy
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Trust Model ◽  
Network Evolution ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Distributed Network ◽  
Chat Rooms ◽  
Interacting Agents ◽  
Over Time

Distributed network researchers are trying to address one important issue concerning networked structures and how the network came into existence, i.e., dynamics of network evolution. From the knowledge of social science it is observed that trust is one such metric that evolves with the network particularly where human interaction is involved. This work presents a “trust” model of the authors’ studies and its various properties. In virtual (and “real”) communities (chat rooms, blogs, etc.) behavioral segregation over time is observed. Differences in identities of interacting agents result in evolution of various degrees of “trust” (and “distrust’) among them over a period of time. This process ultimately leads to emergence of self-segregation in behavioral kinetics and results in formation of preference clusters.

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