Public space of the trustworthiness of sociological knowledge: The case of electoral research

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
OLEKSANDR STEGNII
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Good Tool ◽  
Sociological Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
Approval Ratings ◽  
The Impact

The paper analyses specific features of sociological data circulation in a public space during an election campaign. The basic components of this kind of space with regard to sociological research are political actors (who put themselves up for the election), voters and agents. The latter refer to professional groups whose corporate interests are directly related to the impact on the election process. Sociologists can also be seen as agents of the electoral process when experts in the field of electoral sociology are becoming intermingled with manipulators without a proper professional background and publications in this field. In a public space where an electoral race is unfolding, empirical sociological research becomes the main form of obtaining sociological knowledge, and it is primarily conducted to measure approval ratings. Electoral research serves as an example of combining the theoretical and empirical components of sociological knowledge, as well as its professional and public dimensions. Provided that sociologists meet all the professional requirements, electoral research can be used as a good tool for evaluating the trustworthiness of results reflecting the people’s expression of will. Being producers of sociological knowledge, sociologists act in two different capacities during an election campaign: as analysts and as pollsters. Therefore, it is essential that the duties and areas of responsibility for professional sociologists should be separated from those of pollsters. Another thing that needs to be noted is the negative influence that political strategists exert on the trustworthiness of survey findings which are going to be released to the public. Using the case of approval ratings as an illustration, the author analyses the most common techniques aimed at misrepresenting and distorting sociological data in the public space. Particular attention is given to the markers that can detect bogus polling companies, systemic violations during the research process and data falsification.

scholarly journals Changes in the Soundscape of the Public Space Close to a Highway by a Noise Control Intervention

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5284
Author(s):  
Timothy Van Renterghem ◽  
Francesco Aletta ◽  
Dick Botteldooren
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Noise Abatement ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Control Intervention ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Noise Shielding ◽  
Visual Preferences ◽  
The Impact

The deployment of measures to mitigate sound during propagation outdoors is most often a compromise between the acoustic design, practical limitations, and visual preferences regarding the landscape. The current study of a raised berm next to a highway shows a number of common issues like the impact of the limited length of the noise shielding device, initially non-dominant sounds becoming noticeable, local drops in efficiency when the barrier is not fully continuous, and overall limited abatement efficiencies. Detailed assessments of both the objective and subjective effect of the intervention, both before and after the intervention was deployed, using the same methodology, showed that especially the more noise sensitive persons benefit from the noise abatement. Reducing the highest exposure levels did not result anymore in a different perception compared to more noise insensitive persons. People do react to spatial variation in exposure and abatement efficiency. Although level reductions might not be excessive in many real-life complex multi-source situations, they do improve the perception of the acoustic environment in the public space.

scholarly journals The Dangers of Hoaxes in Building Civil Society in the Era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0

2021 ◽  
pp. 117-138
Author(s):  
Muhamad Basitur Rijal Gus Rijal ◽  
Ahyani Hisam ◽  
Abdul Basit
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The Public ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Ideal

Civil society (civil society) as the ideal structure of society's life that is aspired to, but building a civil society is not easy. There are preconditions that must be met by the community in making it happen. Coupled with technological advances in the era of the Industrial Revolution 4.o like today, where information can spread easily through various online media unlimitedly in spreading hoaxes. This research seeks to uncover the dangers of hoaxes in building civil society. This research uses descriptive analytical method by examining the sources of literature related to building civil society in the Industrial Revolution 4.o. This research found that the public space is a means of free speech; democratic behavior; tolerant; pluralism; and social justice can shape civil society. whereas the impact of hoax news greatly affects the way people perceive a certain issue, so that people cannot distinguish which news is real or fake news which causes them to be incited by fake news that is spread.

The war against the homeless: Frank Jordan, broken windows, and anti-homeless politics in San Francisco

2019 ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Sean Parson
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Public Space ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Broken Windows ◽  
The Public ◽  
Matrix Quality ◽  
Physical Spaces ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Chapter 4 discusses Mayor Frank Jordan’s (1992–1995) revanchist Matrix Quality of Life Program, which sought to enforce a broken-windows policing system in San Francisco. The impact of the policy was felt largely by the visible homeless in downtown San Francisco, who were regularly harassed and arrested by the police and forced out of the city. Because quality-of-life policing desires to sanitize the public space of disruptive and asocial behaviour, the public meals of Food Not Bombs near City Hall resisted the city’s attempt to criminalize homelessness. This chapter argues that the city attempted to construct the homeless as anti-citizens and exclude them from the political and physical spaces of the city.

Mobile Methods and Large Screens

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikos Papastergiadis ◽  
Amelia Barikin ◽  
Xin Gu ◽  
Scott McQuire ◽  
Audrey Yue
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Global Era ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Mobile Methods

This chapter details the case studies that were conducted as part of a five-year research project, which conducted the world’s first real-time cross-cultural exchange via the networking of large public screens located in Melbourne and Seoul. The project linked large screens located in Seoul and Melbourne for three media events: SMS_Origins and <Value>, HELLO, and Dance Battle. The chapter details methodological innovations of the research, which involved the reformulation of the way in which the scholar was embedded in the research and transformed according to the interactive research process. It also elucidates critical insights into the process of cultural exchange, the impact of media technologies on public space, and the transformation of the public sphere in the global era. The empirical research generates fresh insights into public interactions with large screens, providing a prototype for future cross-cultural events and offering new theoretical perspectives on the use of public space.

Performing “Moral Resistance”? Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Activism in Public Space

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Jackson ◽  
Gill Valentine
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Grassroots Activism ◽  
Reproductive Politics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
And Performance ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Impact

This article focuses on acts of resistance regarding reproductive politics in contemporary Britain. Drawing on empirical research this article investigates grassroots activism around a complex moral, social, and political problem. This article therefore focuses on a site of resistance in everyday urban environments, investigating the practice and performance involved. Identifying specifically the territory(ies) and territorialities of these specific sites of resistance, this article looks at how opposing groups negotiate conflict in public space in territorial, as well as habitual, ways. Second, the article focuses on questions around the impact, distinction, and novelty both in the immediate and long term of these acts of resistance for those in public space. Here, then, the focus shifts to the reactions to this particular form of protest and questions the “acceptability” of specific resistances in the public imaginary.

scholarly journals The Impact of Web Site Campaigning on Traditional News Media and Public Information Processing

2003 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 528-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyotae Ku ◽  
Lynda Lee Kaid ◽  
Michael Pfau
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
The Public ◽  
Intermedia Agenda Setting ◽  
Setting Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Flow Of Information

This study examined the impact of Web site campaigning on traditional news media agendas and on public opinion during the 2000presidential election campaign. Based on an intermedia agenda-setting approach, this study demonstrated the direction of influence among three media in terms of the flow of information. An agenda-setting impact of Web site campaigning on the public was also identified.

Design of Microplastics Citizen Science Kit

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Hughson-Gill
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Freshwater Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;Microplastics are an ever-increasing problem. Every river that was tested in a recent study found the presence of microplastics, with 80% of all plastic in the ocean coming from upstream. Despite this, there is little understanding into the abundance of plastic, its characteristics and the full impact that is it having on marine, freshwater ecosystems and wider ecological systems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Current fresh water monitoring does not consider the fluid dynamics of rivers, is difficult to use and is inaccessible to the wider public. My project will focus on creating a product that allows for the large-scale data collection of microplastic through citizen science. Allowing groups of people to analyse their local natural environment for the presence and abundance of microplastics within the water. This method of data collection could provide information on a scale that is not possible with traditional methods and would allow for the comparison between freshwater systems. This comparison is fundamental to begin to fill the knowledge gaps around the understanding of microplastics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Inaccessibility of monitoring to the public is not just through tools but also through the current communication of data with research rarely breaking into the public domain. Citizen science offers not just an improvement in understanding but also offers an opportunity for engagement with the public body. Increasing awareness of the impact of habits round plastic through the sharing of monitoring data can generate the much-needed change on both an individual and policy level to address the problem from the source. This method of change through public opinion can be seen to have an effect on freshwater systems through microbeads ban, plastic bags, plastic straws and industrial pollution regulation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Through the creation of this product a multidisciplinary approach that blends engineering and design practices is implemented. The wholistic approach to creation is something that is fundamental in the success of tools and therefore the success of the research that is implemented through them. A tool such as this whose function is within the public engagement of its use - increased awareness, as well as the outcome of its use - microplastics data, is required to have an engaging user experience as well as data integrity implemented through engineering design.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This project offers an opportunity to show the importance of the design process within research tools to aid the research process and the positive impact that can come from it.&lt;/p&gt;

Space in common: Socially engaged art in the Athens of crisis

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charis Kanellopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Socially Engaged Art ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Impact

During the last years ‐ within a constantly deepening social, political and economic crisis ‐ Athens’s public space appears challenging, presenting a character of ongoing re-evaluation and change. It is due to the impact of the crisis, for example, that the city’s public space is being approached once more by many citizens who, during the years before the recession, had chosen to transfer main activities and functions of public life to the more protected sphere of privateness. One notices the return to open spaces by locals not only for leisure but also for social interaction. Most emphatically, however, appears the fact of a rising number of population in need, such as homeless people, immigrants or refugees, who host aspects of their private life in the public sphere: most of the times, they are not only users, but rather habitants of public space, in a transitional situation of social suspension, lacking a sense of belonging. Under the light of the city’s different realities, and of an expected social co-existence, the article aims to present the practice of artists who become active in Athens’s public spaces of social ambivalence in Athens, by realizing socially engaged art projects. By focusing on case studies such as Nomadic Architecture Network’s projects, the Victoria Square Project by Rick Lowe and Maria Papadimitriou, Common Platforms, a Blind Date by Adonis Volanakis, along with Rafika Chawishe, or the UrbanDig_Omonia by the UrbanDig Project in Omonia square, among others, the article highlights the artists’ interest in understanding the historical and cultural dynamics of each area and in working with different participants of the community in an effort to find common ground and to create bonds among individuals of unalike backgrounds. The article shows how such artistic practices become a channel of creative expression and fruitful dialogue in environments of precariousness and intolerance. Showing the importance of cooperation and understanding, socially engaged art projects function positively as collaborative ‘heterotopias’ in turbulent times for Athens.

scholarly journals The impact of the car restrictions implemented in the city centre on the public space quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 752-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Szarata ◽  
Katarzyna Nosal ◽  
Urszula Duda-Wiertel ◽  
Lukasz Franek
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
City Centre ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

scholarly journals The 2015 nationwide referendum in Poland memes

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-42
Author(s):  
Maria Marczewska
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Specific Problem ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
The Public ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
The Media

The aim of the article is to analyze memes associated with the nationwide referendum of 6 September 2015 in Poland. The memes are treated as part of the media discourse. Media discourse encompasses part of public discourse. In the broad sense, we are dealing with a collection of statements functioning in the public space and concerning a specific problem or its scope. There will be analyzed memes connected such issues as the reason/reasons for ordering the referendum, referendum questions, the financial costs incurred, and the referendum turnout. The article is divided into two parts: 1) theoretical consists of mem and referendum definition; 2) practical consists of the 6 September 2015 referendum in Poland in memes analyse. In the course of the research such questions will be answered: whether the memes became part of the general overtone of the discourse; whether they presented the main themes of the discourse and how they did this; which elements of the discourse were emphasized in the memes and which were omitted. In the research process the main themes of the discourse were distinguished, which were reflected in the memes.

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