scholarly journals Examination of institutions in social sciences: to articulation of the problem of philosophical analysis

Author(s):  
Nikita Nikolaevich Ravochkin

In recent decades, the problematic of social institutions has come to the forefront in foreign and national social science. It is justified by the fact that namely the institutional environment determines the success of social interactions and utilization of resources for moving towards the evolutionary scenario of development. The author gives close attention to the existing within national and foreign discourse definition of the basic object, and critically assesses the overall state of institutional research in social sciences. The discovered disciplinary narrowness and penchant for field-specific interests despite ambitious demands advance by, for example, economic sciences, substantiate the need for detailed philosophical analysis of social institutions. The author's special contribution lies in critical assessment of the available range of theoretical material in the area of sociological, economic, legal and political sciences. The article demonstrates the continuity and overall dynamics of disciplinary research of the institutions within the discourse of social sciences. The importance of interdisciplinary consideration of problematic areas in the institutional research is emphasized. Link between the effectiveness of functionality of the institutions and cognitive characteristics is traced. The value of constructivist approach is evident due to the increasing role of ideas in social sciences. In conclusion, the author conflates the strong and weak sides of disciplinary works, anticipating future research on the development of the ultimate grounds of institutions.

Adam alemi ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-80
Author(s):  
Aksana Panzabekova ◽  
◽  
Turgel Irina ◽  
Aksaule Zhanbozova ◽  
◽  
...  

The relevance of the research topic is due to the definition of the fight against corruption as one of the main strategic priorities of state policy in Kazakhstan. This article aims to assess the institutional environment of corruption in Kazakhstan. The study investigated the essence of formal and informal institutions of corruption as determinants of preventing or stimulating illegal behavior. The institutional definition of corruption is given, distinctive features of corruption are highlighted and an approach to assessing the its institutional environment is formed. To assess the institutional environment, we used comparative indicators developed by various international organizations, as well as “indices of cultural dimensions” developed by G. Hofstede. A comparative analysis of their values ​​for Kazakhstan in the time frame and with other countries representing different geo-economic regions of the world is carried out. The results of the analysis made it possible to generalize the features of the institutional environment of corruption in Kazakhstan. The findings of the study can find practical application by the competent state bodies in the development of program documents to increase the anti-corruption consciousness of Kazakhstanis. The significance of the work for science lies in the development of a conceptual framework for assessing the institutional environment of corruption. The direction of future research is to include in the assessment of the constituent parts of the indices used in this work, as well as to identify the strength of the relationship between corruption and other social institutions.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Ning Gu ◽  
Peiman Amini Behbahani

Computational creativity in built environment (BE) design has been a subject of research interest in the discipline. This paper presents a critical review of various ways computational creativity has been and can be defined and approached in BE design. The paper examines a comprehensive body of contemporary literature on the topics of creativity, computational creativity, and their assessment to identify levels of computational creativity. The paper then proceeds to a further review of the implications of these levels specifically in BE design. The paper identifies four areas in BE design where computational creativity is relevant. In two areas—synthesis (generation) and analysis—there is considerable literature on lower levels of computational creativity. However, in two other areas—interfacing and communication—even the definition of computational creativity is not as defined and clear for the discipline, and most works only consider the role of computers as a supporting tool or medium. These open up future research opportunities for the discipline.


2021 ◽  
pp. 108876792110184
Author(s):  
Kamali’ilani T. E. Wetherell ◽  
Terance D. Miethe

Using U.S. census data and a multi-source database on officer-involved killings, the current study extends previous research by exploring the influence of measures of weak social control in economic, educational, and familial institutions on state rates of police homicide. States with lower levels of institutional control are found to have higher overall rates of police homicides and police killings involving Black, Hispanic, and White decedents. The significant effects of institutional control on these police homicide rates are generally found to exhibit contextual invariance across different levels of various control variables (e.g., comparisons of states with low or high violent crime rates, low vs high economic inequality, low vs high levels of urbanization). These results and the limitations of this study are discussed in terms of implications for future research and public policy on police homicides and the role of social institutions in minimizing the occurrence of these incidents.


2021 ◽  

Many contemporary party organizations are failing to fulfill their representational role in contemporary democracies. While political scientists tend to rely on a minimalist definition of political parties (groups of candidates that compete in elections), this volume argues that this misses how parties can differ not only in degree but also in kind. With a new typology of political parties, the authors provide a new analytical tool to address the role of political parties in democratic functioning and political representation. The empirical chapters apply the conceptual framework to analyze seventeen parties across Latin America. The authors are established scholars expert in comparative politics and in the cases included in the volume. The book sets an agenda for future research on parties and representation, and it will appeal to those concerned with the challenges of consolidating stable and programmatic party systems in developing democracies.


Author(s):  
Ben Kei Daniel

Regardless of any approach taken for examining social capital, researchers continuously converge on some key issues such as trust and yet diverge on several others about concrete and consistent indicators for measuring social capital. Many researchers believe that presence or absences of social capital can be solely linked to trusting relationships people build with each other as well as social institutions of civil engagement. It is not clearly known however, whether trust itself is a precondition for generating social capital or whether there are other intermediary variables that can influence the role of trust in creating social capital. In addition, similar to social capital, the definition of trust is problematic and it remains a nebulous concept and equally, with many dimensions. Interests in the analysis of trust are wide spread among many disciplines, notably policy analysis, economic development, reliability and security of distributed computational systems and many others. The variety of approaches currently employed to investigate trust and different interpretations of its role in fostering social capital has resulted into a diverse array of knowledge about the concept and its relationship to social capital. This Chapter provides a broader overview of work on trust. It discusses how researchers have used trust as a proxy for measuring social capital.


2021 ◽  
pp. 182-203
Author(s):  
R. Andrew Lee

“Cultivating Learning Agility Through Mindfulness Training: A Framework and Recommendations” reviews the research related to the role of mindfulness in enhancing learning agility and presents a model to guide future research and applications. It begins by presenting a definition of mindfulness as characterized by three qualities: a focus on present moment experience, an attitude of receptiveness and curiosity, and an emergent capacity for metacognition. It then outlines a process model for learning agility; the model consists of five factors: mindset, awareness, action, integration, and application. This model is then used as a framework to summarize the research linking mindfulness and learning agility. Finally, recommendations are presented for implementing mindfulness training to enhance learning agility.


Author(s):  
Suzanne Roff-Wexler

Following a brief review of literature on big data as well as wisdom, this chapter provides a definition of data-based wisdom in the context of healthcare organizations and their visions. The author addresses barriers and ways to overcome barriers to data-based wisdom. Insights from interviews with leading healthcare professionals add practical meaning to the discussion. Finally, future research directions and questions are suggested, including the role of synchronicity and serendipity in data-based wisdom. In this chapter, developing data-based wisdom systems that flourish Wisdom, Virtue, Intellect, and Knowledge are encouraged.


2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin K. Lipp ◽  
Anwar Huq ◽  
Rita R. Colwell

SUMMARY Recently, the role of the environment and climate in disease dynamics has become a subject of increasing interest to microbiologists, clinicians, epidemiologists, and ecologists. Much of the interest has been stimulated by the growing problems of antibiotic resistance among pathogens, emergence and/or reemergence of infectious diseases worldwide, the potential of bioterrorism, and the debate concerning climate change. Cholera, caused by Vibrio cholerae, lends itself to analyses of the role of climate in infectious disease, coupled to population dynamics of pathogenic microorganisms, for several reasons. First, the disease has a historical context linking it to specific seasons and biogeographical zones. In addition, the population dynamics of V. cholerae in the environment are strongly controlled by environmental factors, such as water temperature, salinity, and the presence of copepods, which are, in turn, controlled by larger-scale climate variability. In this review, the association between plankton and V. cholerae that has been documented over the last 20 years is discussed in support of the hypothesis that cholera shares properties of a vector-borne disease. In addition, a model for environmental transmission of cholera to humans in the context of climate variability is presented. The cholera model provides a template for future research on climate-sensitive diseases, allowing definition of critical parameters and offering a means of developing more sophisticated methods for prediction of disease outbreaks.


2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 795-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
MEYER D. GLANTZ ◽  
ALAN I. LESHNER

Drug abuse research and theory has become much more sophisticated over the last 2 decades, and some of the advancements parallel concepts that are part of the developmental psychopathology approach. The application of the developmental psychopathology perspective to recent drug abuse research findings can provide a greater understanding of that information and point to important areas of future research. Among the drug abuse research areas discussed here and viewed from this perspective are antecedent and co-occurring psychopathological conditions and other problem behaviors; the diversity of the nature of, paths to, and processes and outcomes related to drug abuse; the role of intermediary influences; the interaction of individual and environmental predisposing and protective factors; the role of families and other social institutions in intervention; and developmental stage characteristics. Directions for future research are also discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 102-120
Author(s):  
Ondrej Zizlavsky ◽  
Nikola Janickova

This article builds on existing family business research conducted worldwide and embeds the research results in the Czech context to portray the Czech Republic as a critically important context for extending our knowledge on important family firms’ topics. In this article, we present a systematic review and integration of 69 articles published in peer-reviewed journals by Elsevier, Emerald, Wiley and others from 2015 to 2021 in order to answer two research questions: what is the role of innovation in SME family firms and what drives the innovation in family firms? Specifically, the content of the article discusses the new definition of family firm in the Czech Republic; the relationship between innovation and family firm growth; and some contextual factors that might affect the innovations in the Czech SME family firms: ability and willingness paradox, socioemotional wealth, and familiness. The insights of this review are used to develop suggestions for future research in setting the value of family firm where innovation can play an essential role as one of the core value drivers.


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