Coping With the Infodemic With Scientific Knowledge Management

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a challenge to the health area and generated an enormous amount of information, some accurate and some not, which made it difficult to locate reliable sources of information. Scientific knowledge has become the best way to mitigate this infodemiological process. Observatories are instruments to support decision making, seeking to integrate different sources of information and communicate the results using research methodologies such as the COVID-19 Scientific Evidence Observatory. Created by members of the research group Information in Science, Technology, and Innovation in Health, of the IBICT, it aims to meet the informational demands of the most varied audiences. Its development methodology involves a knowledge management team that uses the methodological rigor of the systematic literature review to seek, evaluate, synthesize, and enable access to reliable and qualified sources of information. It provides access to different sources of national and international information from the Kaleidoscope of Science.

Perspectives on Cultivating a Qualitative Researcher's Identity

This chapter problematizes the notion of methodological rigor in qualitative research through an examination of what it means to cultivate an identity as a qualitative researcher. Through a string of narratives, each author explores texts, methods, and experiences that inspired their work as qualitative researchers and fostered their scholarly identities. Themes of writing about the self as researcher, reflexive inquiry to develop a researcher identity, writing as a tool to hone one's understanding, and the role of trauma in qualitative research are discussed.

Ersatz Rigor

The natural evolution of language that can capture nature’s varied behaviors in effective terms frequently encourages descriptive practices that encode physical data in deviously complex ways. Often this complexity sets in without being overtly noticed by the agents in question. When this happens, “small metaphysics” conundrums frequently arise in the form “what is this bit of language actually telling us about the world beyond?” Historically, many of the familiar systems of grander metaphysics arose from these puzzling seeds, and these same schemes frequently place unacceptable restrictions upon the free development of science. To cast off the oppressive yoke often encouraged by this vein of philosophical musing, Rudolf Carnap and others developed a logicized conception of “theory” that claimed to liberate science (and philosophy) from any concern with “metaphysics” whatsoever. This point of view will be called “theory T thinking” in this book. But Carnap’s proposed remedy represents a diagnostic mistake; the real-life complexities of efficient data registration demand direct examinations of the strategic assumptions that underlie the effective forms of word-to-world alignment. The present book rejects the misleading conceptions of “methodological rigor” that Carnap’s conception of “theory” encourages.

Scrum Framework and Health Solutions: Management and Results

Introduction: Technology arrives aiming at bringing benefits to society, with aspects applied to health such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Developing a technology solution requires methodological rigor and systematic instructional design. Method: This experience report method used the Agile methodology for management and control of results in the development of Information and Communication Technologies. Results: The Agile methodology was adopted using the Scrum framework, involving people, artifacts, and ceremonies. The Scrum team was consisted of multidisciplinary professionals and undergraduate students. Artifacts are comprised of product backlog, sprints, sprint backlog, time-box, ready concept, and release burn-down. Conclusions: The adoption of the Scrum methodology helps with the integration of roles and knowledge to a project. Moreover, it efficiently helps carrying out activities by allowing careful analysis of each stage with regard to quality, technology, and implementation.

Politics, Policy, and Crime Ethnography

This chapter encourages social scientists, policy planners, and public administrators to reflect critically on the methods used to define crime problems and policy responses to them. It argues for the increased use of ethnographic methods in formulating policy by seeking points of connection with quantitative approaches. Quantitative methods are better suited for crime policy given their methodological rigor, instrumental and programmatic orientation, and relatively low costs per datum unit. However, qualitative methods have a complementary role to play, being better attuned to the subjective experiences of crime and crime control and better able to illustrate factors correlated with these phenomena. Ethnographic methods permit reflexivity regarding the broader settings and specific contexts of crime and criminological research. Two cases of ethnographic techniques within criminal justice practice are shared to demonstrate their viability—one from the US Department of Justice and another from Court Watch Poland. The chapter finishes with lessons for researchers and policy planners, including the importance of engaging in collaborative research, triangulating methods, embracing uncomfortable findings, and reconsidering research ethics.

Sustainable development and national cultures: a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the research field

National culture (NC) plays a crucial role in transitioning societies toward sustainable development (SD) which is based on the triple bottom line (TBL) approach. The impact of NC should be broadly analyzed, taking into account the perspective of individuals, organizations, societies, etc. This constitutes the general field of “national culture sustainable development” (NCSD). To the author’s knowledge, this is the first literature review conducted on the above-defined NCSD field and based on a mixed-methods analysis. It contributes to the development of knowledge by presenting the scientific structure of the general NCSD research field and the main detailed problems addressed in the papers assigned to this field, synthesizing the previous research findings, and emphasizing the need to examine SD holistically. This study revealed that the interest of academics in the NCSD field is growing. The scientific structure of this field is formed by 80 articles, including 63 empirical papers which were based mostly on the analysis of secondary data. The most popular topic in previous studies was the relationship between cultural dimensions (authored by Hofstede) and practices related to reporting on sustainability. Cultural characteristics were combined with the data from different sources and covered different numbers of countries. Subsequent research projects were methodologically separate from the previous ones which implied inconsistent results. Papers discussing the linkage between national culture and all elements of the TBL concept together are rare. The above highlights, i.e., the need for more research based on a holistic approach to SD, methodological rigor and continuity.

Method-ological Mapping of Girlhood Studies

In this article, I report on a mapping project of the methods used in articles in Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal since its inception. By reviewing all articles published in this journal from June 2008 to December 2020, I investigate and visually map the methodological tools used in the production of knowledge with, for, and about girls and girlhood. Alongside visual representations of this data, I also seek to reinvigorate conversations about the importance of epistemological and methodological rigor in studies of girls and girlhood.

Action research and its contributions to methodological science: general aspects

Due to the increase in popularity and the possibility of using action research, the instrument began to be used significantly, but with a concept not yet consolidated, the term has been applied in an abstract way, without deep and detailed interpretations of the use in various contexts. It is intended to clarify throughout this article the meaning of the term, and how this type of instrument can be applied in the best way, acting within the sphere of scientific-methodological rigor. The research problem is: what are the possibilities of using action research, its stages and fundamental care? The relevance of the tool lies in the fact that it allows the conduct of a research in a systematized, continuous and empirically based manner. Thus, it will be discussed about the role of theory in action research and the characteristics inherent to its fundamental phases will be pointed out. Some common questions related to the method, such as the participation of the researcher, the social function of reflection, the need to manage the acquired knowledge and ethics in research should be considered. Finally, some action research “models” are presented that can contribute to researchers in methodological choice and organization.

Community-Level Experiences, Understandings, and Responses to COVID-19 in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Qualitative and Ethnographic Studies

(1) Background: COVID-19 disruptions offer researchers insight into how pandemics are at once biological and social threats, as communities struggle to construct meaning from novel challenges to their ontological status quo. Multiple epistemes, in which public health imperatives confront and negotiate locally derived knowledge and traditions, vie for legitimacy and agency, resulting in new cultural forms. (2) Methods: To investigate the context and construction of community responses, a systematic review of qualitative literature was conducted with the aim of evaluating those insights provided by empirical, social field research in low- and middle-income countries since the onset of COVID-19. Six scholarly databases were searched for empirical, qualitative, field-based, or participatory research that was published in peer-reviewed journals between December 2019 and August 2021. (3) Results: Twenty-five studies were selected for data extraction, following critical appraisal for methodological rigor by two independent reviewers, and were then analyzed thematically. Faced with unprecedented social ruptures, restrictions in social and physical mobility, and ever-looming uncertainties of infection, financial insecurity, stigma, and loss, communities worldwide reacted in multiple and complex ways. Pervasive misinformation and fear of social rejection resulted in noncompliance with pandemic sanctions, resistance, and increased isolation, allowing the spread of the disease. The meaning of, and understandings about, COVID-19 were constructed using traditional, religious, and biomedical epistemologies, which were occasionally in conflict with each other. Innovations and adaptations, through syntheses of traditional and biomedical discourses and practice, illustrated community resilience and provided models for successful engagement to improve public health outcomes. (4) Conclusion: Local context and community engagement were indispensable considerations when enacting effective public health interventions to meet the challenges of the pandemic.