The Politics of Social Research

The Politics of Social Research PDF Author: Professor Martyn Hammersley
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9781446238417
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Is social research political? Should it be political? What are the implications of the politicization of social research? Recent years have seen a growing range of challenges to the idea that research should be governed by the principle of value neutrality. Critical, feminist, antiracist and postmodernist analyses have argued that social research is intrinsically political. In this stimulating and often controversial book, Martyn Hammersley weighs the arguments offered in support of these positions. He considers the fundamental issues that the debate raises about the nature of social research, its political dimensions and its contemporary relevance. At the same time he provides a robust defence of value neutrality as a constitutive principle of social research, and makes a reassessment of the role of research in modern societies. Praise for The Politics of Social Research For anyone interested in the nature of social research, who has enough grasp of the issues to access the text, this book is a must' - "British Journal of Educational Psychology "All in all Hammersley has produced a text which provides us with much to think about. As I have said, certain chapters will, no doubt, attract considerable debate. Almost all of the chapters could stand alone but the broad political theme used to bring chapters and topics together works well almost always' - "Local Government Studies "Not only is Hammersley a leading exponent of sociological research, he is also a key writer and thinker on the problems of undertaking research. This collection, some of which has been published elsewhere and some not, therefore is a welcome addition to the literature on social research... interesting and well-argued' - "Disability and Society "

The Politics of Social Research

The Politics of Social Research PDF Author: Professor Martyn Hammersley
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9781446238417
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book Here

Book Description
Is social research political? Should it be political? What are the implications of the politicization of social research? Recent years have seen a growing range of challenges to the idea that research should be governed by the principle of value neutrality. Critical, feminist, antiracist and postmodernist analyses have argued that social research is intrinsically political. In this stimulating and often controversial book, Martyn Hammersley weighs the arguments offered in support of these positions. He considers the fundamental issues that the debate raises about the nature of social research, its political dimensions and its contemporary relevance. At the same time he provides a robust defence of value neutrality as a constitutive principle of social research, and makes a reassessment of the role of research in modern societies. Praise for The Politics of Social Research For anyone interested in the nature of social research, who has enough grasp of the issues to access the text, this book is a must' - "British Journal of Educational Psychology "All in all Hammersley has produced a text which provides us with much to think about. As I have said, certain chapters will, no doubt, attract considerable debate. Almost all of the chapters could stand alone but the broad political theme used to bring chapters and topics together works well almost always' - "Local Government Studies "Not only is Hammersley a leading exponent of sociological research, he is also a key writer and thinker on the problems of undertaking research. This collection, some of which has been published elsewhere and some not, therefore is a welcome addition to the literature on social research... interesting and well-argued' - "Disability and Society "

Politics of Social Research

Politics of Social Research PDF Author: Ralph Leon Beals
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 0202367983
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Politics of Social Research addresses itself to the question of the behavior appropriate for social scientists conducting research sponsored by or otherwise involving government agencies--our own and those of other countries. The simple patriotism that suggests that social scientists, like other citizens, should not hesitate to put their skills at the service of their government is questioned here and by practitioners. This is partly because of outright disagreement with government policies and partly because of the threat to independence posed by massive government funding. As this book plainly shows, the problems are especially acute for social scientists working abroad, where they are viewed as de facto representatives of American policy while at the same time they must accommodate to the policies of foreign governments. Beals begins by describing specific and precipitating problems--Project Camelot and other research undertakings that met with difficulties--and a general review of the kinds of problems people engaged in social research encounter (concealment and misrepresentation, nationalism and colonialism, protection of subjects, etc.) These problems are then placed in historical and ideological perspective. This reveals differing views of the relationship between social scientists and government and the meanings and uses of various kinds of research. The book also contains a survey of the particular problems encountered by research social scientists in each of the major areas outside the United States. First published in 1969, and here reissued with a new introduction, this volume remains essential reading for all who are concerned with improving the responsible use of social research by governments, while safeguarding the freedom and integrity of the research and the researcher. Ralph L. Beals was chairman of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Alan Woolfolk is director, core curriculum at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta.

Essential Mathematics for Political and Social Research

Essential Mathematics for Political and Social Research PDF Author: Jeff Gill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521834260
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
"More than ever before, modern social scientists require a basic level of mathematical literacy, yet many students receive only limited mathematical training prior to beginning their research careers. This textbook addresses this dilemma by offering a comprehensive, unified introduction to the essential mathematics of social science. Throughout the book the presentation builds from first principles and eschews unnecessary complexity. Most importantly, the discussion is thoroughly and consistently anchored in real social science applications, with more than 80 research-based illustrations woven into the text and featured in end-of-chapter exercises. Students and researchers alike will find this first-of-its-kind volume to be an invaluable resource."--BOOK JACKET.

Applying Social Science

Applying Social Science PDF Author: David Byrne
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1847424503
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
This important book examines how social science is applied now and how it might be applied in the future in relation to social transformation in a time of crisis.

A Mathematics Course for Political and Social Research

A Mathematics Course for Political and Social Research PDF Author: Will H. Moore
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691159173
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
Political science and sociology increasingly rely on mathematical modeling and sophisticated data analysis, and many graduate programs in these fields now require students to take a "math camp" or a semester-long or yearlong course to acquire the necessary skills. Available textbooks are written for mathematics or economics majors, and fail to convey to students of political science and sociology the reasons for learning often-abstract mathematical concepts. A Mathematics Course for Political and Social Research fills this gap, providing both a primer for math novices in the social sciences and a handy reference for seasoned researchers. The book begins with the fundamental building blocks of mathematics and basic algebra, then goes on to cover essential subjects such as calculus in one and more than one variable, including optimization, constrained optimization, and implicit functions; linear algebra, including Markov chains and eigenvectors; and probability. It describes the intermediate steps most other textbooks leave out, features numerous exercises throughout, and grounds all concepts by illustrating their use and importance in political science and sociology. Uniquely designed and ideal for students and researchers in political science and sociology Uses practical examples from political science and sociology Features "Why Do I Care?" sections that explain why concepts are useful Includes numerous exercises Complete online solutions manual (available only to professors, email david.siegel at duke.edu, subject line "Solution Set") Selected solutions available online to students

Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research

Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research PDF Author: Daniel Beland
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199830878
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Writing about ideas, John Maynard Keynes noted that they are "more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else." One would expect, therefore, that political science--a discipline that focuses specifically on the nature of power--would have a healthy respect for the role of ideas. However, for a variety of reasons--not least of which is the influence of rational choice theory, which presumes that individuals are self-maximizing rational actors--this is not the case, and the literature on the topic is fairly thin. As the stellar cast of contributors to this volume show, ideas are in fact powerful shapers of political and social life. In Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research, Daniel Béland and Robert Henry Cox have gathered leading scholars from a variety of subdisciplines in political science and sociology to provide a general overview of the theoretical, empirical, and methodological issues raised by social science research on ideas and politics. Throughout, they hone in on three central questions. What is the theoretical basis for studying ideas in politics? What are the best methods? What sort of empirical puzzles can be solved by examining ideas and related phenomena such as discourse, policy paradigms, and framing processes? In sum, this is a state-of-the-art academic work on both the role of ideas in politics and the analytical utility that derives from studying them.

Formal Models of Domestic Politics

Formal Models of Domestic Politics PDF Author: Scott Gehlbach
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108482066
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
An accessible treatment of important formal models of domestic politics, fully updated and now including a chapter on nondemocracy.

Politics of Social Psychology

Politics of Social Psychology PDF Author: Jarret T. Crawford
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1351622552
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Social scientists have long known that political beliefs bias the way they think about, understand, and interpret the world around them. In this volume, scholars from social psychology and related fields explore the ways in which social scientists themselves have allowed their own political biases to influence their research. These biases may influence the development of research hypotheses, the design of studies and methods and materials chosen to test hypotheses, decisions to publish or not publish results based on their consistency with one’s prior political beliefs, and how results are described and dissemination to the popular press. The fact that these processes occur within academic disciplines, such as social psychology, that strongly skew to the political left compounds the problem. Contributors to this volume not only identify and document the ways that social psychologists’ political beliefs can and have influenced research, but also offer solutions towards a more depoliticized social psychology that can become a model for discourse across the social sciences.

The Politics of the Book

The Politics of the Book PDF Author: Filipe Carreira da Silva
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271083913
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
It is impossible to separate the content of a book from its form. In this study, Filipe Carreira da Silva and Mónica Brito Vieira expand our understanding of the history of social and political scholarship by examining how the entirety of a book mediates and constitutes meaning in ways that affect its substance, appropriation, and reception over time. Examining the evolving form of classic works of social and political thought, including W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, G. H. Mead’s Mind, Self, and Society, and Karl Marx’s 1844 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, Carreira da Silva and Brito Vieira show that making these books involved many hands. They explore what publishers, editors, translators, and commentators accomplish by offering the reading public new versions of the works under consideration, examine debates about the intended meaning of the works and discussions over their present relevance, and elucidate the various ways in which content and material form are interwoven. In doing so, Carreira da Silva and Brito Vieira characterize the editorial process as a meaning-producing action involving both collaboration and an ongoing battle for the importance of the book form to a work’s disciplinary belonging, ideological positioning, and political significance. Theoretically sophisticated and thoroughly researched, The Politics of the Book radically changes our understanding of what doing social and political theory—and its history—implies. It will be welcomed by scholars of book history, the history of social and political thought, and social and political theory.

Computational Frameworks for Political and Social Research with Python

Computational Frameworks for Political and Social Research with Python PDF Author: Josh Cutler
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030368262
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
This book is intended to serve as the basis for a first course in Python programming for graduate students in political science and related fields. The book introduces core concepts of software development and computer science such as basic data structures (e.g. arrays, lists, dictionaries, trees, graphs), algorithms (e.g. sorting), and analysis of computational efficiency. It then demonstrates how to apply these concepts to the field of political science by working with structured and unstructured data, querying databases, and interacting with application programming interfaces (APIs). Students will learn how to collect, manipulate, and exploit large volumes of available data and apply them to political and social research questions. They will also learn best practices from the field of software development such as version control and object-oriented programming. Instructors will be supplied with in-class example code, suggested homework assignments (with solutions), and material for practical lab sessions.