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.

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

Get Book Here

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.

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.

Social Science Research

Social Science Research PDF Author: Anol Bhattacherjee
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781475146127
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.

Social Science for What?

Social Science for What? PDF Author: Mark Solovey
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262358751
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
How the NSF became an important yet controversial patron for the social sciences, influencing debates over their scientific status and social relevance. In the early Cold War years, the U.S. government established the National Science Foundation (NSF), a civilian agency that soon became widely known for its dedication to supporting first-rate science. The agency's 1950 enabling legislation made no mention of the social sciences, although it included a vague reference to "other sciences." Nevertheless, as Mark Solovey shows in this book, the NSF also soon became a major--albeit controversial--source of public funding for them.

Transparent and Reproducible Social Science Research

Transparent and Reproducible Social Science Research PDF Author: Garret Christensen
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520296958
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Recently, social science has had numerous episodes of influential research that was found invalid when placed under rigorous scrutiny. The growing sense that many published results are potentially erroneous has made those conducting social science research more determined to ensure the underlying research is sound. Transparent and Reproducible Social Science Research is the first book to summarize and synthesize new approaches to combat false positives and non-reproducible findings in social science research, document the underlying problems in research practices, and teach a new generation of students and scholars how to overcome them. Understanding that social science research has real consequences for individuals when used by professionals in public policy, health, law enforcement, and other fields, the book crystallizes new insights, practices, and methods that help ensure greater research transparency, openness, and reproducibility. Readers are guided through well-known problems and are encouraged to work through new solutions and practices to improve the openness of their research. Created with both experienced and novice researchers in mind, Transparent and Reproducible Social Science Research serves as an indispensable resource for the production of high quality social science research.

The Impact of the Social Sciences

The Impact of the Social Sciences PDF Author: Simon Bastow
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446293254
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 625

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Book Description
The impact agenda is set to shape the way in which social scientists prioritise the work they choose to pursue, the research methods they use and how they publish their findings over the coming decade, but how much is currently known about how social science research has made a mark on society? Based on a three year research project studying the impact of 360 UK-based academics on business, government and civil society sectors, this groundbreaking new book undertakes the most thorough analysis yet of how academic research in the social sciences achieves public policy impacts, contributes to economic prosperity, and informs public understanding of policy issues as well as economic and social changes. The Impact of the Social Sciences addresses and engages with key issues, including: identifying ways to conceptualise and model impact in the social sciences developing more sophisticated ways to measure academic and external impacts of social science research explaining how impacts from individual academics, research units and universities can be improved. This book is essential reading for researchers, academics and anyone involved in discussions about how to improve the value and impact of funded research.

Political Science Research Methods

Political Science Research Methods PDF Author: Janet Buttolph Johnson
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1506307817
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 657

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Book Description
Understand the “how” and the “why” behind research in political science. Step by step, Political Science Research Methods walks students through the logic of research design, carefully explaining how researchers choose which method to employ. The Eighth Edition of this trusted resource offers a greater emphasis on the ways in which particular methods are used by undergraduates, expanded coverage of the role of the Internet in research and analysis, and more international examples. Practice makes perfect. In the new fourth edition of the accompanying workbook, Working with Political Science Research Methods, students are given the perfect opportunity to practice each of the methods presented in the core text. This helpful supplement breaks each aspect of the research process into manageable parts and features new exercises and updated data sets. A solutions manual with answers to the workbook is available to adopters.

The Fundamentals of Political Science Research

The Fundamentals of Political Science Research PDF Author: Paul M. Kellstedt
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052187517X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
This textbook introduces the scientific study of politics, supplying students with the basic tools to be critical consumers and producers of scholarly research.

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

Doing Feminist Research in Political and Social Science

Doing Feminist Research in Political and Social Science PDF Author: Brooke A. Ackerly
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350311820
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 539

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Book Description
Guiding students step-by-step through the research process while simultaneously introducing a range of debates, challenges and tools that feminist scholars use, the second edition of this popular textbook provides a vital resource to those students and researchers approaching their studies from a feminist perspective. Interdisciplinary in its approach, the book covers everything from research design, analysis and presentation, to formulating research questions, data collection and publishing research. Offering the most comprehensive and practical guide to the subject available, the text is now also fully updated to take account of recent developments in the field, including participatory action research, new technologies and methods for working with big data and social media. Doing Feminist Research is required reading for undergraduate and postgraduate courses taking a feminist approach to social science methodology, research design and methods. It is the ideal guide for all students and scholars carrying out feminist research, whether in the fields of international relations, political science, interdisciplinary international and global studies, development studies or gender and women's studies. New to this Edition: - New discussions of contemporary research methods, including participatory action research, survey research and technology, and methods for big data and social media. - Updated to reflect recent developments in feminist and gender theory, with references to the latest research examples and new boxes considering recent shifts in the social and political sciences. - Brand new boxed examples throughout covering topics including collaborations, femicide, negotiating changing research environments and the pros and cons of feminist participatory action research. - The text is now written in the first (authors) and second (readers) person making the text clearer, more consistent and inclusive from the reader point of view.