How to Empower Patients
I’m going to start doing shorter blog posts along with my usual longer analyses. These quick posts will be part of my Social Science Snack series, which will show how research can improve business, the community sector and social media. My aim is to write about social science research in a way that makes the academic language and ideas more widely accessible. I also focus on providing solutions to specific organisational problems.
Today’s Social Science Snack is about how community health services might empower patients.
Continue reading “How to Empower Patients”Philanthropy Business
Michael Porter is a business professor whose expertise is in corporate strategy. He argues that businesses should step up and address social problems rather than simply leave it to the not for profit groups and philanthropists. Continue reading Philanthropy Business
Executive Choices
French researcher Jacqueline Fendt argues that academic research on businesses is not practical enough in its focus. She argues that management education would be improved with a stronger focus on the everyday realities of Executives. She also advocates using more … Continue reading Executive Choices
Investments to End Poverty
The “Investments to End Poverty” report by Development Initiatives predicts that in the worst case scenario there…
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How Social Science Fights Racism
Here’s one account of how Social Science has helped Jaya Gajparia manage the daily racism she has experienced growing up in the UK. She says that sociology has provided her a range of tools to have a dialogue with others … Continue reading How Social Science Fights Racism
What is Social Science?
Social science helps to improve people’s lives by addressing health, education, business and other fields. In particular, it provides tools to measure social dynamics. That is, it provides insight about how societies and social relationships work. Social science integrates nature and the environment as well as individual will, the mind, and community relationships.
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The Excitement of Sociology
Continue reading “The Excitement of Sociology”“However, much of the time the sociologist moves in sectors of experience that are familiar to him [sic] and to most people in his society… It is not the excitement of coming upon the totally unfamiliar, but rather the excitement of finding the familiar becoming transformed in its meaning. The fascination of sociology lies on the fact that its perspective makes us see in a new light the very world in which we have lived all our lives.”
– Peter Berger, (1963: 21) “Invitation to Sociology” [my emphasis]
How Can Social Science Help Governments Manage Social Media?
Social science offers sophisticated methods for governments to better understand social media. The London School of Economics & Political Science argues that social scientists are using their research techniques to improve meaningful collection of social data.
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Social Science of Common Sense
We’re constantly told to act according to common sense. Common sense is supposed to stop us from making foolish mistakes, and in many ways it does. This notion describes all of our social learning in a nutshell. It’s the collection of the sum total of our personal experiences as well as those of the people around us. It helps us walk into a situation with a certain level of familiarity. The problem with common sense is that it can be misleading.
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Social Science of Crowds
Social policy makers need ongoing research into the social behaviour of crowds. This is partly about urban planning, such as management of landscapes, improving infrastructure, decreasing traffic congestion and so on. Governments also need to understand crowd behaviour because local communities need to improve social service delivery.
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Social Science Insights 