Suchergebnisse

The third generation of Social Sciences currently emerging must assume the specific nature of the world of data created by digital networks, without falling back on the Sciences of «Society» or «opinion.» All of these entities were constructed in specific political, institutional situations and with specific techniques. «Social» Big Data is taken into account by agencies specializing in the processing of this data to produce potentially predictive correlations primarily for the benefit of brands. The risk is that the Social Sciences would be lastingly disqualified from producing reflexivity that has hitherto been their raison d'être. Beyond «society» and «opinion» for which the text lays out a genealogy, appear the «traces» that must be theorized as «vibrations» by the Social Sciences in order to reap the benefits of the uncertain status of entities' widespread traceability. ; Une troisième génération de sciences sociales doit voir le jour pour assumer la spécificité du monde de don-nées et de traces créées par les réseaux numériques, sans se contenter de prolonger les acquis des sciences de la « société » et de l'« opinion ». Ces entités ont été construites dans une époque précise dont la généa-logie est restituée pour être comparée avec le travail des agences qui exploitent les traces numériques et qui peuvent produire toute la réflexivité nécessaire en devenant prédictives. Il est proposé de penser les traces numériques en tant que « répliques » que les sciences sociales doivent suivre avec des méthodes adaptées car elles constituent désormais un nouveau continent du social.

In 2010 the Marine Corps started a small, experimental capability, the Translational Research Group (TRG), to help the organization more effectively integrate social science and scientists into decision-making. In contrast to other recent military social science programs, TRG focuses inward, on Marines and Marine Corps organizations. The group houses fieldwork-focused social scientists within a military organization so they can understand the problem-framing context and implementation processes, but provides significantly greater academic freedom and protection from over-tasking than is the norm in military research settings. Researchers conduct independently designed projects, support curriculum development, and provide social science advice to a broad scope of military organizations. Although leadership support for the group has been strong, there have been significant impediments to fully institutionalizing the capability. This field report provides an outline of the background and design of the group and examines some of the key challenges encountered during implementation.

AbstractThe current debate in social sciences show that the paradox of observing—the embeddedness of observer in the process of observing—is at the heart of the controversy about their cognitive status and future. Although the problem of observing has been addressed in numerous theoretical perspectives—some of which (Habermas, Leydesdorff, Maturana, and Luhmann) are examined in this article—the prospects for resolving this paradox remain problematic. Locating a point, which allows reflection on the process of autopoiesis in general, not just the operation of a particular autopoietic system, may be one condition for resolving this paradox. Such point will offer reflection on all autopoietic systems, including the observer. The dynamic balance between equilibrium and disequilibrium is the mechanism, which regulates the process of autopoiesis. Since the function of regulation is essentially a reflective function, this equilibrium between equilibrium and disequilibrium, which can be identified with the concept of homeorhesis introduced by Conrad Waddington, may offer a possibility to reflect on the process of observing. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Human Terrain System (HTS) was catapulted into existence in 2006 by the US military's urgent need for knowledge of the human dimension of the battlespace in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its centrepiece was embedded groups of mixed military and civilian personnel, known as Human Terrain Teams (HTTs), whose mission was to conduct social science research and analysis and to advise military commanders about the local population. Bringing social science - and actual social scientists - to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was bold and challenging. Despite the controversy over HTS among scholars, there is little good, reliable source material written by those with experience of HTS or about the actual work carried out by teams in theatre. This volume goes beyond the anecdotes, snippets and blogs to provide a comprehensive, objective and detailed view of HTS

It is widely agreed that Professor McDougal's impressive intellectual achievements can be traced, in part, to his efforts to expand the use of concepts and conclusions from the social sciences in the analysis of legal issues, especially in the realm of international law. Nevertheless, his concern with the links between the development of a policy-oriented jurisprudence on the one hand and the use of findings from the social sciences in legal analysis on the other has often led to confusion among his supporters and his opponents alike. Accordingly, my purpose in this essay is to examine critically this element of McDougal's thinking1 in the hopes of reaching a clearer understanding both of McDougal's contributions to the study of international law and of the relationship between legal analysis and the social sciences in general.2

1. Phenomenology and methodology of social science : the origins -- 2. Phenomenological social science -- 3. Phenomenology, free action, empricial social science : some theoretical and practical problems -- 4. The 'objectivity' of empirical social science : a philosophical perspective -- 5. Epilogue : an alternative phenomenological approach to social inquiry.