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This monograph examines an academic discipline in crisis. The author claims that this field concerned with society and relationships is in trouble. No one can seem to agree on what it does or how to go about doing it. His insightful argument revives the thought of key phenomenologists often no longer considered in social science. Looking predominantly at debates within religious studies, this book uncovers certain misguided presuppositions which have strongly influenced scholars in the field. This reflects itself in a Weberian Ideal regarding the institutional place of science in the universities and a failure to properly consider the epistemic status of knowledge produced for its own sake. But even recognizing these issues will not get to the core of the crisis. It will not help scholars better understand what it is to be human. To address this, the author digs deeper. He draws on the philosophical phenomenology of Husserl's Phenomenological Movement to critique our very idea of social science. In the process, he presents a radical approach to the question of humanity. This volume concludes that, properly understood, social science is a hobby. It deserves no special place in the university. Indeed, if it is to be pursued properly, it requires a fundamentally revised understanding of humanity. The author argues this not of the sake of controversy. Rather, his intention is to affect the necessary shift in our understanding that will enable future constructive solutions

Disaster events and their economic impacts are trending, and climate projection studies suggest that the risks of disaster will continue to increase in the near future. Despite the broad and increasing social effects of these events, the empirical basis of disaster research is often weak, partially due to the natural paucity of observed data. At the same time, some of the early research regarding social responses to disasters have become outdated as social, cultural, and political norms have changed. The digital revolution, the open data trend, and the advancements in data science provide new opportunities for social science disaster research. We introduce the term computational social science of disasters (CSSD), which can be formally defined as the systematic study of the social behavioral dynamics of disasters utilizing computational methods. In this paper, we discuss and showcase the opportunities and the challenges in this new approach to disaster research. Following a brief review of the fields that relate to CSSD, namely traditional social sciences of disasters, computational social science, and crisis informatics, we examine how advances in Internet technologies offer a new lens through which to study disasters. By identifying gaps in the literature, we show how this new field could address ways to advance our understanding of the social and behavioral aspects of disasters in a digitally connected world. In doing so, our goal is to bridge the gap between data science and the social sciences of disasters in rapidly changing environments.

A Most Human Enterprise looks at controversial social science research methods and their effects on subjects and researchers. In detailing case studies in which plagiarism was alleged, subjects were mislead or seriously abused, and research denigrated certain demographics, Donald O. Granberg and John F. Galliher demonstrate how social scientists have strayed from the ethical standards of scientific research

This paper analyses an innovative form of North–South cooperation – specifically between the Ministry of Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and Bolivia – to strengthen research capacity in the social sciences for development. The most notable innovation is that the donor approached the recipient country with an open agenda, allowing the Bolivian partners total autonomy to plan, implement, and manage their own programme, thus ensuring local ownership of the process in the South. The resulting programme – the Strategic Research Programme of Bolivia (PIEB) – was devised so as to promote research around an agenda built with wide participation of stakeholders. Research grants are allocated on a competitive basis, widely publicised, with clear guidelines and selection criteria. Research proposals are carried out by teams and have a strong component of training and involvement of research users. The achievements of the programme show the importance of the South retaining autonomy and ownership, provided the local leadership creates mechanisms for building trust and social accountability. They also demonstrate the importance of nurturing research excellence by creating quality control mechanisms. All elements taken together, PIEB may be seen as an example of institutional innovation in the Bolivian context. Notwithstanding the success and achievements presented above, building research capacity in the social sciences for development is an intensive, long‐term, and continuous process. In the long run, foreign assistance can only supplement investments made by countries on their own.

"The mathematics needed to advance the social and behavioral sciences most surely differs from what has proved to be successful for the physical sciences. This book addresses the need to develop appropriate mathematical tools that, rather than designed for exactness, reflect the current status for much of the social and behavioral science, which requires qualitative predictors"--

2 subjects were selected for the first Italian Congress on the Soc Sci's, held at Milan, Jun 1958 - the relations between the various soc sci's & problems of town & country. Italian culture has a grounding in history & historical res. Until recently there was almost a complete neglect of the soc sci's. At present there is a movement toward closer collaboration between historians & soc sci'ts. The Congress acted as an important impetus to the soc sci res movement in encouraging the co-ordination of the org of various aspects of res work including teaching, the collating & disseminating of documentation, & in promoting professional contacts both at home & abroad. B. J. Kee ley.

Agropolis International regroupe sur ces thématiques 24 unités de recherche pluridisciplinaires. Elles rassemblent environ 700 chercheurs et enseignants chercheurs, qui encadrent 500 doctorants. Elles forment quatre ensembles thématiques constituant autant de centres de gravité aux frontières mouvantes, du fait de la complexité des phénomènes à l'oeuvre et des interdépendances globales. Sommaire : Avant-propos : Les agricultures du monde au coeur des enjeux des sociétés. Dynamiques territoriales et mutations des systèmes de production. Filières, normes, marchés et stratégies d'acteurs. Environnement et gestion des ressources naturelles. Biens publics, politiques publiques et régulations internationales. Des méthodes et des outils adaptés à la diversité des problématiques. Des expertises collectives pour répondre à des questions de société. Thématiques couvertes par les équipes de recherche. La Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de Montpellier. Les formations à Agropolis International. Liste des acronymes et des abréviations

Cet article illustre combien la mise sur pied d'une Maison des Sciences de l'Homme à l'Université de Liège, la première en Belgique, s'inscrivit pleinement dans un « nouveau régime de connaissances » où, derrière des questions subjectives, existentielles,se jouent de véritables défis de société. D'autre part, des questions sociales se voient de plus en existentialisées. Derrière les retraites, les questions liées à la justice, à l'espérance de vie, à la vieillesse, aux thèmes des migrations, etc. de véritables drames se jouent parfois au niveau des existences. Toutes ces questions « objectives », débattues, argumentées par les universitaires, sont ainsi illustratives de questions existentielles qui touchent et préoccupent profondément les citoyens car elles renvoient à leur santé, à leur épargne, à leur habitat, à leur ville, à leur famille, à leur couple, à leur corps, à leur intégrité physique et corporelle. Autant de questions qui mettent les connaissances en débat, voire en tension, avec les politiques, avec les experts mais aussi avec l'existence même de citoyens qui pensent, réfléchissent, agissent et produisent eux-mêmes des connaissances sur les situations qu'ils vivent et qui les engagent dans leur propre quotidien, en tant que patients, usagers, épargnants, retraités, etc. ; Peer reviewed