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The debate on the scientific status of the Social Sciences and their bid to achieve objectivity in their inquiries is an unending debate within and outside the Social Science family. The positivists are of the opinion that objectivity in Social Science is achievable and that scientific methods can be used in Social Science inquiry, just the same or similar way(s) the natural scientists do their scientific endeavor. To the positivists 'value-free Social Science' is possible. This position is however criticized even within the Social Sciences, let alone in the scientific world. All these debates centered on whether or not the Social Scientists are truly scientific in their quest for knowledge. No matter the outcome of the debate what is obvious is that there is a philosophical problem with scientific objectivity in general. Based on a historical review of the development of certain scientific theories, in his book, 'the Structure of scientific revolutions', a scientist and a historian Thomas Kuhn raised some philosophical objections to claims of the possibility of scientific understanding being truly objective. Against this backdrop, the paper seeks to unravel the varied theoretical debates on the subject.

McDonald reviews 'Social Sciences in Australia,' 2nd ed, by Chilla Bulbeck.

Social policy in the European Union has developed rapidly in recent years, following the 2000 Lisbon Summit and the subsequent adoption of National Action Plans on Social Inclusion and a set of common social indicators for all Member States. This paper describes European initiatives and examines the role played by social science research in these developments. It refers specifically to the role of theory and conceptual analysis, to the availability and quality of data, and to policy modelling. It draws lessons from the experience of European social policy for the relationship between research and policy formation.

Die politische Emigration aus dem Dritten Reich in die USA wurde bis 1937 durch eine sehr restriktive Handhabung der die amerikanische Einwanderungspolitik bestimmenden Quotengesetze behindert. Die Anzahl der "quotenunabhängigen Einwanderer" wie Künstler und Akademiker war jedoch in den dreißiger Jahren relativ hoch. Nach 1937 wurden Einwanderungserleichterungen für Flüchtlinge aus Europa vorgenommen; die Möglichkeit zur Einwanderung endete mit dem amerikanischen Kriegseintritt 1941. Wissenschaftler, Forscher, Künstler und Schriftsteller bestimmten das Bild der Emigration, obwohl sie nur eine kleine Minderheit der Emigranten bildeten. Im Gegensatz zu dieser relativ privilegierten Gruppe muß die wirtschaftliche und soziale Situation der grossen Mehrheit der Emigranten, vor allem der deutsch-jüdischen Auswanderer, als sehr schwierig bezeichnet werden. Auch die Grupppe der emigrierten Intellektuellen muß jedoch differenziert betrachtet werden. Während Wissenschaftler gute Arbeitsmöglichkeiten vorfanden, litten vor allem Schriftsteller unter Isolation und fehlenden Erfolgschancen. Entsprechend differenziert sind die Auswirkungen der Emigration in den USA zu bewerten. (WZ)

Across the medical and social sciences, new discussions about replication have led to transformations in research practice. Sociologists, however, have been largely absent from these discussions. The goals of this review are to introduce sociologists to these developments, synthesize insights from science studies about replication in general, and detail the specific issues regarding replication that occur in sociology. The first half of the article argues that a sociologically sophisticated understanding of replication must address both the ways that replication rules and conventions evolved within an epistemic culture and how those cultures are shaped by specific research challenges. The second half outlines the four main dimensions of replicability in quantitative sociology—verifiability, robustness, repeatability, and generalizability—and discusses the specific ambiguities of interpretation that can arise in each. We conclude by advocating some commonsense changes to promote replication while acknowledging the epistemic diversity of our field.