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The purpose of this research was to identify the barriers that upper-secondary school science and mathematics teachers face during the teaching process in economically disadvantaged regions (Hakkari, Turkey and Swansea, UK). The research design was comparative case research and pursues qualitative methodological approach in collecting and analyzing the data about the barriers that teachers are encountering during the teaching process. The research sample consisted of 24 science and mathematics teachers from different upper-secondary schools in Hakkari and Swansea. Semi-structured interview forms, were developed and employed to collect the data. The thematic analysis was used to analyze the obtained data. The results revealed different categories in understanding the situations that science and mathematics teachers confront in both cases; student-related issues, pedagogical issues, teachers' lack of subject knowledge and socio-economic and cultural-based issues. As student-based barriers, lack of prior knowledge, students`attention span, and interest; and regarding teachers-based barriers, teachers` lack of class management and communication skills, and lack of student-centered methods found as similar barriers. Language and socio-economical problems were also shared barriers for both cities. In addition to those barriers, political and family-based issues which hindered educational attainment found as the main barriers by science and mathematics teachers in Hakkari. Keywords: comparative case research, mathematics teachers, science teachers, teaching barriers.

This essay addresses the issue of social stratification, which is the basic organizing factor of life in human communities, since it defines one's position in any societal environment as well as the fabric or the internal structure of societal togetherness. It deals with one essential aspect of social stratification, namely that of elite formation, taking as a relevant example the case study of Hungary. It is argued that new computer technologies make possible large-scale surveys of elite formation, opening up new vistas for the interpretation of major process of social change that took place in Central European societies. The first part of the essay provides a historical overview of processes of elite formation in modern Hungary. The second part presents an ambitious program of research on the evolution of Hungarian elites from the 1867 "Compromise" with Austria to the beginning of the Communist regime (1948). This unprecedented vast survey was initiated in 2005 and will be completed in 2009. The main target concerns educated elites, but the project also deals with other elite clusters, on a selective basis. The method employed is prosopographical, covering some 200,000 individual biographies. The essay provides a comprehensive description of the technical side of the survey and of the socio-historical scope of the problems it highlights.

This title examines how contemporary currents in sociology and social theory have influenced the field of organisation studies. It aims to combat the tendency towards myopia in the organisation studies field, which encourages reliance on resources and references drawn from within the field and discourages scholars from going beyond these boundaries to find inspiration and ideas. The contributing authors show how sociologists and sociological concepts from the US and Europe have provided new insights into the functioning of organisations.

This interpretative case study examined the beliefs and practices of eight preservice elementary teachers as they learned to teach race in social studies. Using critical race theory as the lens, the researcher analyzed interview, observation, classroom artifact, and teacher preparation course data. The results showed that there was a division between those teachers who saw their role as working against racial prejudice (tolerance-oriented) and those who were working against racial inequity (equity-oriented). In practice, the teachers used three approaches to race-related topics in their classroom: avoiding, diminishing, and embracing. Furthermore, the teachers expressed the importance of courses on urban education, social studies methods, and student teaching in preparing them to teach about race. This study highlights the need for increased attention to teaching about race in teacher preparation programs.

This article analyses some of the emerging problems in the field of social studies at the juncture of the domains of health and science. Building on critical perspectives, namely those hailing from social history, postcolonial studies and collaborative research, it argues for the need to ground investigation on concrete historical forms of social suffering. This implies a multi-scale approach which considers: 1) individual suffering and illness experienced in social interactions; 2) the institutionalised expert translations of suffering into disease; and 3) the political rationales, developed by both local and global stakeholders, which assist in the creation of social environments of health and illness. While illustrations of the theoretical proposals derive mostly from the particular field of mental health, it is argued that their implications may apply to a wider range of themes dealing with health and science issues. ; Este artigo analisa alguns dos problemas emergentes na interseção entre os campos dos estudos da saúde e da ciência. Baseando-se em perspetivas críticas, nomeadamente na história social, nos estudos pós-coloniais e na investigação colaborativa, defende-se a necessidade de fundar a investigação em formas históricas concretas de sofrimento social. Esta estratégia implica uma abordagem em várias escalas que considerem: 1) o sofrimento individual e a doença experienciados em interações sociais; 2) as traduções por peritos, institucionalmente legitimadas, do sofrimento na doença; e 3) as racionalidades políticas, desenvolvidas por atores locais e globais, que contribuem para a criação de ambientes sociais de saúde e doença. Embora estas propostas teóricas sejam principalmente ilustradas com exemplos derivados do campo específico da saúde mental, argumenta-se que as suas implicações podem ser aplicadas num domínio mais vasto de temas relacionados com questões de saúde e ciência. ; Cet article aborde quelques-uns des problèmes émergents à l'intersection entre les domaines des études de la santé et de la science. Reposant sur des points de vue critiques, notamment sur l'histoire sociale, sur les études postcoloniales et sur la recherche collaborative, nous y défendons le besoin de faire reposer la recherche sur des formes historiques concrètes de souffrance sociale. Cette stratégie implique une approche à divers échelons qui tiendront compte de: 1) la souffrance individuelle et la maladie vécues en interactions sociales; 2) les interprétations par des experts institutionnellement reconnues de la souffrance dans la maladie; et 3) les rationalités politiques, développées par des acteurs locaux et globaux, qui contribuent à la création d'environnements sociaux de santé et de maladie. Bien que ces propositions théoriques soient principalement illustrées comme des exemples découlant du domaine spécifique de la santé mentale, nous soutenons que leurs implications peuvent être appliquées à un champ plus vaste de thèmes ayant trait à des questions de santé et de sciences.

This article explores why and how the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a PRC state research-institute, survived after its involvement with the June Fourth demonstrations in 1989 through research regulation. I show how the explicit ascription of an advisory role to CASS required an increase in freedom of research and an increase in political steering through regulation. I do this by comparing the institutional setting of CASS in the early 1990s with that during Li Tieying's leadership (1998 to 2003). The article traces a general trend in which organizational reforms at institutions of higher education increasingly entail giving political direction to the development of the social science debate. Radical political views are discouraged through regulation, guidelines, meetings, academic activities and financial, material and social encouragement. This institutional approach aims to yield insight into the functioning of CASS as producer of knowledge and as think-tank to the government.

"The social sciences underwent rapid development in post-war America. Problems once framed in social terms gradually became redefined as individual with regards to scope and remedy, with economics and psychology winning influence over the social sciences. By the 1970s, both economics and psychology had spread their intellectual remits wide: psychology's concepts suffused everyday language, while economists entered a myriad of policy debates. Psychology and economics contributed to, and benefited from, a conception of society that was increasingly skeptical of social explanations and interventions. Sociology, in particular, lost intellectual and policy ground to its peers, even regarding "social problems" that the discipline long considered its settled domain. The book's ten chapters explore this shift, each refracted through a single "problem": the family, crime, urban concerns, education, discrimination, poverty, addiction, war, and mental health, examining the effects an increasingly individualized lens has had on the way we see these problems."

"Critical juncture theory seeks to understand how social orders are created, become entrenched, and change. In this book, leading practitioners offer the first coordinated effort to define this field, assess its theoretical and methodological foundations, and use a critical assessment of current practices as a basis for guiding its future"--

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