Building on Progress

Building on Progress

Author: German Data Forum

Publisher: Verlag Barbara Budrich

Published: 2011-02-09

Total Pages: 1248

ISBN-13: 3863882814

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This publication provides a comprehensive compendium of the current state of Germany’s research infrastructure in the social, economic, and behavioural sciences. In addition, the book presents detailed discussions of the current needs of empirical researchers in these fields as well as of opportunities for future development. The importance of solid data for both public policy and the social and economic sciences is obvious. Today, empirical research is essential in finding solutions to many of the major challenges our society faces, such as environmental change, turbulent financial markets, and population growth. Based on 68 advisory reports by more than 100 internationally recognised authors from a wide range of fields, the book provides recommendations by the German Data Forum (RatSWD) on how to improve the research infrastructure so as to create conditions ideal for making Germany’s social, economic, and behavioural sciences more innovative and internationally competitive.


Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences

Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences

Author: Irina Tomescu-Dubrow

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2023-11-22

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1119712181

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Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences An expansive and incisive overview of the practical uses of harmonization and its implications for data quality and costs In Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences, a team of distinguished social science researchers delivers a comprehensive collection of ex-ante and ex-post harmonization methodologies in the context of specific longitudinal and cross-national survey projects. The book examines how ex-ante and ex-post harmonization work individually and in relation to one another, offering practical guidance on harmonization decisions in the preparation of new data infrastructure for comparative research. Contributions from experts in sociology, political science, demography, economics, health, and medicine are included, all of which give voice to discipline-specific and interdisciplinary views on methodological challenges inherent in harmonization. The authors offer perspectives from Europe and the United States, as well as Africa, the latter of which provides insights rarely featured in survey research methodology handbooks. Readers will also find: A thorough introduction to approaches and concepts for survey data harmonization, as well as the effects of data harmonization on the overall survey research process Comprehensive explorations of ex-ante harmonization of survey instruments and non-survey data Practical discussions of ex-post harmonization of national social surveys, census and time use data, including explorations of survey data recycling A detailed overview of statistical issues linked to the use of harmonized survey data Perfect for upper undergraduate and graduate researchers who specialize in survey methodology, Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences will also earn a place in the libraries of survey practitioners who engage in international research.


Dependencies and Mechanisms of Unemployment and Social Involvement

Dependencies and Mechanisms of Unemployment and Social Involvement

Author: Bettina Sonnenberg

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2014-03-18

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 3658053550

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People’s involvement in social groups and networks constitutes a resource for societies and individuals. More specifically, involvement represents the basis upon which social integration takes place and provides access to material and non-material goods considered to be rewarding for individuals. Despite substantial research suggesting that unemployment triggers social exclusion and social isolation, evidence for the causal influence of unemployment on social involvement is limited. Past studies typically have relied on research methods that are unable to address causality. Using long-term panel data from Germany and panel estimation methods, Bettina Sonnenberg investigates the causal effects of unemployment on people’s social involvement. By taking into account selection confounds, she shows that findings from cross-sectional research are misleading and have advanced inaccurate conclusions regarding the social consequences of unemployment.


Online Research Methods in Urban and Planning Studies: Design and Outcomes

Online Research Methods in Urban and Planning Studies: Design and Outcomes

Author: Silva, Carlos Nunes

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2012-01-31

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 1466600756

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"This book provides an overview of online research methods in urban and planning studies, exploring and discussing new digital tools and Web-based research methods, as well as the scholarly, legal, and ethical challenges associated with their use"--Provided by publisher.


Behavioral and Social Science Research

Behavioral and Social Science Research

Author: Neil J. Smelser

Publisher:

Published: 1982-02

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13:

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The value, significance, and social utility of basic research in the behavioral and social sciences are examined. Following an introduction in chapter 1, there are 4 major chapters. Chapter 2 discusses how the research terrain has been divided among the disciplines of psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, geography, history, and statistics. Also examined are specialization within disciplines, the improvement of data, shifts in conceptual and theoretical foci, and interdisciplinary ferment. Chapter 3 illustrates the progress of the behavioral and social sciences as sciences. One striking feature of advances made is that frequently they have been borrowed from or have contributed to other disciplines. For example, the study of human perception has involved a long-term interaction between psychophysicists describing behavior and sensory physiologists describing the physiological substrate of that behavior. Chapter 4 examines the applications of research findings to public policy formation, social problem solving, and other areas. The concluding chapter sets forth in more general terms the relationship between basic research and its influence and practical application. (RM)


Assessing Contexts of Learning

Assessing Contexts of Learning

Author: Susanne Kuger

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-12-05

Total Pages: 486

ISBN-13: 3319453572

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This volume brings together educational effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments, demonstrating how the two fields can be applied to inspire and improve each other, and providing readers direct links to instruments that cover a broad range of topics and have been shown to work in more than 70 countries. The book’s initial chapters introduce and summarize recent discussions and developments in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of international large-scale context assessments and provide an outlook on possible future developments. Subsequently, three thematic sections – “Student Background”, “Outcomes of Education Beyond Achievement”, and “Learning in Schools” – each present a series of chapters that provide the conceptual background for a wide range of important topics in education research, policy, and practice. Each chapter defines a conceptual framework that relates recent findings in the educational effectiveness research literature to current issues in education policy and practice. These frameworks were used to develop interesting and relevant indicators that may be used for meaningful reporting from international assessments, other cross-cultural research, or national studies. Using the example of one particular survey (the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015)), this volume links all theoretical considerations to fully developed questionnaire material that was field trailed and evaluated in questionnaires for students and their parents as well as teachers and principals in their schools. The primary purposes of this book are to inform readers about how education effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments are already interacting to inform research and policymaking; to identify areas where a closer collaboration of both fields or input from other areas could further improve this work; to provide sound theoretical frameworks for future work in both fields; and finally to relate these theoretical debates to currently available and evaluated material for future context assessments.