Usable social science / Neil J. Smelser and John S. Reed.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smelser, Neil J.

Contributor:

Reed, John S. (John Shepard), 1939-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Research.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (435 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This volume is a one-of-a-kind contribution to applied social science and the product of a long collaboration between an established, interdisciplinary sociologist and a successful banking executive. Together, Neil Smelser and John Reed use a straightforward approach to presenting substantive social science knowledge and indicate its relevance and applicability to decision-making, problem-solving and policy-making. Among the areas presented are space-and-time coordinates of social life; cognition and bias; group and network effects; the role of sanctions; organizational dynamics; and macro-changes associated with economic development. Finally, the authors look at the big picture of why society at large demands and needs social-science knowledge, and how the academy actually supplies relevant knowledge.

Contents:

Space and time : constraints and opportunities

Some dynamics of cognition, judgment, and bias

Sanctions in organizational and social life

Groups, teams, networks, trust, and social capital

How decisions are made

Organizations and organizational change

Economic development and social change

Methods of research and their usability

Social change, social problems, and demands for knowledge

The production of knowledge in the social sciences.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781283646338

1283646331

9780520954144

0520954149

OCLC:

813286391