Questions tagged [social-science]
On standards or conventions specific to social science as an academic discipline, and programs that lead to a degree in this field
103
questions
120
votes
8
answers
11k
views
How to argue against questionable research practices such as P-hacking and Harking?
I have come into conflict with co-authors when being asked to do things that I consider to be questionable.
Once I was told to try every possible specification of a dependent variable (count, ...
- 2,707
74
votes
14
answers
9k
views
How should a social scientist deal with envy of disciplines that are more quantitatively rigorous?
I am a student in social science who got into quantitative research at the start of my graduate school. Since then, I have had the valuable opportunity to take many Statistics classes and become aware ...
48
votes
6
answers
8k
views
What constitutes a declarable conflict of interest in gender studies?
From Wikipedia:
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial interest, or otherwise, one of which could possibly ...
- 9,911
31
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How to overcome preconceived ideas about social scientists?
I have the opposite problem to this question. Often when I talk to someone from a 'hard' scientific field I am 'taught' how statistics work or how programming works. It is a bit like being mansplained ...
- 2,707
22
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Is there a difference in academic writing styles between engineering and women's studies?
Coming from engineering, when you write a paper, the goal is to be objective and analytical. We use references and try to define terms for a clear understanding. The goal at least is to provide ...
- 4,729
19
votes
1
answer
389
views
What is the impact of a radical change of opinion for early-career academics?
I'm wondering what are the potential consequences of a change of mind in the social sciences and humanities. More specifically, what would happen concretely if I publish a peer-reviewed article in ...
- 562
18
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Does the term “science” encompass humanities and the social sciences?
I’m not a native English speaker and want to get a better grip on the nuances of the term science.
In my native tongue, the word I’d use for science also refers to humanities and the social sciences. ...
- 1,809
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How do people in academia know whether their research, result, theorem or thesis is original work?
I am curious as to how academia continues itself without replication or reinventing the wheel. So many academicians in so many areas of work, how would one ever find out whether the work he or she is ...
- 11.4k
14
votes
4
answers
8k
views
Do German professors in a Master’s program respond to students who email them interested in their research work?
I’m currently receiving my bachelor’s degree in Sociology from am American university and have no clue how the process for applying to Master’s programs in Germany works. I’m not sure if it’s okay to ...
- 165
14
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How do Journals find reviewers and their contact information?
I recently received an email asking to review for a reputable journal (I recognize the journal, and the person listed as Associate Editor is listed as an associate editor on the journal's editorial ...
- 617
12
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Asking questions/sending note to the three authors of a paper in economics, three personalized letters?
A famous paper has three coauthors. I wrote a note regarding that paper and want to get some feedback from them. Shall I send the note and my questions in one email to the three authors together (with ...
- 4,294
10
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to intervene in a course that is failing to meet expectations?
All MA students in my graduate program (social sciences) are required to take a course titled 'Thought and Theory'. Ostensibly, the course should serve as an in-depth introduction for students to the ...
- 109
10
votes
4
answers
92k
views
The difference between literature review and background sections of a dissertation
I was assuming these two were the same. What is the difference between them? How does one relate to another? The context here is an MA (Master of Arts) level social science dissertation in UK ...
- 101
8
votes
6
answers
563
views
Should I take undergraduate CS classes if all I do is applied software dev and data science?
I am a PhD student in social science who got interested in programming via data analysis in R and various utility tools in Python, SQL, Java (for web scraping, data querying, etc.).
I am considering ...
- 1,456
8
votes
2
answers
855
views
How to handle ethics review (IRB) when moving between institutions
Is it convention for a researcher who changes institutions to reapply for ethical review (IRB) on ongoing projects at a new institution, or keep working with the IRB files at the institution where the ...
- 3,378
7
votes
4
answers
730
views
How should one proceed when they receive no job offers after a considerable amount of applications?
I'm getting way ahead of myself, but being nervous on the job market I asked an advisor what happens should a candidate receive zero job offers. To which the reply was, "That never happens."
I'm sure ...
user69940
7
votes
1
answer
58k
views
When referring to races, should 'black' and 'white' be capitalized? (MLA)
I was assigned to write about the relationship between poverty and crime, and in my research, race came up as a factor. I'm supposed to use the MLA format. Should 'black' and 'white' be capitalized ...
- 247
7
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How long should an academic CV be for someone applying to post-doc positions in Europe?
I am preparing my CV for applications to post-doc positions in the field of social sciences. I will apply to positions in the EU, mainly in German language countries.
I have updated my CV with my ...
- 1,256
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What day rate should I set for consulting work?
I am a final year social sciences PhD student in the UK. A professor reached out to me and asked if I am interested in a three-day consultant work for their project and if so, what my day rate is. I ...
- 797
7
votes
1
answer
554
views
Does translating an academic work in the humanities or social sciences improve your CV?
I've been asked to collaborate in an edited book that will collect important contributions to the field X, in the humanities/Social Sciences. The volume will be published in French, so I was asked to ...
- 562
7
votes
1
answer
400
views
Academic Job Mobility in the European Context
In the United States it is not uncommon to apply to academic jobs all over the country. Personally, I do not know a single person who limited his or her search to just one state (i.e. Massachusetts). ...
- 111
7
votes
1
answer
370
views
Resources for quantitative social science research workflow [closed]
I'm interested in best practices for research workflows for quantitative social science. The best book I have encountered on the subject is "The Workflow of Data Analysis Using Stata" by J. Scott Long ...
- 201
6
votes
2
answers
337
views
Is there a branch of sociology that deals with nutrition and active lifestyles?
(Please excuse my ignorance if this is an obvious question, but my Googling skills don't seem to be up to par today.)
I was just wondering if there is a branch of sociology that deals with health and ...
- 61
6
votes
2
answers
435
views
How to organize a work-in-progress workshop for PhD students in the field of law and related social sciences?
I would like to organize a work-in-progress workshop for PhD students at my university. How can I make sure that the participants really profit from the workshop and receive valuable feedback?
- 61
5
votes
1
answer
466
views
Is it possible to preregister non-experiment studies?
I am a PhD student in social science and a professor and I are planning to run a survey in South Asia. It is not an experiment. However, we were thinking of pre-registering in case it would give us ...
- 159
5
votes
1
answer
795
views
Should a full manuscript be available for a book proposal?
I've been given some conflicting advice about preparing book proposals and manuscripts for academic presses. I'm aware that writing books is a lengthy process etc; however, I've also been told by a ...
- 921
5
votes
1
answer
93
views
Changing demographics data that was responded incorrectly in a survey to be published
We have a research paper that we want to get published in a journal. The paper is some simple statistical analysis of a survey we made. One of the questions in the demographics section is "What ...
- 611
5
votes
1
answer
584
views
Is it okay to work on a research project with a professor at a different university, in addition to main PhD project?
In the context of a social sciences PhD in the UK, I want to know (i) whether it is permissible to work on another research project; and (ii) whether there are any general practices, if I choose to ...
- 51
5
votes
1
answer
639
views
What is the strategy to identify natural experiment as a PhD student?
As social scientists become more concerned with causal inference, a good thesis these days needs some sort of quasi-experimental strategy. For example, an economist wants to know the effect of ...
- 1,456
5
votes
1
answer
242
views
What is the meaning of the term: "scholarly or critical paper"?
I have come across this term at many places in graduate admissions, and I do not understand it.
For example, here, they want a writing sample that is "a recent scholarly or critical paper, 15 to ...
- 611
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How can I apply a Computer Science degree towards a career in a research-related position of another field?
I'm not interested in becoming an academic. Rather, I'm interested in opportunities for a Computer Science (or related) major to work in research, either in industry, but also particularly in ...
- 141
4
votes
4
answers
476
views
Book of Abstracts?
So the conference that I am going to present a paper is going to publish a book of abstracts. Is this considered the proceedings of the conference? Or can I still grab my paper and send to a peer ...
- 41
4
votes
1
answer
721
views
Is it worth submitting papers to "graduate" peer-reviewed journals?
I am a first year PhD student in the social sciences at a Canadian institution, and I'm wondering whether it's worth submitting a paper to a "graduate" peer-reviewed journal. This would be my first ...
- 562
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Hypotheses that cannot be sufficiently tested
My understanding is that a hypothesis is not scientific unless there is a way to sufficiently test it.
Is it ever acceptable to present a hypothesis that cannot be sufficiently tested?
I can ...
- 141
4
votes
1
answer
280
views
Method and content in selecting a social science dissertation project
General question: When working in an area of social science where method matters just as much as content (i.e., theory, question), how does one choose which should be the starting point for a ...
- 3,378
4
votes
1
answer
210
views
How to get SCI impact factor from other than Journal site
I could see the IF of journal I am looking for in their site. My problem is Thomsor Reuters report lists the journal as indexed in both SCI and SSCI, but kournal home page says its indexed in SSCI ...
- 250
4
votes
0
answers
220
views
How do academics in the Social Sciences use "mental maps" and why should college-bound students study them? [closed]
I teach secondary school Social Studies. As you may know, public school teachers must teach to state standards. My state's standards for Social Studies includes many references to the importance and ...
- 12.4k
3
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Translation of Dr. rer. nat. outside of Germany
Psychology at universities in Germany is either in the natural sciences or in philosophy, depending on the university. This affects the kind of academic title you get. People doing their doctoral ...
- 4,037
3
votes
3
answers
845
views
Resubmitting a Manuscript to the Same Journal after Being Plainly Rejected
I am a Ph.D. student in the field of social science --sports marketing and public relations. Lately, I have submitted a manuscript to a reputable journal X in my field, my choice was hinged on two ...
- 133
3
votes
2
answers
152
views
In the social sciences, does it make sense to embark on a longer-term project but write a dissertation on one part of it?
I realize this is field- and topic-specific but I'm hoping some of this is generalizable.
I'm in the social science side of information science and narrowing down dissertation topics. Some of what I'...
- 986
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How can I improve my chances of receiving PhD funding (UK, Anthropology)?
I have been accepted to UCL and Oxford for a PhD in anthropology, however I have not been offered funding for either position. I am considering reapplying next year and I would like to know how I can ...
- 31
3
votes
3
answers
421
views
What should I do if I am asked to review a paper that should have been reviewed by an ethics committee, but was not?
What should I do if I am asked to review a paper that should have been reviewed by an ethics committee, but was not? Assuming the paper is missing the statement that it was reviewed, and the paper ...
- 98.3k
3
votes
1
answer
90
views
Advice on choosing a pre-print server (Social Sciences)
I have submitted an article to a journal for peer review. The journal allows the manuscript to be submitted to a non-commercial pre-print server at any time. I am new to publishing, and am wondering ...
- 67
3
votes
1
answer
156
views
How to assess prominence in non-STEM research
I'm interested in how I could assess prominence of specific scholars outside the STEM (science, tech, engineering, math) fields. As a scholar in the humanities or social sciences, how do you gauge the ...
- 159
3
votes
1
answer
196
views
Publishing in a SSCI indexed journal for Computer Science Researcher
I am working in an interdisciplinary area and most of my area specific journals are available in journal which are indexed by SSCI instead of SCI. But some people told that for computer science ...
- 250
3
votes
1
answer
107
views
Consulting gigs for quantitative sociologist [closed]
I am a university professor (quantitative sociology) and I am interested in finding consulting gigs, especially for the summer since I'm on 9-month, but possibly year round if just for a few hours/...
- 31
3
votes
1
answer
181
views
What are cautions to take with second hand data in an interview?
When analyzing second hand information in a data set (participant is recounting someone else's experience), if you cannot access that person to confirm their experience, what are some cautions to take ...
- 1,020
3
votes
0
answers
157
views
Advice for Returning to Academia - CS/SOC
Looking for career-strategy advice here. I'm a recent Sociology PhD (Computational Network Social Science), who took a 6 year leave during my PhD to work as a Software Engineer with a handful of ...
- 41
3
votes
0
answers
96
views
What guarantee the validity and relevance of "grand" social sciences' theories? [closed]
During my undergraduate years, I took a variety of courses in social sciences, and was exposed to writings by famous thinkers like Freud, Habermas, Foucault, Claude Lévi-Strauss, as well as lesser-...
- 139
2
votes
3
answers
464
views
Advice for strengthening PhD applications
I'm a recent social sciences master's graduate based in the UK, and I'm interested in making PhD applications next year. I would like to take the year I have available to gain some kind of experience, ...
- 67