Usable social science [[electronic resource] /] / Neil J. Smelser and John S. Reed

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910785979203321
• Autore: Smelser Neil J
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Berkeley, : University of California Press, 2012
• ISBN: 1-283-64633-1; 0-520-95414-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (435 p.)
• Altri autori (Persone): ReedJohn S <1939-> (John Shepard)
• Disciplina: 300.72
• Soggetti: Social sciences - Research
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: 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.
• Sommario/riassunto: 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.