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Research in social sciences has grown significantly in recent years in the field of oncology with a major focus on the development of psychology research which is the only social sciences discipline that gathers clinical interventions (from clinical psychologists) and research. One of its purposes is to assess and figure out the magnitude of the physical and psychological consequences of a cancer diagnosis on the quality of life of patients in order to provide them relevant care and interventions as part of the overall management of patients in supportive care. Two psychooncology studies will be introduced in this paper to highlight how research in psychology and clinical psychology can complement each other and show the contribution of research in social sciences in supportive care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using professional knowledge in building scientific knowledge; a comparative analysis of several case studies. This paper results from cross-disciplinary reflection by social and biotechnical researchers engaged in surveys with experts from the agriculture and nature spheres: farmers: technical advisors, managers of nature conservation programmes and biologists. The purpose was to analyse the way professional knowledge is used by researchers to enrich their body of scientific knowledge. How professional knowledge is used depends in part on each scientific discipline, but far more on the final research aims. We first identified three ideotypes based on whether professional knowledge is used (1) in a comprehensive way to understand its origins, (2) to build new biological knowledge complementary to the one produced on an experimental basis, or (3) to build operational knowledge to help professionals manage their problems. A cross-analysis of the survey methods used then led to discussing the nature of the scientific knowledge developed from professional knowledge and the innovative potential of such surveys. Finally the heuristic potential of surveys is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]