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Voluntary detection of emerging disease outbreaks is considered essential for limiting their potential impacts on livestock industries. However, many of the strategies employed by animal health authorities to capture data on potential emerging disease threats rely on farmers and veterinarians identifying situations of concern and then voluntarily taking appropriate actions to notify animal health authorities. To improve the performance of these systems, it is important to understand the range of socio-cultural factors influencing the willingness of individuals to engage with disease reporting such as trust in government, perceived economic impacts, social stigma, and perceptions of 'good farming'. The objectives of this systematic review were to assess how different social research methodologies have been employed to understand the role these socio-cultural dimensions play in voluntary disease reporting and to discuss limitations to address in future research. The review uncovered 39 relevant publications that employed a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies including surveys, interviews, focus groups, scenarios, observations, mixed-methods, interventions, and secondary data analysis. While these studies provided valuable insights, one significant challenge remains eliciting accurate statements of behaviour and intentions rather than those that reflect desirable social norms. There is scope to develop methodological innovations to study the decision to report animal disease to help overcome the gap between what people say they do and their observable behaviour. A notable absence is studies exploring specific interventions designed to encourage disease reporting. Greater clarity in specifying the disease contexts, behavioural mechanisms and outcomes, and the relationships between them would provide a more theoretically informed and policy relevant understanding of how disease reporting works, for which farmers, and in which disease contexts. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PurposeThe psychic distance often hinders the interaction between cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) and consumers. This paper aims to discuss the issues of psychic distance of consumers in the CBEC. In addition, it attempts to explain the factors that affect psychic distance from three dimensions of culture, economy and politics and the two different shopping behaviors caused by psychic distance.Design/methodology/approachThis research incorporates both theoretical and empirical studies. In this study, 249 validated questionnaires were selected from 300 Chinese CBEC consumers by snowball sampling, and the relationship between variables was tested using structural equation model (SEM). This was done through online research, and it is ensured that the data obtained are first-hand information.FindingsThe paper suggests the theoretical model operationalizing CBEC psychic distance and the empirical analysis results show that all the six influencing factors have a positive impact on the psychic distance of consumers. Logistics infrastructure barriers in the economic dimension are confirmed as the major influencing factor, and the significance of the political dimension is relatively small. Based on consumers' uncertainty of various kinds of information, psychic distance subconsciously causes consumers to deviate in the cross-shopping process.Originality/valueCurrently, research on e-commerce mainly focuses on saving trade costs and improving consumer welfare, while research on the internal impact of CBEC on consumers is insufficient. Psychic distance is a new concept in the field of cultural and social research. The originality of this paper is that the concept of psychic distance has been extended from overseas invested enterprises to research with CBEC consumers as the selected object. The obstacles of CBEC have been widely studied, but few are related to the closeness of consumers, or the inner feelings of consumers are ignored. In the context of CBEC, this paper lists the actual external factors and potential threats that may affect consumers' consumption concerns of CBEC from three dimensions. The real emotions of consumers in the face of these difficulties indirectly affect the purchase satisfaction and reduce the purchase desire. Consumer psychic distance is a real phenomenon in cross-border shopping, and it is almost inevitable for these difficulties. On the premise of inevitability, high psychic distance will slow down cross-border shopping in the eyes of consumers.

In this paper, we introduce a project on singles’ intimate practices conducted during COVID times as a case study of quantitative social research with a particular focus on qualitative reflections. We thematize the topic of self-reflexivity, which is considered an essential category in qualitative research but largely neglected in quantitative research. We discuss three methodological issues through the lens of self-reflection: ‘translation issues’;the problems of asking ‘sensitive’ and the ‘right’ questions;and the problematics of ‘the present’ in particularly fluid times. We show that this approach promotes contextualization of the measurement tool, the data and the findings and can be a way for doing quantitative research on intimacy outside the ‘standard’ nuclear family in pandemic times. Overall, this paper underscores the ways that scholars as individuals and teams are inextricable from our research site, as we navigate disruption even while seeking to understand its implications on our informants. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Social Research Methodology is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The quality of the housing space is now becoming more important in general social impairment. This is accompanied by an intensive development of studies on the quality of life of residents in the field of spatial development and public perception of the place of residence. The valorisation of the housing space occupies a special position in the area of research on housing. The article concerns the application of the Municipal Audit method for the valorisation of public housing space. The aim of the study is to propose a modification of that method in order to better adapt this method to the assessment of residential structures. The advantage of the audit is its simplicity in the procedural and analytical layer (uncomplicated scoring, the possibility of calculating average values, results visualized spatially on maps), which makes it possible to be widely used, especially by local governments, also in the context of low costs of carrying out such research. In the initial parts of the work brought closer to issues of terminology and the theoretical basis of the valorization in general by referring to its criteria and types. Issues of methodological structure and stages of audit development on foreign and Polish development were also submitted. Further part of the work was devoted to the proposed modifications of the Municipal Audit as the methods of valorisation of public housing space, in particular housing estate. The most significant changes have been made within the directory variable and the scale of assessments. The extension of the list of features subjected to assessment has been dictated by their unambiguous belonging to the overriding category of public housing space and the scale of settlement units, which allows thorough valorization tests due to the possibility of distinguishing relatively small urban units in which analyzes are carried out. It was recognized that the legitimacy of the introduction of a wider scale of assessment is also justified in the possibility of formulating precise schedules of intervention and recovery plans implemented under the settlement urban policy. The essential part of these modifications was formulated on the basis of an valorisation and a questionnaire examination carried out on the Wyzwolenia Estate in Piotrków Trybunalski using the present method. The conducted research also allowed to indicate the important role of social research as a supplement to the results of the audit prepared for the urban subsystem. It is also a form of taking into account social participation in the development of guidelines for the management of housing space. It should also be noted that the study focuses on the study of public housing space, however, depending on the assumed goals, the valorization may be supplemented with the assessment of private housing space as an equivalent component of the general category of the studied space. Jakość przestrzeni mieszkaniowej nabiera współcześnie coraz większego znaczenia w powszechnym odczuciu społecznym. Towarzyszy temu intensywny rozwój badań nad jakością życia mieszkańców w zakresie zagospodarowania przestrzennego oraz społecznego postrzegania miejsca zamieszkania. Artykuł poświęcony został zastosowaniu metody audytu miejskiego do waloryzacji publicznej przestrzeni mieszkaniowej. Celem opracowania jest stworzenie wykazu modyfikacji ukierunkowujących oraz silniej dostosowujących wspomnianą metodę do badania struktur osiedlowych. Zasadnicza część zaproponowanych zmian opracowana została na podstawie badania waloryzacyjnego oraz ankietowego wykonanego na osiedlu Wyzwolenia w Piotrkowie Trybunalskim przy wykorzystaniu metody audytu miejskiego. Przeprowadzone analizy pozwoliły sformułować modyfikacje w obrębie skali ocen oraz katalogu cech poddawanych ocenie w ramach realizacji audytu. Uznano, iż charakter tych zmian odpowiada skali większości osiedli mieszkaniowych oraz pozwoli na precyzyjniejsze planowanie działań interwencyjnych w ramach polityki miejskiej. Przeprowadzone badania pozwoliły również wskazać na istotną rolę badania społecznego jako uzupełniania dla wyników audytu sporządzonego dla podsystemu urbanistycznego. Jest ono zarazem formą uwzględnienia partycypacji społecznej w kształtowaniu wytycznych do gospodarowania przestrzenią mieszkaniową. Należy też zaznaczyć, iż w opracowaniu skupiono się na badaniu publicznej przestrzeni mieszkaniowej, jednak w zależności od założonych celów waloryzacja może zostać uzupełniona o ocenę prywatnej przestrzeni mieszkaniowej jako równoważnej składowej ogólnej kategorii badanej przestrzeni.

AIM To examine the interconnection between the rise of modern industrial agriculture, the Anthropocene epoch, and impacts on human health. To examine the impact of the emerging field of regenerative agriculture in addressing the mounting negative planetary and human health challenges. METHODS Structured interviews in social research for a PhD with over 80 regenerative farmers and industrial farmers in the field; and subsequent interviews with 40 other farmers. Literature search into the rise of modern human and animal diseases, the Anthropocene, and cognitive and paradigm change. RESULTS As Earth slips further into the human-caused Anthropocene epoch due to The Great Acceleration post-1950, there is a directly connected exponential rise in modern human diseases. Despite the emergence of Western agriculture and modern industrial society, our bodies are still adapted to the environment of our Palaeolithic past. Industrial agriculture and harmful agricultural practices are stripping essential nutrients from our foods while also lacing them with novel chemicals we are not adapted for. Consequently, the functioning of our gut microbiome has become destabilised. Evidence continues to mount that this is a key reason behind the exponential rise of many modern diseases. CONCLUSION To address what constitute evolutionary mismatch diseases due to cultural Dysevolution, a return to healthy regenerative agriculture, with foods rich in diverse nutrients and free of novel chemicals, provides a clear pathway to begin healing both the planetary systems and humans.

In this paper, with a view to the high levels of absence due to sickness and presenteeism, it is explored how management and team leadership can be integrated on a more sustained basis in health prevention. Private sector enterprises on one hand, and organisations in the public sector, on the other, pursue and prioritise in this aspect different approaches, which are traceable to their different traditions. Specifically in Germany in the public sector, the principle of due care has had a long tradition that grows out of social responsibility, which contrasts with the perspective of commercial enterprises that emphasises the economic aspect. The study undertakes to determine the particular strengths of each of the sectors and to demonstrate their different approaches. The examination refers in its methodology to qualitative social research. In the systemically structured survey design, Seventy six experts were approached with questions concerning different aspects such as corporate culture, business processes, organisational integration, qualification, risk assessments, and concrete actions in health prevention. Complementary to the expert survey, documents such as corporate guidelines and policies, management tools, results from risk assessments and employee surveys or quality offensives were referred to. This analysis supplied insights on how the declared health prevention policies in an organisation can be effectively implemented at the strategic and operational level in corporate culture and leadership culture with a long-term continuity, and which organisational prerequisites in the corporate hierarchy and corporate decision making and business processes may reinforce and sustain successful implementation of health prevention. Of particular importance in the process is operative management. For the sake of effective team involvement in own and team-specific health prevention, an eight-stage team feedback was devised, which includes elements of self-reflection and perception by others in an iteratively structured process.

In the wake of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), research ethics governance does not just affect the ethical dimensions of social research but also the range of scientific decisions available to researchers. Because of the sensitive status of personal data and the aversion to even minimal risk by what we call “moral bureaucracies”, we are concerned that social network researchers will increasingly limit their research decisions to “safe” options, like reusing anonymized datasets, choosing target populations based on convenience rather than theoretical relevance, and routinely subcontracting fieldwork to professional data collection companies, among others. We also suggest that scientific associations and social scientists in general need to adopt a proactive role in preserving both scientific freedom and genuine ethics advice within this new regulatory framework.

Neste artigo são analisadas as ações implementadas para o ensino remoto na Universidade de Brasília durante a pandemia da Covid-19. Questiona-se de que maneira as políticas para a permanência e a formação com qualidade foram articuladas à utilização de novas tecnologias digitais no ensino remoto para a garantia do direito à educação superior diante das desigualdades sociais acentuadas na pandemia da Covid-19. A análise foi realizada em três etapas: identificação de prioridades, ações implementadas e avaliação dos resultados, utilizando dados da pesquisa social com a comunidade universitária e relatórios de gestão. Nos resultados, observa-se a importância da democratização do acesso às novas tecnologias digitais para o ensino de graduação, que ganhou nova dimensão com a pandemia.

Introduction. The implementation of work-based learning in the process of joint vocational instruction by enterprises and VET (vocational education and training) institutions is the most important focus of the educational policy in developed countries. In the Russian Federation, over the past decade, such kind of partnership has been developing both through spontaneous self-organisation and purposefully in the form of several government projects. VET education policy was focused mainly on implementing the World Skills championship movement in the domestic field. As a result, no fundamental changes in institutional and economic structure were implemented to make apprenticeship training compelling for enterprises. Nevertheless, no full-fledged accumulation of information on the dynamics of the development of various forms of work-based learning was carried out to prevent the decent assessment of the current state of apprenticeship training in the Russian Federation and to conduct a comparative international analysis.The present article aimsto determine the current status of interaction between enterprises and VET institutions, fulfil the lack of quantitative information on the topic, and test the hypothesis that under the current institutional conditions the interaction frequency and intensity between enterprises and VET institutions in the Russian Federation lag behind similar international indicators.Methodology and research methods. In the course of the research, the methods of socio-historical analysis, the instruments of theoretical and methodological analysis, hypothesis building, assessment and generalisation methods were applied. The empirical part of the present research was formed by the methods of secondary analysis of the Russian and foreign studies on the development of the VET and its interaction with the labour market. In addition, the method of comparative and retrospective analysis of statistical data from Russian and international studies was employed. Finally, the method of questionnaire survey and the method of content analysis of websites of educational institutions and enterprises were used. The study involved 603 VET institutions from 29 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.Results and scientific novelty. One of the most significant research findings is a systemic description of the current status of the partnership between VET institutions and enterprises in the Russian Federation. Main directions and forms of interaction between VET institutions and enterprises in Russia at the end of the second decade of the XXI century were outlined (curricula development, internship for students, and participation in education results assessment). The prospects for the development of partnership between VET institutions and enterprises and the influencing factors (economic and institutional) were determined. The particular Russian characteristics of the interaction between the VET system and the labour market were identified and described as an inharmonious partnership with the employer’s active articulation of a request for a high-quality human resource without proportionate participation in its instruction. The quantitative assessment of current interaction between enterprises and VET institutions in Russia allowed comparative analysis with the indicators of foreign countries to be conducted. In our country, the authors revealed a lower level of enterprises investments (especially financial ones) in the students’ human capital development.Practical significance. The sociological toolkit and schemes of dynamic and comparative analysis developed in the course of the research can be used in further research on the education system and on the related issues. The research findings can be applied while planning and implementing educational policy measures.

There are calls to consider the views of the diverse public in bushfire policy, planning, and management, yet those who do not typically participate in social research and/or government community engagement activities are generally under-represented. A mixed method research design was used, including a survey, intercept and in-depth interviews to study a diversity of views. Concepts of social values, knowledge and practices were drawn on first to examine participants’ relationship to bushfire and second to discuss bushfire engagement. We identified and analyzed three relationships to bushfire: Irrelevant to me; Terror at my door; A rural concern. Participants’ values were more focused on people, pets, and special things than in earlier research and they generally perceived bushfire as solely a domain for experts. There is an opportunity to find ways to resonate with their values and relationships to bushfire, and to shape bushfire research and practice.

Aim To explore and synthesize the literature on factors related to mammography screening adherence among women in Brazil. Design A scoping review. Methods We searched 11 databases for studies published between 2006–January 2020. All identified articles were screened, and data were extracted from eligible studies. We used the UK Government Social Research Service weight of evidence appraisal tool to appraise the quality of the included study. Results From a total of 1,384 identified articles, 22 were retained. All included studies used quantitative, non‐experimental methods and all but two studies used cross‐sectional data. Quality of evidence varied across studies. We identified 41 factors that were investigated across the set of studies. Demographic and socio‐economic factors were the most commonly investigated, with older age, urban residence, living in the southeast of Brazil, higher level of education, higher income and private health insurance most consistently associated with mammography adherence.

Sociology is a science concerned with both the interpretive understanding of social action and the corresponding causal explanation, process, and result. A causal explanation should be the foundation of prediction. For many years, due to data and computing power constraints, quantitative research in social science has primarily focused on statistical tests to analyze correlations and causality, leaving predictions largely ignored. By sorting out the historical context of "social prediction," this article redefines this concept by introducing why and how machine learning can help prediction in a scientific way. Furthermore, this article summarizes the academic value and governance value of social prediction and suggests that it is a potential breakthrough in the contemporary social research paradigm. We believe that through machine learning, we can witness the advent of an era of a paradigm shift from correlation and causality to social prediction. This shift will provide a rare opportunity for sociology in China to become the international frontier of computational social sciences and accelerate the construction of philosophy and social science with Chinese characteristics.

The use of gender in print media is poorly understood both at the level of the post-Soviet (postcolonial in nature) journalism studies and in the general context of social research. A similar situation is observed with regard to the study of the gender sphere of concepts, and at the postmodern stage of development of periodicals. Postmodern convergence of methodology and research objects of the humanities will make it necessary to study social and mass media phenomena from the point of view of linguistics, sociology and journalism. This makes it relevant to study media issues of gender through links with language (cognitive linguistics). The purpose of the work is to clarify the gender sphere of concepts in the study of Ukrainian periodicals for women and men. The article implements a combination of concrete-historical, structural-typological, system-functional methods. Descriptive and comparative methods, typology, modeling methods are used at different stages of work. The study used the method of content analysis to study the gender content of modern gender-labeled magazines. The article proves that the gender sphere of concepts is based on the basic gender macroconcepts “woman” and “man”. They are used in the periodicals under study in various proportions, depending on what roles are played by a woman or a man in society. It is from the balance, thoughtfulness, responsible selection of gender characteristics that are presented in gender-labeled periodicals that modern and future gender images are formed, the idea of ideal women and men, their needs, opportunities, responsibilities in the family, at work, and in general in all spheres of life.

Problematic alcohol and other drug use has a significant societal, personal, and financial burden. Nurses are key in responding to problematic alcohol and other drug use; however, research indicates many nurses hold negative attitudes towards people with substance and alcohol use disorders. Further, little content exists in most undergraduate degrees to address stigma held by new nurses. The objective of this scoping review, structured using Arksey and O'Malley's (International Journal of Social Research Methodology: Theory and Practice, 8 (1), 19-32, 2005) framework, is to examine studies that either explore or attempt to improve the knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate nurses caring for people who use alcohol and other drugs. Our initial search located 610 articles, and after screening, 14 articles were appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) and included in this review. Most of the papers appraised were small, localized studies using evaluation methods considered low quality, but showed promising results in addressing stigma and confidence in providing care to people who use alcohol and other drugs. This review indicates that a consistent direction for improving knowledge and attitudes among undergraduate nursing students working with people who use alcohol and other drugs is urgently needed. Further studies of interventions, tested with more rigorous evaluation methodologies, are required to extend existing work in this area.

Aims and objectives To map research-based psychological distress among the family members with patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Background Having a loved one in the ICU is a stressful experience, which may cause psychological distress for family members. Depression, anxiety and stress are the common forms of psychological distress associated with ICU patient's family members. Directly or indirectly, psychological distress may have behavioural or physiological impacts on the family members and ICU patient's recovery. Design The study was based on the five-stage methodological framework by Arksey and O'Malley (International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2005, 8, 19) and were guided by the PRISMA-ScR Checklist. Methods A comprehensive and systematic search was performed in five electronic databases, namely the Scopus, Web of Sciences, CINAHL® Complete @EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect and MEDLINE. Reference lists from the screened full-text articles were reviewed. Results From a total of 1252 literature screened, 22 studies published between 2010-2019 were included in the review. From those articles, four key themes were identified: (a) Prevalence of psychological distress; (b) Factors affecting family members; (c) Symptoms of psychological distress; and (d) Impact of psychological distress. Conclusions Family members with a critically ill patient in ICU show high levels of anxiety, depression and stress. They had moderate to major symptoms of psychological distress that negatively impacted both the patient and family members. Relevance to clinical practice The review contributed further insights on psychological distress among ICU patient's family members and proposed psychological interventions that could positively impact the family well-being and improve the patients' recovery.

Articles in this issue provide an overview of the initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health to advance an integrated science approach to basic behavioral and social research on resilie...

Transitional Safeguarding is emerging as a new concept in social work and social care, inviting us to reconsider the binary divides of existing adult and child safeguarding systems. These often fail to adequately meet the needs of young people, particularly those experiencing extra-familial risks and harm. Transitional Safeguarding acknowledges the ‘in-between’ position of young people in adolescence, relating both to their physical and psychosocial development but also to their rights to services, participation and wellbeing. As such, transitional safeguarding challenges conventional ideas about how we frame risk and vulnerability, requiring us to reconsider narrow conceptualisations of safeguarding systems and practice. From a psychosocial perspective, the splitting involved in creating binary, ‘either/or’ categories (such as who presents ‘a risk’ and who is ‘at risk’) may be a defensive response to overwhelming anxiety and complexity, a familiar characteristic of social work and social care practice. This conceptual paper is intended to help inform and underpin practice responses and is based on work from the first phase of a four year Economic and Social Research Council funded research project on how innovations in social care systems and practices can improve service experiences and outcomes for young people facing extra-familial risks and harm.

Purpose Substantial government investment has accelerated innovation activity in children’s social care in England over the past decade. Ethical concerns emerge when innovation seems to be propelled by a drive for efficiency and over-reliance on process output indicators, as well as, or even instead of, improving the lives of children, families and societies. No ethical framework exists at present to act as a check on such drivers. This paper reviews the literature with the aim of considering how best to address this gap. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on a review of innovation in children’s social care, conducted as part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project exploring innovation in services for young people exposed to extra-familial risk and harm. Findings This study proposes a new conception of “trustworthy innovation” for the sector that holds innovation in children’s social care to the standards and principles of the code of ethics for social work. This study offers an ethical framework, informed by the interdisciplinary school of organisational ethics, to operationalise this extended definition; the analytic framework guides policymakers and the practice sector to question at every stage of the innovation process whether a particular model is ethically appropriate, as well as practically feasible within a specific context. Implications for local decision-making and national policy are set out, alongside questions raised for future research. Originality/value This paper is the first to offer an ethical framework for innovation in children's social care. The conception of “trustworthy innovation” offers a guide to policymakers and the practice sector, which they can use to ethically test every stage of the innovation process and make decisions about whether a particular model is ethically appropriate, as well as practically feasible within a specific context.

In a recent book, Anthony Biglan describes how strong social research can be used to build a compassionate and more caring society that promotes the well-being of all. This article asserts that a strong educational system needs to be part of this transformation and that widespread use of Direct Instruction (DI) could be key in the process. Analysis of the underlying theory, development, and use of DI describes the way it is based on careful developmental research. It promotes effective and efficient learning while embodying respect for students and teachers. The results of a recent large meta-analysis of research on DI's effectiveness show it is more effective than other educational approaches, with effect sizes that surpass the effect associated with the difference in achievement of students from lower income and other homes. Alternative approaches to educational change are reviewed and it is suggested that DI is a more effective and efficient method of improving student success. Powerful actors within the educational establishment have expressed opposition to DI and have worked to hide evidence of its effectiveness. This paper identifies other social actors who could work together to counter the resistance to DI and build an educational system that promotes the well-being of all.

PurposeIn-depth knowledge about specific national approaches to using digital evidence in investigations is scarce. A clearer insight into the organisational barriers and professional challenges experienced, alongside a more detailed picture of how digital evidence can help police investigations are required to empirically substantiate claims about how digital technologies are changing the face of criminal investigations. The paper aims to focus on the introduction of digital media investigators to support investigating officers with the collection and interpretation of digital evidence.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on ethnographic and interview data collected as part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project on the application of digital forensics expertise in policing in England and Wales, this paper examines the changing face of investigations in relation to escalating digital demand.FindingsThe analysis presents the national and regional organisational parameters of deploying digital expertise in criminal investigation and examines some of the challenges of being a digital media investigator (DMI). Through testimonies from DMIs, digital forensic practitioners, investigating and senior officers and forensic managers, the analysis explores the organisational tensions in the collection, processing, interpretation and use of information from digital devices for evidential purposes.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper offers an empirical basis for the comparative study of how the DMI role has been implemented by law enforcement agencies and its fit within broader institutional considerations and processes.Practical implicationsThe development of the DMI role has raised questions about the supply of digital expertise, especially to volume crime investigations, and tensions around occupational divisions between scientific and operational units.Social implicationsThe findings show that while the introduction of the DMI role was much needed, the development of this valuable provision within each force and the resources available require sustained and coordinated support to protect these professionals and retain their skills.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the growing sociological and criminological literature with an ethnographically based perspective into the organisational and occupational tensions in the identification and processing of digital evidence in England and Wales.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the challenges posed for the ongoing implementation of multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) for police forces in England and Wales during the 2020 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This is rapid response research involving qualitative methods primarily online semi-structured interviewing with a sample of police domestic abuse leads in England and Wales. Findings The findings point to increased use of virtual platforms particularly for MARACs and that this has beneficial consequences both for the police and in their view also for victim-survivors. Research limitations/implications The findings reported here are from policing domestic abuse leads. More work needs to be done to explore the value of engaging in virtual MARACs for all the agencies concerned but also whether MARACs continue to be the best way to ensure the victim-survivor is kept in view. Practical implications The use of virtual platforms carries a range of practice implications for the future of MARACs for the foreseeable future. These range from ensuring attendance of the appropriate agencies to the range and frequency of meetings, to infrastructural support for all agencies to engage. Originality/value This is an original study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council examining police and court responses to domestic abuse during the covid-19 pandemic.

Once termed as a basket case, Bangladesh is now a development wonder. Recently, it has entered the cluster of lower-middle-income countries and is predicted to join the cohort of developed ones by 2041. However, the challenge that lies ahead is to sustain the current economic growth with the emerging threat of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). There is no doubt that the country have the upper hand in order to counter these emerging critical scenario with its huge number of youths. Nonetheless, it will be pertinent to turn these youth force into productive human capital through providing both general and technical education in order to yield higher returns. On this backdrop, this study attempts to know whether our existing tertiary education system is rendering quality education to convert our youth force into effective human resources. Using qualitative tools of social research and drawing information from various secondary sources, the study argues that the existing tertiary education system is failing to produce skilled human resources which is again resulting in lower returns to the economy. Undoubtedly there has been quantitative progress in tertiary level education; nevertheless, the worrying factor has been regarding its quality. The crisis has not happened owing to the absence of adequate policy framework rather the translation of those into reality. This study offers a modest suggestion to take immediate steps by the government of Bangladesh to implement the recommendations as stated in the key policy instruments related to education and skill development along with the significant increase in the budgetary allocation for the tertiary education sector. In addition, efforts has to be put for transforming the existing University Grants Commission (UGC) into Higher Education Commission (HEC). Moreover, activation of the accreditation council is now a crying need for further improving the quality of education at the tertiary level.

Las juegotecas integrales: espacio de encuentro educativo y recreativo entre padres e hijos, constituye una propuesta educativa que surge de un proyecto de extensión solidaria, implementado con la comunidad de la escuela de iniciación deportiva del Politécnico Colombiano Jaime Isaza Cadavid. Se desarrolló una investigación social, con enfoque cualitativo de nivel descriptivo. Con esta propuesta se espera que se propicien espacios educativos y recreativos entre padres e hijos para encontrarse y jugar, posibilitar el protagonismo del niño y que sus padres reconozcan la importancia de compartir espacios de juego con sus hijos. La juegoteca representa un escenario socio cultural y educativo donde la vivencia del juego le da sentido a las relaciones interpersonales, las cuales se experimentan desde, lo hecho, lo sentido y lo expresado. Tanto el niño como el adulto podrán encontrar formas de expresar sus sentimientos y emociones, favoreciendo su crecimiento personal y fortaleciendo sus vínculos afectivos.

Background The need for and usage of electronic patient records within hospitals has steadily increased over the last decade for economic reasons as well as the proceeding digitalization. While there are numerous benefits from this system, the potential risks of using electronic patient records for hospitals, patients and healthcare professionals must also be discussed. There is a lack in research, particularly regarding effects on healthcare professionals and their daily work in health services. The study eCoCo aims to gain insight into changes in interprofessional collaboration and clinical workflows resulting from introducing electronic patient records. Methods eCoCo is a multi-center case study integrating mixed methods from qualitative and quantitative social research. The case studies include three hospitals that undergo the process of introducing electronic patient records. Data are collected before and after the introduction of electronic patient records using participant observation, interviews, focus groups, time measurement, patient and employee questionnaires and a questionnaire to measure the level of digitalization. Furthermore, documents (patient records) as well as structural and administrative data are gathered. To analyze the interprofessional collaboration qualitative network analyses, reconstructive-hermeneutic analyses and document analyses are conducted. The workflow analyses, patient and employee assessment analyses and classification within the clinical adoption meta-model are conducted to provide insights into clinical workflows. Discussion This study will be the first to investigate the effects of introducing electronic patient records on interprofessional collaboration and clinical workflows from the perspective of healthcare professionals. Thereby, it will consider patients’ safety, legal and ethical concerns and quality of care. The results will help to understand the organization and thereby improve the performance of health services working with electronic patient records. Trial registration The study was registered at the German clinical trials register (DRKS00023343, Pre-Results) on November 17, 2020.

Digitalization is one of the strategic directions taken in the reform of social services and a prerequisite for improving their quality and accessibility for various target groups in modern society. In recent years, the problems of digitalization occupy a significant place in social research; however, insufficient attention has been paid to the consideration of the digitalization process from the point of view of the social services clients themselves. The purpose of this article is to partially fill this gap. The article presents the results of a study aimed at developing the concept of the 'digital capital' of current and potential customers of social services, which comprised an analysis of their digital literacy, Internet use as well as the technical capabilities and willingness of Russian citizens to receive online social services. Our analysis of the digital capital of consumers of social services draws on data of the Federal Statistics Service and Unified Social Security Information System as well as on the results of a survey on social services conducted among residents of St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg in 2019. The results of the study suggest the existence of various barriers to the development of the digitalization of social services provision. In addition to infrastructural problems, the existence/absence of digital communication tools and ICT competencies among citizens, primarily socially vulnerable sectors of the population, it is necessary to highlight the socio-psychological barriers: a lack of understanding and distrust among certain social groups – primarily among older age groups – towards digital technologies, i. e. insufficient digital capital. Overcoming the identified barriers can be achieved by investing in the digital capital of consumers of social services.

Accounting for children with cancer is characterized by low reliability of statistics. In addition, the available data do not have significant scientific value., Since they represent only an approximate number of patients identified annually and some general information (incidence, prevalence, etc.). Moreover, subsequent analysis of the accumulated information is of particular importance. An electronic database of children with cancer has been developed that meets these requirements and has been introduced into the clinical practice of pilot medical organizations.Purpose of the study. Our aim was to study the opinions of pediatric oncologists on the issues of registration of children with oncological diseases.Materials and methods. In order to assess the results of the implementation of the electronic database, a "Questionnaire for a survey of a pediatric oncologist to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of an electronic database" was developed, which contained 15 questions. For objectivity, the questionnaires were filled in anonymously by the respondents.Results. The medico- social study involved 187 pediatric oncologists. The majority of respondents (71.3 ± 3.3%) noted that currently there is no register of children with cancer in the Russian Federation, 15.4 ± 2.6% noted the regional register, 9.1 ± 2.1% – independent in individual medical organizations, 1.7 ± 0.9% is a single register for the Russian Federation and 2.5 ± 1.1% are not aware of this. Among respondents, 81.9 ± 2.8% noted that the electronic database is an effective tool for recording children with cancer, while as an advantage, 15.1 ± 2.6% noted an increase in the reliability of statistical data, 9.2 ± 2.1% – reduction of time for searching patient information, 4.4 ± 1.5% – optimization of working time, 71.3 ± 3.3% – a combination of the above options.Conclusion. A medical and social study showed the feasibility of introducing an electronic database of children with cancer into the clinical practice of pediatric oncologists.

This Special Issue, devoted to micro-credentials and qualifications for future work and learning in a disrupted world, is a welcome and critically timed contribution to educational theorising and practice internationally. COVID-19 has accelerated Industry 4.0’s pervasive labour market disruption. Digitisation’s efficiencies have been rapidly embraced and broadly up-scaled as a matter of necessity. Many industries and professions have fast tracked digitalisation to transform pre-pandemic business models for current and future sustainability. We have seen all education sectors – Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12), vocational education and training/ further education (VET/FE) and higher education (HE) – digitise and digitalise to varying degrees in their rapid move to emergency remote teaching (Hodges et al., 2020). Robust evaluation will be needed to assess the efficacy of that pedagogical triaging – our well-intentioned ‘panic-gogy’ (Kamenetz, 2020) – to inform the quality and fitness-for-future-purpose of that online pivot. In the meantime, HE’s students and graduates emerge from 2020 wanting to support and apply their studies in a challenging job market that was already weakening pre-pandemic and has now worsened (for example in the Australian context, Social Research Centre, 2020), especially for young people. If that was not enough, significant and underlying issues of climate change, reconciliation with First Nations, demographic change and globalisation continue to have implications for equal and equitable participation in the full range of life opportunities, including in meaningful paid work. In brief, the context for this Special Issue is an international grand challenge writ very large.

The objective of this research is to collect culturally timely information to develop research protocols in the university context for the indigenous population. Theoretically, it starts from the assertion that in social disciplines informed consent is essential to carry out ethical scientific activity; and therefore, institutional mechanisms must be developed to safeguard this informed consent. As a strategy of approaching the community, a training course for entrepreneurship was given, where eight surveys were carried out. In field work, there is an enthusiasm of the population for the development of social scientific activities in indigenous communities; especially if community members are involved in all phases of the investigation. From the above, it is concluded that an institutional mechanism for the academy to act ethically with the indigenous population is that the members of the community participate in all phases of the investigation.

Received 01.09.2020. In the early 21st century, many European countries saw an increased influence of political parties relying on localized communities. Many new regional parties (RPs) emerged, which put the scientific community in need of understanding the reasons behind their strengthening positions in Europe. The present research provides a critical review of the RPs’ definitions, examines their origins, place in the political spectrum, factors of electoral success and geographical distribution of their electorate. The study is based on the analysis of the parliamentary and regional elections results in 43 European countries in 2000–2019. A map of the RP support rate by region has been designed, showing areas of the strongest public support. Its correlation with ethnic and cultural composition, political structure, and uneven regional development of the countries of Western and Eastern Europe has been analyzed. Today, in parliamentary and regional elections, RPs receive more than 5% of votes in the area of around 600 sq. kms, or 40% of the European territory (overseas territories excluded). Particular attention is paid to party strategies in national and regional elections. Modern RPs diversify their programs going far beyond the interests of a particular sociocultural group. In parliamentary elections, they often make alliances with national parties. In turn, national parties sometimes speak in regional elections “under the local brand”. The satisfaction of the RPs’ demands to provide the regions with greater autonomy does not have a significant impact on their strategies, which request increasingly wider powers. Despite the fact that individual regional parties even get seats in national parliaments, they have practically no influence on the state policy shaping. Their rise is associated not with electoral results, but with trends in the European political process. One can speak not about the success of particular parties, but about the advancement of the idea of regionalism. Acknowledgements. The study was carried out at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences as part of the work supported by a grant of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF). Project no. 19-17-00232 “Post-Soviet Non-Recognized States: Factors of Viability and Risks for Russia”. Collection of electoral data for drawing up a schematic map (Fig.) was supported by a grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) and Expert Institute of Social Research (EISR). Project no. 20-011-32284 “The Success of Regional Parties in Modern Europe: Causes and Characteristics”.

OBJECTIVE The aim: To study the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting quality of life in persons with disability after musculoskeletal injuries. PATIENTS AND METHODS Materials and methods: A medical and social research was conducted on151 individuals with re-confirmed disability after musculoskeletal injuries. RESULTS Results: It was found that a third of people with disabilities after musculoskeletal injuries (35.8±3.9%) has low quality of life (QoL), females more often than males (OR = 2.73; 95% CI: 1.33-5.59). The following physical determinants of low QoL were identified: severity of disability group (2.77; 1.29-5.92), severity of injury (2.73; 1.11-5.63) related to long-term inpatient treatment (6.36; 2.55-15.86) and need of special tools for rehabilitation (2.42; 1.20-4.92). It was found that QoL in people with disability is decreasing with unemployment (4.44; 2.13-9.23) and reduction in social interaction (2.67; 1.33-5.39) when living with children (3.04; 1.50-6.16), complicated relationship (5.28; 2.54-10.97) and no support in family (3.25; 1.62-6.50). This is accompanied by an increase in the need of psychotherapy (4.07; 2.10-8.24), risky alcohol consumption (3.29; 1.19-9.07) and taking of sedative drugs (2.97; 1.35-6.50). It was established such medical and social determinants of low QoL as inadequate awareness of persons with disability about content of their Individual rehabilitation program (3.85; 1.69-8.76), insufficient covering of special tools (3.41; 1.67-6.96) and dissatisfaction of rehabilitation efficacy (3.79; 1.55-9.28). CONCLUSION Conclusions: It is necessary to improve the system of rehabilitation of persons with disability after musculoskeletal injuries in view of quality of life determinants.

WhatsApp is a popular platform primarily for informal communication. It has 1.5 billion users worldwide. Though there are increasing numbers of studies looking at the use of WhatsApp in various formal settings, its use in social research remains under-studied. We have used WhatsApp in several research projects. In this article, we analyse our use of WhatsApp within two studies conducted in 2019. We analysed the content of messages and counted the messages sent by each member to our WhatsApp groups. We also analysed the feedback received from our research assistants on the use of WhatsApp groups in research. We show in this article that WhatsApp has created new opportunities for better communication and management of fieldwork to meet a tight schedule and that this improved the overall quality of the project. We offer lessons learned for improving the use of WhatsApp in research processes.

Since 2000, an increasing number of scholarship international students have been entering Chinese universities. Government scholarships provide them money each month to pay for a degree, but most of them are engaged in part-time work even if china officially doesn’t allow international students to work during their studies. This Research aimed to explore the key determinants of international students labour and schooling in China and labour experience contribution to their study. We used the Labor Market Survey (SLM) conducted by LARES (Laboratory of analysis and research in economic and social research) in the year of 2019 in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhejiang and Shandong. The sample includes 400 scholarship students at the Bachelor, Master and PhD level. They were from different major areas, aged between 18 and 35 years old. Results from logistic regression analysis showed that developing relationship, practicing Chinese, tutor income, age, were the key factors that influence scholarship international student’ work while study. The students benefited both positively and negatively from working and studying.

This proposal focuses on the multifaceted interplay between video games, connectiveness, and online communities in a time of emergency; COVID-19 has presented challenges for teenagers, forcing them to re-mediate their interactions with peers. Digital entertainment has been frequently accused to be a bearer of negative attitudes and anti-social behaviors, but there is also relevant evidence about how video games can foster bonding and inclusion. Nevertheless, updated lenses are needed for understanding the impact of the pandemic on playing and vice versa; in other words, video games can become a lens through which we can understand how teenagers and young adults experience and see the world around them, especially during these turbulent times. Moreover, video games are increasingly experienced in multiple ways, from watching live shows on Twitch.tv to discussing games on Reddit; as such, this additional layer must be investigated too for situating the impact of gaming practices on social and individual schemes. This article intends to provide a snapshot of how this medium can be used as a catalyst for social research, looking at its consumption but also at the social halo it conveys. More specifically, an ethnographic approach has been chosen for providing an intensive analysis of how the acclaimed video game Animal Crossing was perceived and used as a socializing tool by a teenager.

The paper considers the main directions and results of the scientific and organizational activities of the Institute of economics of the CS MES RK for 2018-2020. The material reflects the topics of the Institute’s programoriented and grant research. The main results of scientific research conducted over a 3-year cycle included the following areas: assessment of the factors of the formation of a knowledge-based economy and the development of a methodology for its analysis and measurement in Kazakhstan; analysis and assessment of the export potential of knowledge-based products in Kazakhstan; development of forecast scenarios for the development of traditional and new industries in the knowledge-intensive economy; justification of the directions of export diversification in Kazakhstan; determination of localization prerequisites and development of methods for assessing the potential of local knowledge-intensive sectors; identification of the features of the formation of innovative human capital in Kazakhstan and ensuring its professional renewal; development of priorities for a new quality of life of the population in the conditions of an innovative economy and modernization of public consciousness; development of sectors and industries of the knowledge-based economy in the context of the third technological modernization and Industry 4.0; development of the digital infrastructure of research and development; justification of the digital social research model of the Institute of economics, creation and testing of a prototype of an information system, etc.

A társadalom digitalizációja olyan tudományfejlődési folyamatot tesz szükségessé, melyben megerősödik a társadalomtudomány és az adattudomány közötti interdiszciplináris együttműködés. Bár látható, hogy a társadalomkutatók egyre inkább nyitottak a számítógépes társadalomtudomány és a társadalmi számítástechnika módszereinek alkalmazására, a társadalomtudomány és az adattudomány közötti interdiszciplináris együttműködésben megvalósuló, az adatgyűjtési, adatelemzési és disszeminációs módszerek értékelésére és fejlesztésére irányuló projektekre alig találni példát. Feltáró kutatásunkban vegyes módszertant alkalmaztunk: szakértői körben lekérdezett online kérdőívben vizsgáltuk társadalomkutatók és adattudósok különböző kutatási módszerek és eszközök használatára való hajlandóságát, majd interjúk keretében bontottuk ki az innovatív társadalomkutatási módszerekre vonatkozó kutatói attitűdöket. Eredményeink megerősítik az interdiszciplináris együttműködések fontosságát, és felhívják a figyelmet a különböző tudományágak között kommunikálni képes „tolmácsok” szerepének jelentőségére. Emellett a kutatásmódszertani kérdéseken belül kiemelik az adatok érvényességével és megbízhatóságával kapcsolatos aggodalmakat, a nyílt tudomány gyakorlásában, az adatok és a kutatási módszerek megosztásában és a kutatási transzparenciában meghatározva a társadalomtudományok fejlődésének kulcsát.

This dissertation analyzes labor policy in Chile, and aims to explain why the labor laws enacted during the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990) and systematized in the 1979 Labor Plan have not been repealed. Conceived as a pro-business plan, the Labor Plan regulations decentralized bargaining to the firm level, undermined significantly the right to strike, and weakened unions through several clauses promoting, among other things, the coexistence of multiple unions in the firm. Despite these regulations have been defined as one of the main factors explaining the weakness of organized labor throughout the democratic period (1990 – present), none of the labor reforms carried out since the return to democracy has repealed them. In this dissertation I explain why this is so. Based on archival, historical, and qualitative evidence, in the first part of this dissertation I analyze all the labor reforms carried out between 1990 and 2016 and the role organized business and labor played in them. I show that the persistence of the 1979 Labor Plan is explained largely by the power imbalances between employers and workers and, particularly, by employers’ stronger capacity influence the policy-making process. This imbalance explains why the last reform process (2015-2016) did not succeed in dismantling the Labor Plan regulations even though most of the politico-institutional constraints derived from the dictatorship and observed in the past reform processes of 1990-1993 and 2000-2001 (e.g. unelected Senators that strengthened the veto power of right parties) did not exist anymore. In the second part of this dissertation I switch the focus from labor law to worker collective action, and examine the processes that led to the revival and consolidation of the business encompassing association Confederación de la Producción y del Comercio (CPC) and to the formation and weakening of the labor confederation Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT). In addition to showing how these processes explain employers’ stronger power to influence the policy-making process, the evidence I present allows me to nuance some explanations for policy continuity in Chile, which in emphasizing the effects of institutional and political constraints tend to assign a secondary role to explanations centered on the interactions between organized business, labor, and the state.

The field of robotics is of great interest to students. This can be seen from the enthusiasm of SMP IT Ikhtiar students who want to take part in socialization activities and robotics workshops held by the Social Research Group, Cognitive Robotics and Advanced Artificial Intelligent Research Center, Electrical Engineering UNHAS. This activity provides knowledge about the basics and current applications of the field of Robotics and teaches students to be able to assemble simple robots using easily obtained electronic materials and components. The workshop was held semi-online where there were 6 (six) people consisting of teacher and student representatives who attended activities in the laboratory and there were also more than 50 students who attended virtually via teleconference. To be able to provide an understanding of robotics for students, it requires qualified external personnel who master the field of electrical engineering, especially robotics. From the comparison of the pre-test and post-test results before and after participating in the activity, it was obtained a significant increase in the knowledge of the students. In addition, students also succeeded in assembling robots using the materials and components that had been provided. As materials for the sustainability of the program, the robots assembled by students were then given to them to be studied again.

In this article, the issue of introducing social norms that should be followed in the process of greeting students in the primary education system of Uzbekistan is examined. The international study of the custom of greeting for all peoples and its importance in the world community, in particular, the peculiarities of this custom in the Uzbek nation, the state of scientific and social research will be analyzed. The topic will discuss verbal units of greeting, gestures, as well as prohibited situations in the process. In the process of harmonious teaching and upbringing, special attention is paid to the habit of greeting in primary school, so the importance of correct and timely formation of this habit is emphasized.

Citizen science has grown rapidly in popularity in recent years due to its potential to educate and engage the public while providing a means to address a myriad of scientific questions. However, the rise in popularity of citizen science has also been accompanied by concerns about the quality of data emerging from citizen science research projects. We assessed data quality in the online citizen scientist platform Chimp&See, which hosts camera trap videos of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and other species across Equatorial Africa. In particular, we compared detection and identification of individual chimpanzees by citizen scientists with that of experts with years of experience studying those chimpanzees. We found that citizen scientists typically detected the same number of individual chimpanzees as experts, but assigned far fewer identifications (IDs) to those individuals. Those IDs assigned, however, were nearly always in agreement with the IDs provided by experts. We applied the data sets of citizen scientists and experts by constructing social networks from each. We found that both social networks were relatively robust and shared a similar structure, as well as having positively correlated individual network positions. Our findings demonstrate that, although citizen scientists produced a smaller data set based on fewer confirmed IDs, the data strongly reflect expert classifications and can be used for meaningful assessments of group structure and dynamics. This approach expands opportunities for social research and conservation monitoring in great apes and many other individually identifiable species., Citizen science has expanded rapidly in popularity, leading to a growing need to ensure data accuracy in citizen science research projects. We validated the accuracy of chimpanzee detection and individual identification data from the online citizen scientist platform Chimp&See, which hosts camera trap videos of chimpanzees and other species across Equatorial Africa. When comparing data from citizen scientists with those of experts who coded the same videos, we found a high level of agreement in detecting and identifying chimpanzees, although citizen scientists assigned fewer IDs overall. The resulting citizen scientist data could be used to construct a robust social network with a similar structure and network positions to that constructed from expert data coded from the same camera trap videos.

The article aims to analyze the adaptation specifics of four generations to digital technologies in Russian Moscow region. The research theoretical basis consists of the basic socio-demographic generations description within the William Strauss and Neil Hove generations theory. Using methods of sociological research (polls and in-depth interviews), the article analyzes the Strauss-Hove generational theory’s actual elements in relation to the socio-demographic landscape of modern Russian society. The article considers the interaction specifics with the digital environment and gadgets for various demographic sections, as well as their involvement in modern global trends regarding Internet addiction and online positioning. The article concludes that the development of various communication channels depending on demographic targeting is required.

Introduction. In modern scientific research of the social communications in general and the library science in particular, the issues of forming the image of the modern library in accordance with the requirements of the today's life have recently become relevant.Purpose and methods. The purpose of the study is to consider the features and components of the external image of the modern library and develop recommendations for its improvement. The traditional set of general scientific principles (determinism, reflection, unity of opposites) and methods (formal-logical, conceptual and functional analysis, content analysis, synthesis, abstraction, etc.) are used to solve the research tasks.Results.The article elucidates the fundamental qualities of the library's image. The system of factors influencing the image of the modern library is determined. The components of the external image of the library are analyzed and recommendations for its improvement are highlighted.Conclusions.A positive image is the result of the effective activities, covering processes from the study of the public opinion, inquiries of the library service users, which should be based on the serious social research, to the implementation of these inquiries by influencing both employees and service consumers. It is impossible to separate from the previous image; it is necessary to provide its radically new interpretation. That is why the formation of the image of a modern library is appropriate to make on the basis of the clear positive components of the existing database with the addition of the new characteristics that meet modern realities that need to be rethought, interpreted within a new image concept.

The purpose of this research is to see how social media creates a new "front stage" for individuals and provides space for these individuals to form and manage their personal images, which tend to be more enjoyable for the digital native generation. This study uses an interpretive paradigm. For interpretive researchers, the goal of social research is to develop an understanding of social life and discover how people construct meaning in natural settings. The implementation of this research produces media literacy, not just an activity that filters out various information that is of no use to its users, positives and more advantages. The conclusion of this research is that Native Digital Generaation is a different group in the stage of searching for identity, and is at the stage of searching for an appropriate role which is expected to receive the appreciation they expect, media literacy is needed as skills not only filter out the negative things of freedom, social media, but furthermore requires the ability to maximize social media space to get positive things and more benefits.

After 1945, both the Western Allies in Germany and some German social scientists embraced empirical public opinion research. This article examines the rhetoric, practices, and collaborative professional efforts of two of the most significant institutions conducting opinion research in West Germany in the 1950s: the Allensbach Institute and the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt. Although the political stances of these institutions differed, they were motivated to apply empirical research methods associated with Anglo-American social research to the West German population by shared concerns about the fragility of democracy, faith in the empirical sciences as an antidote to Nazi-era thought patterns, and the need to form a united front against doubters within West Germany. Even while declaring their desire to incorporate the latest empirical advances from the United States, however, they sought to articulate the meaning of their methods and findings in terms of the specific challenges faced by West Germany.

A study was done to assess the effectiveness of different information sources in meeting information needs and utilization behavior of rice growers in western midhills of Nepal, taking 101 sample households. Survey design with a structured questionnaire was used for data collection under the pragmatic paradigm of social research. The study showed that 30 percent of farmers were high information seekers while about 59 percent were utilizing information highly implying that most farmers were using the information highly though they don't seek information by themselves. Input management and climatic information were highly sought and utilized. Though fellow and contact farmers were the more used source of information, however, respondents felt that extension personnel and agro-vets were more credible. An assessment of the effective index showed that fellow farmers were highly effective followed by extension personnel and agro-vets while social media and ICTs were least effective. There was a significant positive correlation between information variables and education, ethnicity, number of crops grown and accessibility to information sources. However, poor accessibility of farmers to these sources was a major problem. Thus, a suitable information delivery system accessible to most farmers according to their time and needs should be designed regarding rice cultivation.

The digital society is a research object that still lacks a clear and shared definition, as it is always in progressive and whirling transformation. From a methodological point of view, digital society is then a fruitful ground for experimentation and innovation. However, the unceasing flourishing of online social practices and the innovative ways to frame into data the online activities of individuals make the knowledge drawn from the web always uncertain, revisable, and at high risk of obsolescence. Social research tried to face the challenges posed by the digital society first by adapting the established social research methods to the new digital environments and then creating new ones. Neither approach has been able to define which are the most valid and reliable methodological tools to study the digital society, nor to draw a shared vision that would allow social research to advance. This chapter discusses the challenges and opportunities that the digital society poses to social research methodology and reflects on the need for new epistemological and methodological positions.

The application of social research methods in cybersecurity requires a multidisciplinary combination since the security of technologies and communication networks is made up of a set of uses, techniques, and results directly conditioned by the parameters of confidentiality, data availability, integrity, and privacy. However, each of these technological concepts is prepared and subject to conditions of use that involve ethical, sociological, economic, and legal aspects. Firstly, social engineering techniques in cybercrime tend to combine social investigation techniques with computational engineering and telecommunications elements. Secondly, research on cybersecurity phenomena in industrial environments implies the adaptation to the organizational specificity of each sector. In this chapter, the social research topics commonly addressed by leading companies and researchers in cybersecurity at a global level are analyzed from a comparative point of view, extracting a taxonomy of social research on cybersecurity.