Cutting NSF Is Like Liquidating Your Finest Investment
Look closely at your mobile phone or tablet. Touch-screen technology, speech recognition, digital sound recording and the internet were all developed using […]
Is There a Need for Novelty in Science?
In a recent survey of over 1,500 scientists, more than 70 percent of them reported having been unable to reproduce other scientists’ findings at least once. Reproducibility of findings is a core foundation of science and realizing how difficult it is to assess novelty should give funding agencies and scientists pause. Progress in science depends on new discoveries and following unexplored paths – but solid, reproducible research requires an equal emphasis on the robustness of the work.
Washington and Social Science: Bullets Dodged in 2017
The House and Senate cleared the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on December 22. Congress also approved a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded through January 19, and cleared a disaster assistance package for victims of hurricanes and wildfires
UNC, Michigan Once Again Tops in Federal R&D on Social Science
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor continue to lead the United States in total federal social science research dollars, according to a just-released annual survey from the Consortium of Social Science Associations
Solidarity and Commitment in a #MeToo Age: Honoring Psychologist Jeanne Marecek
Jeanne Marecek, one of the pioneers in studying the nexus of feminisms and psychologies, has been awarded the Carolyn Wood Sherif Award from the American Psychological Association and the Society for the Psychology of Women.
Jo Boaler on Fear of Mathematics
There’s a lot of myths that get in the way of learning maths, says Stanford University’s Jo Boaler, and her research not only topples conventional wisdom but gives solid ways of allowing everyone to harness their inherent ability to excel at mathematics.
Science vs. 2017: Five Essential Reads
2017 may well be remembered as the year of alternative facts and fake news. Truth took a hit, and experts seemed to lose the public’s trust and scientists felt under siege as the Trump administration took office. Five stories, from The Conversation, showcase where scholars and scientists stand in this new climate and various ways to consider the value research holds for society.
Close Encounters with Behavioral Economics: Four Essential Reads for 2017
The year 2017 turned out to be the start for mainstream behavioral economics after a leading practitioner in the field won a Nobel prize for his work. Throughout 2017, The Conversation asked experts in economics, psychology and other areas to address the power of this burgeoning field, as well as its potential for misuse. Here are some articles for your consideration.
How Do We Head Off the Collateral Damage of Big Data?
Hamish Robertson and Joanne Travaglia argue that big data quantification is now not only a mechanism for extracting information but has become an idea with social and political power in its own right. The lack of critique of quantitative methods and their application contributes to the existing and potentially coercive power of digital information systems and their attendant methods, and enhances the potential for collateral damage.
