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 […]
Putting Big Data to Big Use
The applications of big data provide a very mixed picture about its uses and abuses, in government, academe and private industry. And while where you stand on the net impact depends, as the cliche goes, on where you sit, a panel at the recent ESRC Festival of Social Science came out qualitatively optimistic about the future.
Tinkering With Symptoms: Why Britain’s Debate About Vice Chancellors’ Salaries Is Misguided
The last few weeks have seen a growing public debate about the pay packages of Britain’s academic CEOs. The vice chancellors at a number of universities, including Birmingham, Bath, Bath Spa and others, have come under heavy pressure to justify salaries that far exceed £100,000, Oddly, all the arguments for and against this start with the assumption that universities are just like any other business.
Washington and Social Science: Evidence-Based Policy Bill Advances
The House and Senate approved their respective versions of a tax reform package (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act). The House also approved the Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act, the Community Health and Medical Professionals Improve Our Nation Act, and the 21st Century Flood Reform Act. The House and Senate also cleared the final House-Senate conference report to the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.
No, Most NSF Grad Student Funding Does Not Go to Social and Behavioral Science
The head of the House science committee falsely claimed the National Science Foundation funds “more than twice as many graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences as in computer science, mathematics or material science.”
Archived Webinar: Understanding America’s Rural-Urban Interface
America’s rural-urban divide, it seems, has never been greater, a point reinforced by large geographic disparities in support for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. But it is also the case that big cities and rural communities are more tightly integrated than ever and are increasingly interdependent, both economically and socially. That was the starting point for a recent webinar which is archived here.
Diversity: Good Intentions Aren’t Same as Evidence
You’d be forgiven for assuming a quick and sure way to multiply profits and amplify organizational success is to increase the gender and racial diversity of any group. According to mainstream media, the effects of gender and racial diversity are universally favorable. However, professor Alice Eagly states, “the truth is there’s no adequate scientific basis for these newsworthy assertions.”
10 Commandments for Critical Thinking
In this collection of videos , Tom Chatfield eschews the biblical but embraces the practical as he gives specific guidance for training your brain to think critically. In a digital era delivering rivers of information awash in ‘fake news,’ the significance and sheer volume of this information make the question of how we engage with it a vital one.
The Godfather of Black Psychology: Joseph White, 1932-2017
Joseph L. White, whose pioneering conceptual work earned him the title of “the godfather of black psychology,” died November 21 while traveling to be with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. The professor emeritus of psychology and psychiatry at the University of California Irvine was 84.
