Even though agent-based modelling is seen as committing to a mechanistic, generative type of causation, the methodology allows for representing many other types of causal explanations. Agent-based models are capable of "integrating" diverse causal relationships into coherent causal mechanisms. They mirror the crucial, multi-level…

One of the core dimensions of historical and social science inquiry is "[d]eveloping questions and planning inquiries" according to the National Council for the Social Studies' College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework. Yet existing education research, instructional resources, and assessment have ignored how students frame problems…

Ann Oakley, pioneering social researcher for nearly 60 years, is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at IOE (Institute of Education), UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (University College London, UK). This article explores the innovation and influence of her work and the work of her close colleagues at the Social Science Research Unit…

In John Raven's "Diving in Where Angels Fear to Tread: Pre-Requisites to Evidence-Based Interventions," he outlines several critical failings in which social scientists bear a responsibility for potentially a great deal of damage toward children, society, and notably, the planet itself. The nature of the damage appears to be one of…

In community interventions more generally, the concept of fidelity refers to the degree to which a program is delivered as intended. The present paper discusses ways in which fundamental aspects of participatory research challenge the concept of fidelity and differ from more traditional science-dominated approaches. We begin with a discussion of…

While there is broad consensus that involving children in research is critically important for understanding their lives, there is considerable caution around their participation in social research on 'sensitive' issues. Such caution is further amplified by a lack of agreement about what constitutes a 'sensitive topic'. This article draws on data…

The COVID-19 pandemic that prompted a nationwide shutdown of schools and a shift to online instruction in spring 2020 also prompted a wave of articles calling this instructional change a "natural experiment" that could be used to study the effects of online education. Yet the pandemic disrupted so many aspects of children's academic,…

Purpose: The study investigated the change of the position of the official social science basic documents, textbooks and teacher's opinion in relation to the general understanding of the market economy in the context of the modern Russian economic life. Design/methodology/approach: The article was prepared on the basis of the critical discourse…

This article argues for a citizen social science methodology in which residents from the sites of inquiry play a central role in key activities of the research process and beyond: research design and data collection, presentation and publication of findings, and design and implementation of urban interventions that address challenges to quality of…

America's sprawling system of colleges and universities has been built on the ruins of war. After the American Revolution the cash-strapped central government sold land grants to raise revenue and build colleges and schools in newly conquered lands. During the Civil War, the federal government built on this earlier precedent when it passed the…

Developing problem solving skills is often accepted as a desirable goal in many educational settings. However, there is little evidence to support that students are better problem solvers after graduating. The students can solve routine problems but they confronted difficulties when adapting their prior knowledge for the solution of new problems.…

This article, based on theoretical reflections and empirical examples, outlines dilemmas in the social positioning of postgraduate research when students are challenged with their locations as insiders and outsiders in terms of the issues they investigate in Development Studies. Encountering the "other" and oneself in, against and beyond…

According to the National Institutes of Health, "Translational research includes …the process of applying discoveries generated during research in the laboratory, and in preclinical studies, to the development of trials and studies in humans… [and] research aimed at enhancing the adoption of best practices in the community. Following this…

Designing solutions to social problems requires some degree of interpretive accountability to the sociocultural systems in which design solutions must live. Our case studies show how ethnography of communication research generates distinctive resources for design. (Contains 5 notes.)

Almost one third of all children in the United States are born to unmarried parents. This figure is even higher among poor and minority populations. Because of their heightened risk for economic and social problems and family dissolution, disadvantaged, unmarried parents have been called "fragile families." In 2002 the Bush administration…