Read more
Zusatztext "A readable! nontechnical identification and assessment of areas of relevant! usable social science knowledge. . . . Recommended." Informationen zum Autor Neil J. Smelser is a senior scholar and University Professor at the University of California and author of several UC Press books! most recently The Odyssey Experience and Reflections on the University of California . John Reed is currently Chairman of the Corporation of MIT and former Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and former Chairman and CEO of Citicorp! Citibank and Citigroup. Klappentext " Usable Social Science represents a remarkable collaboration between Neil J. Smelser! one of America's most distinguished sociologists! and John Reed! a highly successful member of corporate America. Together! they accomplish an even more remarkable feat of making accumulated social science knowledge accessible to non-academics while! at the same time! making an academic contribution to the social sciences by reviewing the history! accumulated findings! and conceptual approaches in key areas of specialization in sociology and elsewhere in the social sciences."-Jonathan H. Turner! University Professor & Distinguished Professor of Sociology! University of California! Riverside. "This book is an ambitious project to provide the public with a review of the available and practicable knowledge for decision-making people (and who is not that today?) that the social sciences have produced over the last 250 years or so. Typically! such efforts are bound to fail. But this project is a full success! keeping its promise to present knowledge in an understandable and exciting way. The language is charming and the elegant prose is the product of a fluent! transparent style. In short: a must read!"-Hans-Peter Mueller! Professor of sociology! Humboldt-University of Berlin. Zusammenfassung Presenting substantive social science knowledge and indicating its relevance and applicability to decision-making, problem-solving and policy-making, this title looks at the big picture of why society at large demands and needs social-science knowledge, and how the academy actually supplies relevant knowledge. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface Introduction: The Problem and Our Take on It Part I. Arenas of Usability 1. Space and Time: Constraints and Opportunities 2. Some Dynamics of Cognition! Judgment! and Bias 3. Sanctions in Organizational and Social Life 4. Groups! Teams! Networks! Trust! and Social Capital 5. How Decisions Are Made 6. Organizations and Organizational Change 7. Economic Development and Social Change 8. Methods of Research and Their Usability Part II. The Big Picture of Usability 9. Social Change! Social Problems! and Demands for Knowledge 10. The Production of Knowledge in the Social Sciences References Index ...
