AI and the social sciences: why all variables are not created equal

This article argues that it is far from trivial to convert social science concepts into accurate categories on which algorithms work best. The literature raises this concern in a general way; for example, Deeks notes that legal concepts, such as proportionality, cannot be easily converted into code noting that ‘The meaning and application of these concepts is hotly debated, even among lawyers who share common vocabularies and experiences’ (Deeks in Va Law Rev 104, pp. 1529–1593, 2018). The example discussed here is recidivism prediction, where the factors that are of interest are difficult to capture adequately through questionnaires because survey responses do not necessarily indicate whether the behaviour that is of interest is present. There is room for improvement in how questions are phrased, in the selection of variables, and by encouraging practitioners to consider whether a particular variable is the sort of thing that can be measured by questionnaires at all

Off the Orbit: Works of Art for Long-Term Space Travellers. Outline of a novel artistic practice

Full version unavailable due to 3rd party copyright restrictions.This research combines the arts with human spaceflight. The aim of the investigation is to identify the aesthetic parameters for display in works of art on extended crewed missions. The study claims that, within the research area of human spaceflight, novel working methods should be developed that can integrate the artist into the scientific process. The extraordinary challenges of extended space exploration not only concern technical and human-bodily aspects, they will also affect the enormous psychological and psychosocial restrictions the spacefarer will face. These limitations are due to the unusual distance and the long timeframes; the future explorers will live confined and isolated within the habitat environment far away from their place of origin. In addition, the consequences of sensory deprivation caused by the high-tech indoor habitat, the emptiness of outer space, the effects of social monotony and limited contact with home will dominate their life in the extreme environment and the emotional state of the future explorer. Many cultural techniques for recreation and stress mitigation are already in use or will be tested in human spaceflight in the near future. However, in this context the implementation of works of art has not been evaluated. The production of works of art for future astronauts represents a new research area. From the artistic perspective, creativity will expand in an unusual manner. Artists will not only have to develop significant metaphors, they will also be confronted with an unknown responsibility, because the confined and isolated astronaut will become the exclusive audience and user of their works. Furthermore, works of art must follow the particular demands of verifiability, safety, and reliability. These specific conditions will give the artistic work a unique meaning which makes the work a part of the life-sustaining system. The outcome will be an experiment that combines both artistic and scientific strategies

Sensitivity analysis in a scoping review on police accountability : assessing the feasibility of reporting criteria in mixed studies reviews

In this paper, we report on the findings of a sensitivity analysis that was carried out within a previously conducted scoping review, hoping to contribute to the ongoing debate about how to assess the quality of research in mixed methods reviews. Previous sensitivity analyses mainly concluded that the exclusion of inadequately reported or lower quality studies did not have a significant effect on the results of the synthesis. In this study, we conducted a sensitivity analysis on the basis of reporting criteria with the aims of analysing its impact on the synthesis results and assessing its feasibility. Contrary to some previous studies, our analysis showed that the exclusion of inadequately reported studies had an impact on the results of the thematic synthesis. Initially, we also sought to propose a refinement of reporting criteria based on the literature and our own experiences. In this way, we aimed to facilitate the assessment of reporting criteria and enhance its consistency. However, based on the results of our sensitivity analysis, we opted not to make such a refinement since many publications included in this analysis did not sufficiently report on the methodology. As such, a refinement would not be useful considering that researchers would be unable to assess these (sub-)criteria

Political Participation in the Corbyn Movement

Within the resurgence of socialist activity that accompanied Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the British Labour Party between 2015 and 2019, one critical but sometimes overlooked aspect was the movement’s emphasis on an expanded sense of political participation. This form of participation focused initially on an increased role for Labour Party members and forging a wide coalition with grassroots groups, but it also hinted at a future in which political participation extended not only to public ownership, but to policy-making at every level (Graeber, 2020). The aim of my research was to better understand how this expanded sense of political participation operated, how it responded to the wider status of political participation in the UK in the 21st century, and how it challenged power. I also sought to test the extent to which my militant research methodology could contribute to the movement. Militant research broadly prioritises political struggle over the academic pursuit of knowledge (Halvorsen, 2015). Within this militant research, which has been informed by the immanent philosophical tradition, I have organised with several political groups throughout Corbynism and post-Corbynism. This generated a militant research assemblage that brings together experiences, materials, and affective registers. I argue that some political participation within Corbynism and post-Corbynism can be understood as minor emergences. Within these emergences we occasionally glimpsed ‘bone-deep’ (Tuck, 2013) political participation. This stands in opposition to the ‘nightmare’ (Miessen, 2010) participation that dominates within our conjuncture. Within bone-deep participation, a radical approach to difference and unity points to where some of the key ‘wins’ (Cox, 2019) have challenged power

Normative and Legal Pluralism: A Global Perspective

This lecture sets out to demystify the topic of legal pluralism by examining the relationship between legal pluralism, normative pluralism, and general normative theory from a global perspective. The central theme is that treating legal pluralism as a species of normative pluralism decenters the state, links legal pluralism to a rich body of literature, and helps to show that some of the central puzzlements surrounding the topic can usefully be viewed as much broader issues in the general theory of norms and legal theory. A second theme is that so-called “global legal pluralism” is in several respects qualitatively different from the older anthropological and socio-legal accounts of legal pluralism and is largely based on a different set of concerns

Investigation of how social media influenced the endsars protests in Lagos, Nigeria

The research assessed the role of social media in the unfolding of the EndSARS demonstrations in Nigeria. The study was necessary given the persistent call by governments for the strict regulation of social medium platforms. This is given governments' claim that social media is being misused. The study, however, reveals that social media use is determined by users' social experiences, including those caused by governments.Comment: master's thesi