Potential and challenges

UID/SOC/04647/2019Purpose of this study: Sociology of Organizations, as a specialization, has maintained an indefinite status, competing with other disciplinary areas regarding the study of organizations. This paper seeks to contribute to the reflection about the potential and challenges faced by the Sociology of Organizations. Methodology: For this purpose, a bibliographical research was carried out on this topic, complemented by our experience as sociologists in teaching and research on the organizational theme in some databases, such as Web of Knowledge, DOAJ, SCIELO, and institutional repositories. Findings: It is concluded that the Sociology of Organizations can provide tools for the heuristic apprehension of the organizational phenomenon, either by mobilizing instruments of a more general sociology or by fostering a certain interdisciplinarity with other disciplinary areas that deal with this phenomenon. Implications: However, this potential is generally obscured by greater visibility because it is perceived as more directly linked to the managerial phenomenon and seems to provide more illusorily practical solutions and universal recipes. It is necessary to recognize the complexity of the organizational phenomenon to advance its scientific knowledge. © Serpa and Ferreira.publishersversionpublishe

Dialogues between sociology and history

UID/SOC/04647/2019Sociology and History, as consolidated scientific and academic projects, have maintained an unusual and paradoxical relationship. The growing disciplinary and sub-disciplinary specialisation of these two sciences poses relevant epistemological and methodological challenges in addressing potential situations of isolation, fragmentation, and in enabling the defence of an interdisciplinary perspective characterised by the historicity of social structures, actions and meanings. Several kinds of reasons shape this diffuse process of approximation/detachment between Sociology and History, namely epistemological and methodological, disciplinary closure, academic and professional reasons, forming what may be called contained dialogues. This paper, starting from the sociological stance of the authors, seeks to add to the reflection on the relevance of a scientific project that aims to affirm an interdisciplinary perspective that may foster the heuristic potentialities of both Sociology and History in the analysis of the complexity of social reality and human action.publishersversionpublishe

Comparison and Potentials

UID/SOC/04647/2019Academic conferences have always been privileged spaces and moments for the dissemination of new scientific knowledge, as well as for social interaction and for the establishment and development of social networks among scientists. However, the virtual dimension of conferences, in which individuals are not physically present in the same place, begins to emerge as an increasingly used possibility, which implies a different framing of these scientific events. This paper seeks to comparatively analyse several models of academic conferences, putting forth their advantages, limitations and potentials. Furthermore, it also seeks to reasonably envision the importance and challenges to be faced in the near future. The analysis allows concluding that virtual conferences tend to take on an increasingly central role in this type of scientific dissemination, but without totally relegating the conference mode with face-to-face interaction. Moreover, there may be conferences that emerge as a hybrid between these two types of conferences, in an attempt to provide their main benefits to the various participants. However, the insufficient literature on this topic calls for the need to develop and deepen studies in this area that allow understanding this academic and social, but also economic phenomenon, in its broader implications.publishersversionpublishe

Covid-19 and scientific literacy

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020The COVID-19 pandemic is, currently, the focus of all personal and collective actions at the social, cultural, economic, political and religious levels, among other dimensions of human life. This Letter to the Editor focuses on the overwhelming existence of fake news directly related to COVID-19, which permeate social networks and even the media, where journalists should act as gatekeepers and not fake-keepers. The methodology used in the collection and selection of data consisted of bibliographic research, in international databases, of publications on the topic under study and their content analysis. The results allow concluding that there is a need to promote scientific literacy in the general population but especially among journalists themselves.publishersversionpublishe

Reading on paper and scrolling text on a screen in academic learning

UID/SOC/04647/2019In the contemporary context, there is a growing practice of reading higher education teaching support material using digital media tools, via scrolling text on a screen on multiple devices (e.g. tablets, iPads and computers). These materials can be either specifically prepared digital texts or scanned printed texts, as opposed to the tradition of reading on paper. Thus, the following question emerges, which functions as the leitmotiv of the present study: what is the pedagogical potential of digital reading by scrolling text? In order to answer this question, we analysed a variety of information addressing this topic, which was collected from multiple sources. The analysis of this information allows concluding that, sometimes, rather than by the intentionality or pedagogical potential of the academic learning reading processes, this practice seems to be justified by the possibility of implementing a technology that tends to meet the actors' expectations (mainly students). There is the need for some caution in the mobilisation of digital reading in each specific situation, insofar as this reading is not always - necessarily and under any circumstance - the most fruitful. Besides the specificities that differentiate digital reading from printed reading (such as concentration and the relationship with new technologies), students' traits, their motivation, their knowledge about the use of the reading device or the type of digital document are some of the key elements to take into account for the success of learning through this reading process in academic learning, which, in addition, cannot overlook the importance of the type of teacher-student relationship established.publishersversionpublishe

Intervenção e novas realidades sociais : Atas do IX Encontro Internacional de Inovação Educacional

Inova y Educa. IX Encontro Internacional de Inovação Educacional, "Intervenção e novas realidades sociais". Universidade dos Açores, 23 e 24 de março de 2017.Esta obra visa a reflexão, problematização e partilha de experiências de inovação educacional em diversas dimensões: escolar, saúde e intervenção social. Inovação entendida enquanto a construção de respostas fundamentadas às necessidades e aos desafios que se colocam à sociedade e que apelam à originalidade, à criatividade, à iniciativa, à autonomia e ao envolvimento dos atores sociais.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Populações, desigualdades e ação pública

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020Este livro é o resultado de uma preocupação temática transversal ao CICS.NOVA, condensada na confluência das três palavras que compõem o título: populações, no sentido em que uma parte importante do trabalho desta unidade de investigação procura identificar e compreender populações específicas, as suas características, os seus problemas, a sua agência, as suas representações sociais sobre as mais variadas temáticas, as suas respostas às políticas públicas, entre outras questões. Desigualdades, tendo em atenção que estas são um dos motores da sociedade, um dos grandes objetos da investigação em ciências sociais e, como tal, assumem natural relevo num centro de grande dimensão como o CICS.NOVA. Finalmente, ação pública, na perspetiva em que se desafia, inova e se procura melhorar a ideia de análise das políticas públicas, indo mais longe nesta análise, reconhecendo que a ação pública não se reduz ao rótulo de política pública. Para mais, a res publica assume uma grande centralidade nas sociedades atuais e a ação pública é a forma como essa centralidade se faz sentir na vida coletiva e na de cada indivíduo.publishersversionpublishe