Applied sociology

29 páginas, 2 esquemas.-- Descargable en: http://works.bepress.com/manuel_fernandez_esquinas/1[ES] Este artículo expone un marco de análisis que ayude a entender las características de la sociología aplicada. A saber, la tarea sociológica que se orienta a resolver problemas prácticos más que a ofrecer nuevas contribuciones al entendimiento de los fenómenos sociales. En la primera parte se realiza una breve historia del concepto y se tratan los problemas que surgen cuando se hacen demarcaciones rígidas con otros tipos de investigación. En la segunda parte se abordan los conocimientos que resultan de la sociología aplicada. Se dibuja un marco conceptual referido a formas organizativas típicas para investigación básica y aplicada, y se define a esta última como un conjunto de condiciones políticas y sociales en que se produce el trabajo sociológico. Dichas condiciones dan lugar habitualmente a descripciones y a generalizaciones empíricas. Son menos frecuentes los resultados que contrastan hipótesis teóricas importantes desde un punto de vista disciplinario. Algunos mecanismos que explican este resultado son: las decisiones metodológicas, los recursos y el tiempo disponible. Finalmente, se tratan los efectos teniendo en cuenta dos procesos relevantes en los modernos sistemas de I+D: los recursos públicos que se invierten en investigación aplicada que producen resultados de carácter a-teórico y escasamente acumulativo, y la desvinculación de la sociología disciplinaria de la práctica relacionada con la toma de decisiones. En las conclusiones se discuten algunas estrategias que contribuyan a superar la división.[EN] This paper provides an analytical framework for understanding applied sociology, namely sociological research oriented towards resolving practical problems rather than providing new contributions to our understanding of social phenomena. The first part contains a brief historical account of the concept and addresses the main problems which emerge when sharp distinctions between basic and applied research are made. The second part examines the knowledge resulting from applied sociology. We draw the main dimensions of typical organisational arrangements for doing basic and applied sociological work and analyse applied sociology as a set of social and political conditions where research is produced. These conditions usually give rise to descriptions and, on occasions, to empirical generalisations, whereas results contrasting important theoretical hypotheses from a disciplinary point of view are produced less frequently. Then the article examines some specific mechanisms such as methodological decisions, the availability of resources and time constraints to explain why applied sociology most often produces this kind of cognitive results. Finally, effects related to cognitive and organisational divisions are addressed taking into account two processes in current research systems: the large amount of resources devoted to applied sociological research that result in non-theoretical and non-accumulative knowledge and the decoupling of disciplinary sociology from the practical world of policy making. To conclude, some strategies for bridging this gap are discussed.Peer reviewe

"Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg": The Multiple Forms of University-Industry Collaborative Linkages

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2009This presentation was part of the session : Policy Actors and RelationshipsAndalusian Regional Governmen

Sociología y Ciencias Sociales en tiempos de crisis pandémica

This article provides a discussion on the role of sociology and other social sciences in order to analyze major social issues of the COVID-19 pandemic crises. Social conditions related to social structure, culture, the power of science and the construction of institutions related to health and R&D are discussed. Some impacts of the pandemic crisis are considered from the angle of the untended and unintended conse- quences of confinement. In the conclusions some thoughts about the effects of the crisis on the social sciences are provided

Optimisation of algorithms to compute information theoretic indexes

Analysis of big amount of data is a field with many years of research. It is centred in getting significant values, to make it easier to understand and interpret data. Being the analysis of interdependence between time series an important field of research, mainly as a result of advances in the characterization of dynamical systems from the signals they produce. In the medicine sphere, it is easy to find many researches that try to understand the brain behaviour, its operation mode and its internal connections. The human brain comprises approximately 1011 neurons, each of which makes about 103 synaptic connections. This huge number of connections between individual processing elements provides the fundamental substrate for neuronal ensembles to become transiently synchronized or functionally connected. A similar complex network configuration and dynamics can also be found at the macroscopic scales of systems neuroscience and brain imaging. The emergence of dynamically coupled cell assemblies represents the neurophysiological substrate for cognitive function such as perception, learning, thinking. Understanding the complex network organization of the brain on the basis of neuroimaging data represents one of the most impervious challenges for systems neuroscience. Brain connectivity is an elusive concept that refers to diferent interrelated aspects of brain organization: structural, functional connectivity (FC) and efective connectivity (EC). Structural connectivity refers to a network of physical connections linking sets of neurons, it is the anatomical structur of brain networks. However, FC refers to the statistical dependence between the signals stemming from two distinct units within a nervous system, while EC refers to the causal interactions between them. This research opens the door to try to resolve diseases related with the brain, like Parkinson’s disease, senile dementia, mild cognitive impairment, etc. One of the most important project associated with Alzheimer’s research and other diseases are enclosed in the European project called Blue Brain. The center for Biomedical Technology (CTB) of Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM) forms part of the project. The CTB researches have developed a magnetoencephalography (MEG) data processing tool that allow to visualise and analyse data in an intuitive way. This tool receives the name of HERMES, and it is presented in this document. Analysis of big amount of data is a field with many years of research. It is centred in getting significant values, to make it easier to understand and interpret data. Being the analysis of interdependence between time series an important field of research, mainly as a result of advances in the characterization of dynamical systems from the signals they produce. In the medicine sphere, it is easy to find many researches that try to understand the brain behaviour, its operation mode and its internal connections. The human brain comprises approximately 1011 neurons, each of which makes about 103 synaptic connections. This huge number of connections between individual processing elements provides the fundamental substrate for neuronal ensembles to become transiently synchronized or functionally connected. A similar complex network configuration and dynamics can also be found at the macroscopic scales of systems neuroscience and brain imaging. The emergence of dynamically coupled cell assemblies represents the neurophysiological substrate for cognitive function such as perception, learning, thinking. Understanding the complex network organization of the brain on the basis of neuroimaging data represents one of the most impervious challenges for systems neuroscience. Brain connectivity is an elusive concept that refers to diferent interrelated aspects of brain organization: structural, functional connectivity (FC) and efective connectivity (EC). Structural connectivity refers to a network of physical connections linking sets of neurons, it is the anatomical structur of brain networks. However, FC refers to the statistical dependence between the signals stemming from two distinct units within a nervous system, while EC refers to the causal interactions between them. This research opens the door to try to resolve diseases related with the brain, like Parkinson’s disease, senile dementia, mild cognitive impairment, etc. One of the most important project associated with Alzheimer’s research and other diseases are enclosed in the European project called Blue Brain. The center for Biomedical Technology (CTB) of Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM) forms part of the project. The CTB researches have developed a magnetoencephalography (MEG) data processing tool that allow to visualise and analyse data in an intuitive way. This tool receives the name of HERMES, and it is presented in this document

Hacia un programa de investigación en Sociología de la Innovación

This article analyzes the main features of the sociological perspective on innovation. The main goal is to specify the concepts and analytical tools commonly used by sociologists that can be useful for the study of the innovation processes. The strategy of the paper starts by specifying the object of study, the influences from other specialties inside and outside the sociological field and the research topics related to innovation that attract the attention of sociologists. Then the main components for a research programme on the sociology of innovation are outlined. For that purpose the article departs from the distinction between culture and social structure. For both domains the multiple aspects of social life covered by these concepts are defined. The article specifies their importance for the analysis the innovative processes as well as the implications for the social studies of innovation.Este artículo realiza un análisis de los rasgos esenciales de la perspectiva sociológica sobre la innovación. El objetivo es ayudar a especificar aquellos conceptos y herramientas analíticas provenientes de la sociología que resultan útiles para estudiar los procesos de innovación económica. La estrategia de exposición comienza especificando los rasgos de esta especialidad a partir de la definición del objeto de estudio, de las influencias de otras especialidades y de los temas de investigación preferentes. Posteriormente se analizan los principales componentes de un programa de investigación en sociología de la innovación. Para ello se emplea la distinción habitual entre cultura y estructura social. En cada uno de estos ámbitos se definen los múltiples aspectos de la vida social que cubren esos conceptos, se indica su importancia para el análisis del fenómeno innovador y se especifican sus implicaciones para este campo de estudio

¿Hacia dónde va la política científica y tecnológica en España?

155 páginas.-- Estudios politicos, económicos y sociales sobre la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación.-- Descargable en: http://works.bepress.com/manuel_fernandez_esquinas/17Este documento reúne los contenidos del Encuentro Nacional de Política Científica y Tecnológica, celebrado en Cáceres entre los días 21 y 23 de Mayo de 2008, organizado por la Red CTI/CSIC de “Estudios políticos, económicos y sociales de la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación” del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas y la Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología de Extremadura (FUNDECYT).Red CTI/CSIC, FUNDECYT, la Junta de Extremadura, Universidad de Extremadura Y Cáceres 2016.Peer reviewe

Presentación del monográfico. La tarea por hacer: Un diagnóstico de la sociología española entre la academia y la profesión

Este número de la Revista Española de Sociología (RES) ofrece una aproximación a la situación profesional de la sociología en nuestro país. El monográfico presenta un conjunto de miradas que ponen el foco de atención en diferentes vectores en torno al oficio de sociólogo. Si bien cada aportación se centra en alguna cuestión específica y tiene entidad propia, todas ellas mantienen una relación de complementariedad con un objetivo común: ofrecer un diagnóstico de la sociología española a caballo entre el ámbito académico y el ámbito profesiona

Las dos culturas en la divulgación de la ciencia: una exploración de la influencia del campo científico de los investigadores

Trabajo presentado al XI Congreso Español de Sociología: "Crisis y cambio: propuestas desde la sociología" celebrado en Madrid del 10 al 12 de Julio de 2013.La necesidad de reducir el déficit de cultura científica de los ciudadanos ha impulsado el desarrollo de iniciativas para su fomento, tanto desde las políticas científicas gubernamentales como desde las institucionales. En este artículo se ha realizado una exploración sobre la implicación de los investigadores en diversos tipos de actividades de divulgación social, tratando de identificar patrones y diferencias entre áreas de conocimiento. Para ello, se emplea una muestra amplia de investigadores pertenecientes a las ocho áreas en las que se agrupan los investigadores del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), a la que se ha realizado una encuesta que indaga sobre su participación en una serie de actividades de divulgación previamente identificadas. Con estos datos, se ha realizado un análisis factorial que ha permitido construir dos indicadores, correspondientes a actividades de carácter individual e institucional. Un ulterior tratamiento de los datos (ANOVA), dirigido a detectar diferencias entre áreas, ha confirmado la presencia de pautas diferenciadas entre los investigadores de ciencias sociales y humanas y los investigadores de algunas disciplinas de las ciencias experimentales que pueden ser de interés para el enfoque futuro de las acciones de fomento de la divulgación social de la ciencia.Peer Reviewe