O użyteczności kategorii dyspozytywu w badaniach społecznych

Author(s): Magdalena Nowicka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2016

The aim of this paper is a critical reflection on Michel Foucault’s concept of dispositive and its application in social research. Dispositive means a heterogenic composition of discursive and non-discursive elements of social reality linked together with the dynamic relations of power. Since two decades in the frames of post-Foucauldian discourse analysis the attempts at operationalizing the category of dispositive have been made. As an analytical category dispositive refers to the mechanisms of socially dispersed power, which can be studied empirically on the basis of discursive and non-discursive data. A research perspective of dispositive analysis has emerged as a result of an interest in dispositive. This paper presents the main guidelines of this perspective, as well as a typology of applications of the Foucauldian category of dispositive in empirical research, illustrated with chosen examples of German and Polish scholars’ works. This presentation is accompanied by a consideration of inconsistencies and deficiencies of such methodological approach.

BIAS REDUCTION IN KERNEL ESTIMATOR OF DENSITY FUNCTION IN BOUNDARY REGION

Author(s): Aleksandra Baszczyńska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

The properties of the classical kernel estimator of density function deteriorate when the support of density function is bounded. The use of classical form of kernel estimator causes the increase of the bias estimator, particularly in the so-called boundary region, close to end of support. It can also lead to undesirable situation where density function estimator has a different support than the density function. The paper presents selected bias reduction procedures, such as reflection method and its modification. An example is presented with an attempt to compare considered procedures.

Az internet szerepe az identitás-vizsgálatokban: módszertani eszköz vagy kutatandó nyilvános tér?

Author(s): Borbála Szakács / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2014

Olga Alekseeva, Hans-Georg Heinrich: Ethnic Minorities of Central and Eastern Europe in the Internet Space: Content Analysis (ENRI-WEB). Peter Lang, Vienna, 2013, 130 p.

Diversity Studies: új társadalomtudományi paradigma?

Author(s): Ádám Németh / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2016

CAN PEOPLE OBTAIN OBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE?

Author(s): TIBOR MACHAN / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

Not only is philosophy a discipline that’s rarely discussed outside of the academy; sometimes it’s regarded to be a very curious, obscure subject matter, one that people don’t know where to place. Yet no one can avoid philosophy entirely. Even to try amounts to being philosophical. When it comes to philosophy’s various branches, most would list only ethics as a familiar one since the question of how people should conduct themselves is difficult to classify as a branch of any other discipline, such as sociology, economics or chemistry. Ethics is pretty widely acknowledged to be part of philosophy as well as an everyday concern while it’s also quite problematic. Within ethics it is pretty usual to find that people wonder whether one can discover anything that is objectively true, as most of us would agree it’s possible in fields such as physics or chemistry. The natural or hard sciences, in other words, would all be about what is true, what is not, how we tell the difference, and so forth. Other disciplines are viewed to be less amenable to that possibility. In the field of ethics a lot of people believe truth is difficult if not entirely impossible to find. Is it true that one should not lie, deceive, steal, cheat, mislead, etc.? Or is it something that’s up to the acting agent or one’s cultural group? In other words, are ethical claims subjective or objective? Yet that’s not the only branch of human inquiry wherein this issue arises. Are religious claims subjective or objective? Are claims in such fields as sociology, anthropology, or economics open to objective investigation or are these mostly subjective, a matter of what the person who is involved in considering them decides? We often hear that beliefs or claims in these areas are advanced from someone’s point of view, which is to say they are subjective. In this paper that is the issue that’s the central focus: are judgments people make in various fields of concern subjective or objective, can they be the latter or only the former? If the former, will we then ever get to know the world as it really is? Or only as we like it to be or it appears to be? If objectivity is available, is it restricted only to the natural sciences? Or could we be objective about politics, art and psychology?

W stronę ontologii pola badań jakościowych

Author(s): Grzegorz Bryda,Natalia Martini / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2016

The aim of the article is to introduce the Polish community of qualitative researchers to a new perspective in the study of qualitative research practices. The idea is to develop an ontology of contemporary qualitative research. Drawing on experiences from our research project, the article discusses the idea of systematizing the present state of art in the field of theory and methodology of qualitative research. Our study focuses on a new methodology of multidimensional content analysis of three international academic journals. The article describes the preliminary results of a pilot study which employs a dictionary-based approach as a method of knowledge discovery in textual databases and its systematization. Our goal is to provide insight in the vast and diverse approaches in the field of qualitative research practices.

Araç Rotalama Problemleriile Çözüm Yöntemlerinin Sınıflandırılması ve Bir Uygulama

Author(s): Timur Keskintürk,Nihan Topuk,Okan Özyeşil / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2015

This study presents the classification of vehicle routing problems and solving techniques. It reports variants of the vehicle routing problems which are categorized as capacity-distance constrained, time windows, split deliveries, back hauls, periodic deliveries, pick-drop deliveries and solving techniques about these variants which have been issued in literature. Solving techniques have been classified in three groups: exact, classical heuristics and metaheuristics. When the Turkish literature is viewed, due to the absence of a classification study about the topic, it is considered as a source for the researchers on it. In the end, an implementation for solving a capacity-constrained vehicle routing problem with two heuristics and an analysis about solving techniques have presented.

Process tracing: zkoumání kauzality v případových studiích

Author(s): Jaromír Mazák / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2017

Process Tracing: Causal Inquiry in Case Studies. This paper addresses process tracing as a tool for studying causality in case studies. The method of process tracing, which is based on explicit specification of a causal mechanism and formalized treatment of empirical evidence, is intensively developed in political science. However, sociology and other social sciences seem to be turning a blind eye to the method. Therefore, the paper strives to familiarize the Czech and Slovak sociological community with this method and to outline the ongoing discussions about its application. The value of process tracing dwells not only in the elaborate frame for standardization of case studies, but also in the related debates reflecting upon a whole range of general methodological issues. This makes process tracing a valuable lesson in contemporary social science methodology and possibilities in non-experimental analysis of causality.

Sociološko-diskurzivna analiza ideologije kao okvir za istraživanje društvenih praksi normalizacije

Author(s): Dušan Ristić,Dušan Marinković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2016

In this paper, we present the sociological discourse analysis (SDA) as the interdisciplinary approach in the research of social phenomena. We particularly emphasize the notions of social practices and regimes of action. We accept the definition of ideology as the rational discourse on social reality with restricted reflexivity. We analyze ideological discourses in the context of social processes of normalization and in relation with problems such as social interests, regimes of practices and action, their meaning and sociodicy. We problematize the question of (de)legitimization of ideological discourses in society. In the conclusion, we mark the problem of the reproduction of ideological discourses and explain their place and meaning as the elements of social technologies of normalization.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY AND THE REFUGEE DETERMINATION PROCESS IN CANADA

Author(s): Nicole Laviolette / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

Egregious human rights violations have compelled some lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to seek refuge in countries with better human rights protection. This in turn has led some countries to extend refugee protection to men and women who feared persecution in their home countries because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This article outlines and analyses how sexual minority refugee claimants in Canada continue to encounter a specific set of challenges in having the refugee definition applied to their claims. The emphasis is on the Canadian inland refugee determination process and the discussion focuses chiefly on issues and principles pulled from Canadian cases.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FABRIC OF ETHICAL SUBJECTIVITY IN WOODY ALLEN’S FILMS

Author(s): George Lăzăroiu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

This article reviews Bailey and Girgus (2013) and supplements it with theoretically based empirical research. In the present paper, I focus on the philosophical substance of Allen’s films, his employment of framing devices and films-within-films, his romantic links with popular culture, and his utilization of various aesthetic forms. The mainstay of the paper is formed by an analysis of Allen’s development of the cinematic narrative, his self-conscious formulation of his own auteur distinctiveness, the depressing tonalities in his films, and the fixation on death in his work.

THE MORALITY OF GREGARIOUS EGOISM

Author(s): Tibor R. Machan / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

There is a widespread misunderstanding about ethical egoism, with only a few exceptions (e.g., David L. Norton and Ayn Rand). The position does not promote interpersonal hostility and acrimony but mainly the virtue of prudence, in the Aristotelian ethical tradition of eudemonia. That is a gist of this essay.

LATER WITTGENSTEIN ON THE INVENTION OF GAMES

Author(s): Jacquette Dale / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

Wittgenstein in his later posthumous writings investigates the meanings of names as a practical activity of rule-governed language game playing. Rules for language games, as for all games in Wittgenstein’s frequent analogies, are determined in turn by the “point” and “purpose” of the games. Wittgenstein also famously maintains that a game could not be invented without being played, or even having been played only once, in the absence of a cultural context embedded in a form of life in which games and the playing of games is already an established practice. This essay examines Wittgenstein’s general concept of the invention of games, their dependence on rules as part of his general later remarks concerning the nature of meaning, and proposes an interpretation by which it is not only intelligible but inevitable that on his approach it should be impossible for a game to be invented that is never played or played only once in lieu of a games-playing component to a prevailing form of life. The solution to the problem of understanding Wittgenstein on this topic derives from a further application of his concept of a criterion of correctness, generally thought to belong exclusively to his so-called private language argument.

THE FRAGMENTED COMMUNICATION STRUCTURE WITHIN CORRUPTION PRACTICES GENERATED BY ACCOUNTABILITY AND FINANCIAL CONTROL

Author(s): Luminiţa Ionescu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

The aim of this paper is to present the impact of financial control and accountability over the corruption practices and the connection between public opinion and control mechanisms. Corruption control is a priority for governments all over the word and anti-corruption policies have become more visible on the political agenda. Implementing financial control and a strong ethical environment will prevent the development of corruption practices. In the last decades, corruption has become one of the most problematic factors of doing business in European Union.

THE “COMMUNICATING MAN”: ATTITUDES AND PROJECTION OF SOCIAL REALITY

Author(s): Gheorghe Cojocariu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

When we talk about the messages generated by journalists, the mediatic communication process is often perceived positively by a number of Subjects, while others are indifferent to it or have a negative perception. Things get complicated when media content is differently perceived by the Subjects, as some situations and contexts generate individual reactions and understandings which – for a certain period of time – become the attitude a group or community develops towards the matter/content. This is why this study intends to reveal the determinant issues for defining and expressing the concept of individual attitude of the Subject and the way it turns into social attitudes.

Коришћење фотографије као технике истраживања у социологији

Author(s): Svetlana Radović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2017

Given the relative neglect of photography as an empirical material in national research practice, this paper offers some insight into the possibilities and ways of using photography as a research technique, that is, data collection method. After presenting main historical influences the text considers the methodological features of the use of photography as a data - a visual record and a visual diary, some application areas, restrictions on this type of empirical material and procedures developed in order to overcome them. The third part of the paper discusses basic features of the use of photography as a technique to uncover other data (PhotoInterviewing) with a detailed focus on research with children in which this technique gained considerable popularity. Concluding remarks point to the usefulness of the acceptance of photography as a means of creating empirical material in national studies

KAKO PISATI PRIJEDLOG ISTRAŽIVAČKOG PROJEKTA

Author(s): Paul T. P. Wong / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 26/2006

Većina studenata i onih koji su početnici u istraživačkom radu ne razumiju u potpunosti šta je to prijedlog istraživačkog projekta, niti razumiju njegov značaj. Da pojednostavimo, istraživanje je dobro samo onoliko koliko je dobar prijedlog njegovog istraživačkog projekta. Loše koncipiran prijedlog osuđuje cijeli projekt na propast čak i onda ako se on, nekim čudom, provuče i dospije do Nadzornog odbora za izradu teza. Kvalitetno urađen prijedlog, s druge strane, ne samo da obećava uspjeh projekta, nego vašim istraživačkim potencijalom, također, impresionira vaš Nadzorni odbor za izradu teza.

INTERVJU KAO NAUČNOISTRAŽIVAČKA METODA

Author(s): Samir Beglerović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 18/2004

One of the methods used in research is interview. As any other method, the interview method is characterized by certain specific qualities and its own set of rules. This work examines the phenomenon of interview itself, its specific qualities and as well as forms of interviews. The work also examines practical sides of interviews, a manner of interview preparation, its desired course and interview etiquette. The final pages of the work deal with ways of including the finished interview in the bibliography of the scientific work.

Numerical solutions of Nonlinear Evolution Equation

Author(s): Esen Hanaç / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2017

Nonlinear evolution of acoustic disturbance such as a sound wave is governed by Burgers equation. This presentation will focus on the evolution of wave motion is governed by Burgers equation, comparing solutions in limited time ranges, such as those are obtained by numerical method known as parabolic method, with exact solutions obtained using the method of matched asymptotic coordinate expansions.

BETWEEN “RESISTANCE TO CIVILIZATION” AND “ESSENTIAL FREEDOM.” SHIFTS IN THE CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ROMANI IDENTITY FROM ENLIGHTENMENT TO ROMANTICISM

Author(s): Ciprian Tudor / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The article explores the way in which European Modernity generates a set of conflicting representations of Roma people, both in collective mentalities and in the elevated cultural narratives. The common topic of these representations and literary constructs is an assumed essential freedom of the “Gypsy” way of living, which, on the one hand, gives rise to scholarly anthropological concerns in the Age of Enlightenment and, on the other hand, ignites the literary imagination in Romanticism. From the vilifying discourse of the early anthropologists in the Enlightenment to the idealizing narrative of Romanticists, the topics of “essential freedom” and “resistance to civilization” encompass all the modern European representations and cultural fabrications on Roma people. The article highlights a significant moment in the process of emergence of this imagological oxymoron: the transition from a rather antiziganistic scholarly perspective (promoted by the first anthropologists and linguists who showed an interest in the Roma people) to a somewhat philoziganist Romanticist cultural milieu, which glorified the noble savage.