Integrated Social Sciences

Integrated social sciences (ISS) brings empirical studies of individuals and groups, gathered from the interactions from a particular time and place, into a framework of description and analysis . Where limitations of research in physical sciences may be moved by technological improvements in instrumentation, the reproduction of physical interactions, such as in a game of billiards, is simply infeasible when working with the the unique state of individuals and groups, those complex adaptive systems known as “human beings”.

Well-intentioned (and some not-so-well intentioned) structures in modern human society have inadvertently sabotaged their own well-being, as a necessary consequence of normal human behavior and the cognitive biases we all face. For this work to be useful to the visitor, it must provide strong references to other works, to both demonstrate credibility but also to engage in existing discourse. The work must also be accessible, through excellent presentation and available interaction with the author (me) or association with another place of conversation (the Internet).

Studies in ISS encourage dialogues, of critical theories about social structures and influence; the authors of Project Implicit (Harvard 2011, Vedantam 2005), use quantitative measurements (reaction time) alongside subjective labels (good and bad), to tease out the reflexes of ingrained bias, so as to spark reflection and discourse. They set rigor through instrumentation and bring social value through critical discussion, asking their reader to consider social causes and consequences. They remind us to truly think, about inequities and reflexive decisions, so as to better our ability as a society in creating healthy social outcomes.

What data we may collect and discover through ISS is made ever-more valuable by our ability to present it to others. Though creative methods of demonstrating data, by sound, movement and tactile experience are important to make our work accessible to our audience and the larger world of interest. As Friendly (2008) documents, visualization has a long history of usefulness in showing trends, ratios and other dynamics of activity, representing data points in a manner understandable by people. Statistics summaries, of likelihood, correlation and ranges are important, but simple. Beyond those simple items, visualizations and other representational techniques help us to access larger number of data points, so we may both explore and describe the interactions of those points in salient manner.

Social science research draws on both quantitative and qualitative observation and analysis; it is intrinsically subjective, while often pragmatic. Research often has a goal, through which the process of elaboration calls for some praxis, beyond mere appreciation, such as art. It as such requires that we “[develop] instruments that yield empirical data [unavoidably developed through] a subjective decision at every stage… SUBJECTIVITY + OBJECTIVITY = SUBJECTIVITY” (Onwuegbuzie 2005, p. 377). This logical constraint, that “any interpretations of the scores yielded cannot be 100% objective” (ibid.) arguably extends to the physical sciences as well -- and C I Lewis did argue that point, in his 1923 writings on conceptual pragmatism, “Mind and the World Order”. The objective realm of the quantitative simply cannot be separated from the qualitative environment in which the experiment and all instruments therein are created. Because of this, quantitative research always holds a qualitative component, and it is up to the reporter to include an introspection, in awareness of what assumptions and environment they perceived in their work.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of data through statistical labeling and exploration techniques is important for confirming or disproving theories, as well as developing additional insights. Rigorous analysis and data collection helps to create repeatable and justifiable experiments. While social sciences depend on the dynamism of human interactions, quantitative theories must rely on relatively stable instrumentation, repeatable conditions and numeric categories. Computational capacity over the last century has improved so as to make data processing and mathematical rigor available on a simple mobile phone. Our capacity for data collection and analysis is now less of an issue of practical ability than of social capability.

We ask, of those researchers that wade deeply into ethnographic description, that they provide some grounding on which to understand their own work, as a document that demands more of its reader than attention: we ask them to give us some level of measurable understanding, that by reading their work we may obtain some anticipatory power (Geertz 1973, p. 351) in our better awareness of human being. To the extent we can use qualitative information, to make ourselves more intelligent, we can so delineate the boundaries of the humanities and their wonderful works of art and culture, from the social sciences and their rigorous pursuit of understanding in the framework of “actual” events and the “thick description” (Geertz 1973) needed to comprehend the human reasoning surrounding them.

By attuning our work toward the intrinsic value of human life, and our role as fellow humans and scientific explorers, we guard ourselves from overzealous and calloused actions. Through inductive exploration or deduction through hypothesis-based experimentation, we set rigor to our experiments. In challenging ourselves to maintain these standards, we can aspire to the greater ideals of science, as the community iterates forward toward a better understanding of who we are as a species and how we can develop technology to improve our world. In failing, we find ourselves taking steps back, polluting the policy and public discourse around pressing social needs.

References

Friendly, M (2008) Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization. Accessed

Geertz, C. (1973) from The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture"Preview the document (pp. 332-55).

Harvard. (2011) Project Implicit. Accessed: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

Lewis, C. I. (1929). Mind and the World Order: Outline of a Theory of Knowledge, New York: Charles Scribners. Reprinted by Dover Publications (New York), 1956. Access: https://archive.org/details/MindAndTheWorldOrderOutlineOfATheoryOfKnowledgeClarenceIrvingLewis

Vedantam, S. (2005). "See No Bias," Washington Post. Sunday, January 23, 2005. Accessed: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27067-2005Jan21.html

Appreciating the UW

Integrated Social Sciences Program

Participating in the Integrated Social Sciences program at the University of Washington was a valuable experience: five core courses, two method, two portfolio and one writing focused, helped me to grow as a writer. The core program earnestly delivered an interdisciplinary framework, a digital community of professors, peers and processes, supporting this eager participant with research structure and an ensemble of mentorship. Participants and professors provided weekly feedback through forum discussions and peer review, of essays, annotated bibliographies and other pieces of writing, an absolute luxury for research writers to test ideas and readability.

The Integrated Social Sciences (ISS) program introduces students to a wide range of discourses on social topics, from social justice through information technologies, we are challenged to create thesis interweaving themes from across disciplines. Our portfolio works as a tool to guide our thought, collect our work, and share that work with peers, and to review our work as a mnemonic device. As the work grows, it is after all a digital artifact, any portion of the portfolio may be revised, to further develop toward a cohesive thesis, a thematic collection and a capstone assignment toward the ISS degree.

As an [almost] ISS graduate, I’ve gained experience in qualities referred to as “T-Shaped”, multi-skilled and transdisciplinary, able to develop both a broad perspective and pursue focused inspection in the social sciences. As a professional in software development, these are not new skills: successful programming requires appropriate solutions, understanding the problem at hand through constant exploration and research (Wohlin, Šmite, Brede and Moe, 2015) . Coders are great at solving relatively tame problems, but it takes expanded experience in social sciences to engage the wicked problems of software development (Dooley, 2017; Ralph, Chiasson and Kelley, 2016); thus those T-Shaped people me, “combining problem solving (deep) and communication (broad) skills” (Donofrio, Spohrer, Zadeh & Demirkan, 2018, p.175), are in high demand.

When I began this program, I was well into my second year of development on my treatise of management theory, with the work title, “Humane Waste: Making sense of American busy work”. I’d read through nearly a hundred books, assembled copious notes, a few case studies and had first-hand experience of management from nearly two decades of experience in and out of American business as a software developer and entrepreneur. Where my consumption of Harvard Business School’s HBX curriculum enriched my understanding of corporate leadership, ISS engaged my analytic and research drives, encouraging me to passionately write and read ever-deeper into the pains of poor decision-making. With a couple years of exploration into project management practices, becoming a Professional Project Manager (through the Project Management Institute) and taking several certifying courses around adaptive management theories (termed “agile”, in the industry), I was uncertain how to turn my knowledge acquisition into a set of transformative essays, into knowledge transfer. This is, fundamentally, why I turned to the ISS faculty, and their program was absolutely fantastic in guiding me forward.

Since taking the course I’ve completed several strongly researched essays, bringing an academic rigor and integrity to my writing that would otherwise be missed. My writing itself has become more approachable as I’ve come to produce incisive, pithy paragraphs, saving longer prose for appropriate academic discourse. The book “They Say / I Say” by Graff & Birkenstein (2016) has become my favorite writing guide, wonderfully expressing the modes of discourse in academics, especially within the social sciences. These courses and these professors encouraged me to build out a portfolio, nudging me toward public feedback much sooner than I’d have otherwise taken the step. I’m now ready and positioned to complete and solicit feedback for the various chapters of my book, and to begin on my next adventure in academic research, as I apply to masters programs in Data Science. I’m eternally grateful to the UW staff that developed this program, I will miss their encouragement and the warmth in which they continually deliver through their dedication as bearers of the liberal arts.

References

Donofrio N.M., Spohrer, J., Zadeh, H.S., & Demirkan, H. (2018). Research-Driven Medical Education and Practice: A Case for T-Shaped Professionals. In Y. Moghaddam, H. Demirkan, J. Spohrer. (Eds.) T-Shaped professionals: Adaptive innovators. New York, NY: Business Expert Press.

Dooley, J.F. (2017). Software Design Problems: Wicked or Tame? In Software Development, Design and Coding: With Patterns, Debugging, Unit Testing, and Refactoring. New York, NY: Apress. Retrieved from https://www.apress.com/de/blog/all-blog-posts/software-design-problems-wicked-or-tame/15558942

Graff, G., Birkenstein, C. (2016). They say / I say: The moves that matter in academic writing 3E. New York, NY: WW Norton and Company.

Ralph, P., Chiasson, M., & Kelley, H. (2016). Social theory for software engineering research. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE '16). Article 44. New York, NY: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2915970.2915998

Wohlin, C., Šmite, D., & Brede, Moe, N.B., (2015). A general theory of software engineering. Journal of Systems and Software, 109(C), 229-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2015.08.009

Spotlight on a Scientist

Professor Sara Vannini, University of Washington

The Integrated Social Sciences faculty develops the interdisciplinary program

Sara Vannini, a self-described “Citizen of the World” has a PhD in Communication Sciences and research focuses of “Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), Social Appropriation of Technology, e-Learning and Instructional Design” (Vannini, Personal Website). Her most cited publications often include keywords about “design” and “community” usually in the context of a visual media. Where the visual aspect of “multimedia” or “photography” is highly technical, the concept of “design” is polysemous, as is “community” and Google NGram Viewer shows the rise in usage of these two terms over the last century.

In my own work, I’ve found the term “design” to be difficult to speak about, as it requires some shared understanding that in order to design, we must first have some kind of shared intent. To develop a shared intent, we first need to identify as a community of action. In my current position, the company calls this community “One Team” (Expedia 2016, internal documents). It is difficult to define community, even within a single company, even within a single floor and single division. Frequently in software development we will use the terms “Community of Practice” or “Community of Excellence”, or “Center of Excellence”. That aside, we must go from community to design, if we are going to enact some shared vision. This design again requires alignment: a design must have some sort of hypothesis behind it. Vannini’s study on Community Multimedia Centers in Mozambique (Vannini & Rega 2012) gives an excellent example of finding community and defining an intent that communications centers be “recognized as a mean to participating in the knowledge society”, while demonstrating through surveying that the intent was not realized. By looking at the rise of the keywords “design” and “community” we can see a possible synchronization of their uses, starting in the 1990s, as “design” became more widely used in the context of a “knowledge society” promoted through Internet connectivity

Google NGram Viewer of the terms “design” and “community”.

References

Vannini S and I. Rega (2012) “Information and Communication Flows through Community Multimedia Centers: Perspectives from Mozambican Communities.” Information Technology for Development, vol. 21, no. 1, 2013, pp. 85–98.

Vannini S. Personal Website. Accessed: http://www.saravannini.com/

Vannini S. Google Scholar Profiles. Accessed: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IrNFtBEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Community, Design on Google NGram Viewer. Accessed: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=community%2Cmultimedia%2Cphotography%2Cdesign&year_start=1900&year_end=2008