An Overview of the Social Norms Approach
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Jackson: Choosing a Methodology: Philosophical Underpinning
JACKSON: CHOOSING A METHODOLOGY: PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNING Choosing a Methodology: Philosophical Practitioner Research Underpinning In Higher Education Copyright © 2013 University of Cumbria Vol 7 (1) pages 49-62 Elizabeth Jackson University of Cumbria [email protected] Abstract As a university lecturer, I find that a frequent question raised by Masters students concerns the methodology chosen for research and the rationale required in dissertations. This paper unpicks some of the philosophical coherence that can inform choices to be made regarding methodology and a well-thought out rationale that can add to the rigour of a research project. It considers the conceptual framework for research including the ontological and epistemological perspectives that are pertinent in choosing a methodology and subsequently the methods to be used. The discussion is exemplified using a concrete example of a research project in order to contextualise theory within practice. Key words Ontology; epistemology; positionality; relationality; methodology; method. Introduction This paper arises from work with students writing Masters dissertations who frequently express confusion and doubt about how appropriate methodology is chosen for research. It will be argued here that consideration of philosophical underpinning can be crucial for both shaping research design and for explaining approaches taken in order to support credibility of research outcomes. It is beneficial, within the unique context of the research, for the researcher to carefully -
Online Learning and Social Norms: Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Field Experiment in a Course for a Cause
Online Learning and Social Norms: Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Field Experiment in a Course for a Cause αJi Yong Cho, βYue Li, βMarianne E. Krasny, βAlex Russ, αRene F. Kizilcec αCornell University, Department of Information Science βCornell University, Department of Nature Resources and the Environment Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract. Online courses are increasingly used to scale up professional learning. However, engaging people throughout a course and encouraging them to take actions afterward is challenging, especially with culturally diverse participants whose response to encouragement may vary. Social norms can serve as a strong encouragement to participants, but they are mostly unobservable in online courses. We therefore tested how communicating three established kinds of social norms impacts behavioral outcomes and how the effects vary across different cultures. Findings from a randomized controlled field experiment in a Massive Open Online Course entitled Nature Education show that both the type of norm message (descriptive; dynamic; injunctive) and the cultural context (China; US) influence how the intervention improves course outcomes: US participants’ completion rate rose 40% following an injunctive norm message stating that participants ought to conduct nature education, while other norm messages were ineffective for both US and Chinese participants. Regardless of the social norm message, nearly all participants engaged in nature education activities within three months after the course ended. Communicating social norms can impact participants’ behavior in the course and beyond, which can offer a strategy for supporting online professional learning and tailoring messages to different cultural contexts. Cho, J. Y., Li, Y., Krasny, M., Russ, A., Kizilcec, R., (2021) Online Learning and Social Norms: Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Field Experiment in a Course for a Cause. -
The Strength of Social Norms Across Human Groups
PPSXXX10.1177/1745691617708631Gelfand et al.Strength of Social Norms 708631research-article2017 Perspectives on Psychological Science 2017, Vol. 12(5) 800 –809 The Strength of Social Norms Across © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: Human Groups sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617708631 10.1177/1745691617708631 www.psychologicalscience.org/PPS Michele J. Gelfand1, Jesse R. Harrington1, and Joshua Conrad Jackson2 1University of Maryland and 2University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Abstract Social norms are a defining feature of human psychology, yet our understanding of them is still underdeveloped. In this article, we present our own cross-cultural research program on tightness-looseness (TL)—which draws on field, experimental, computational, and neuroscience methods—to illustrate how going beyond Western borders is critical for understanding social norms’ functions and their multilevel consequences. Cross-cultural research enables us to account for the universal features of norm psychology but also explains the great cultural diversity we see in social norms around the globe. Keywords culture, diversity, neuroscience, individual differences, environment Imagine a world where everyone drives on both sides around town, to having conversations, to running an of the road. There are stoplights but no one pays atten- organization turn into an uncoordinated mess. tion to them. Trains, buses, and airplanes don’t operate Perhaps because of their important role in human with any fixed schedule. In conversations, people don’t behavior, social norms have been a central topic of greet each other, interrupt each other frequently, and study in psychology. The earliest studies of normative invade each other’s space. -
On Becoming a Pragmatic Researcher: the Importance of Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methodologies
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 482 462 TM 035 389 AUTHOR Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.; Leech, Nancy L. TITLE On Becoming a Pragmatic Researcher: The Importance of Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methodologies. PUB DATE 2003-11-00 NOTE 25p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (Biloxi, MS, November 5-7, 2003). PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Pragmatics; *Qualitative Research; *Research Methodology; *Researchers ABSTRACT The last 100 years have witnessed a fervent debate in the United States about quantitative and qualitative research paradigms. Unfortunately, this has led to a great divide between quantitative and qualitative researchers, who often view themselves in competition with each other. Clearly, this polarization has promoted purists, i.e., researchers who restrict themselves exclusively to either quantitative or qualitative research methods. Mono-method research is the biggest threat to the advancement of the social sciences. As long as researchers stay polarized in research they cannot expect stakeholders who rely on their research findings to take their work seriously. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the debate between quantitative and qualitative is divisive, and thus counterproductive for advancing the social and behavioral science field. This paper advocates that all graduate students learn to use and appreciate both quantitative and qualitative research. In so doing, students will develop into what is termed "pragmatic researchers." (Contains 41 references.) (Author/SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. On Becoming a Pragmatic Researcher 1 Running head: ON BECOMING A PRAGMATIC RESEARCHER U.S. -
Social Norms and Social Influence Mcdonald and Crandall 149
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Social norms and social influence Rachel I McDonald and Christian S Crandall Psychology has a long history of demonstrating the power and and their imitation is not enough to implicate social reach of social norms; they can hardly be overestimated. To norms. Imitation is common enough in many forms of demonstrate their enduring influence on a broad range of social life — what creates the foundation for culture and society phenomena, we describe two fields where research continues is not the imitation, but the expectation of others for when to highlight the power of social norms: prejudice and energy imitation is appropriate, and when it is not. use. The prejudices that people report map almost perfectly onto what is socially appropriate, likewise, people adjust their A social norm is an expectation about appropriate behav- energy use to be more in line with their neighbors. We review ior that occurs in a group context. Sherif and Sherif [8] say new approaches examining the effects of norms stemming that social norms are ‘formed in group situations and from multiple groups, and utilizing normative referents to shift subsequently serve as standards for the individual’s per- behaviors in social networks. Though the focus of less research ception and judgment when he [sic] is not in the group in recent years, our review highlights the fundamental influence situation. The individual’s major social attitudes are of social norms on social behavior. formed in relation to group norms (pp. 202–203).’ Social norms, or group norms, are ‘regularities in attitudes and Address behavior that characterize a social group and differentiate Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, it from other social groups’ [9 ] (p. -
What Normative Terms Mean and Why It Matters for Ethical Eory
What Normative Terms Mean and Why It Matters for Ethical eory* Alex Silk University of Birmingham [email protected] Forthcoming in M. Timmons (Ed.), Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, Vol. Abstract is paper investigates how inquiry into normative language can improve substantive normative theorizing. First I examine two dimensions along which normative language differs: “strength” and “subjectivity.” Next I show how greater sensitivity to these features of the meaning and use of normative lan- guage can illuminate debates about three issues in ethics: the coherence of moral dilemmas, the possibility of supererogatory acts, and the connection between making a normative judgment and being motivated to act accord- ingly. e paper concludes with several brief reections on the theoretical utility of the distinction — at least so-called — between “normative” and “non- normative” language and judgment. e discussions of these specic linguistic and normative issues can be seen as case studies illustrating the fruitfulness of utilizing resources from philosophy of language for normative theory. Get- ting clearer on the language we use in normative conversation and theorizing can help us diagnose problems with bad arguments and formulate better mo- tivated questions. is can lead to clearer answers and bring into relief new theoretical possibilities and avenues to explore. *anks to Eric Swanson and the audience at the Fih Annual Arizona Normative Ethics Work- shop for discussion, and to two anonymous referees for comments. Contents Introduction Weak and strong necessity Endorsing and non-endorsing uses Dilemmas Supererogation Judgment internalism and “the normative” Conclusion Introduction e strategy of clarifying philosophical questions by investigating the language we use to express them is familiar. -
The Influence of Norm Perception on Pro-Environmental Behavior
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article The Influence of Norm Perception on Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Comparison between the Moderating Roles of Traditional Media and Social Media Ruixia Han 1,2 and Yali Cheng 1,* 1 School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan RD, Minhang District, Shanghai 200240, China; [email protected] 2 Institute of Cultural Innovation and Youth Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan RD, Minhang District, Shanghai 200240, China * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 7 September 2020; Accepted: 29 September 2020; Published: 30 September 2020 Abstract: The activation of norm perception can promote pro-environmental behavior. How does media, as important variables in activating norm perception, affect pro-environmental behavior? Through an online survey of 550 randomly selected Chinese citizens, this study examines the roles of traditional media and social media in influencing the relationship between norm perception and pro-environmental behavior. Based on multi-level regression analysis of data, this study found that (1) compared with traditional media, social media play a more significant role in moderating the relationship between norm perception and pro-environmental behavior; (2) the promotion of the perception of injunctive norms by traditional media has a negative relationship with pro-environmental behaviors; (3) the activation of subjective norm perception by social media will promote pro-environmental behaviors. According to this research, in the current media environment, we should carefully release pro-environmental information on social media and encourage relevant discussions, and appropriately reduce environment-relevant injunctive normative information on traditional media. The study also discusses the role of media in regulating norm perception and pro-environmental behavior in different cultural contexts. -
Reflections on Social Norms and Human Rights
The Psychology of Social Norms and the Promotion of Human Rights Deborah A. Prentice Princeton University Chapter to appear in R. Goodman, D. Jinks, & A. K. Woods (Eds.), Understanding social action, promoting human rights. New York: Oxford University Press. This chapter was written while I was Visiting Faculty in the School of Social Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ. I would like to thank Jeremy Adelman, JoAnne Gowa, Bob Keohane, Eric Maskin, Dale Miller, Catherine Ross, Teemu Ruskola, Rick Shweder, and Eric Weitz for helpful discussions and comments on earlier drafts of the chapter. Please direct correspondence to: Deborah Prentice Department of Psychology Princeton University Green Hall Princeton, NJ 08540 [email protected] 1 Promoting human rights means changing behavior: Changing the behavior of governments that mistreat suspected criminals, opponents of their policies, supporters of their political rivals, and members of particular gender, ethnic, or religious groups; changing the behavior of corporations that mistreat their workers, damage the environment, and produce unsafe products; and changing the behavior of citizens who mistreat their spouses, children, and neighbors. In this chapter, I consider what an understanding of how social norms function psychologically has to contribute to this very worthy project. Social norms have proven to be an effective mechanism for changing health-related and environmental behaviors, so there is good reason to think that they might be helpful in the human-rights domain as well. In the social sciences, social norms are defined as socially shared and enforced attitudes specifying what to do and what not to do in a given situation (see Elster, 1990; Sunstein, 1997). -
Theory-Based Predictors of Influenza Vaccination Among Pregnant Women
Vaccine 31 (2012) 213–218 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Vaccine jou rnal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/vaccine Theory-based predictors of influenza vaccination among pregnant women a b c d,∗ Jessica R. Gorman , Noel T. Brewer , Julie B. Wang , Christina D. Chambers a Moores UCSD Cancer Center and Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States b Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States c Moores UCSD Cancer Center and Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States d Departments of Pediatrics and Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Background: Guidelines recommend influenza vaccination for pregnant women, but vaccine uptake in this Received 16 July 2012 population is far below the goal set by Healthy People 2020. The purpose of this study was to examine Received in revised form 17 October 2012 predictors of seasonal influenza vaccination among pregnant women. Accepted 18 October 2012 Methods: Between 2009 and 2012, the Vaccines and Medications in Pregnancy Surveillance System Available online 30 October 2012 (VAMPSS) conducted a prospective cohort study of influenza vaccine safety among pregnant women in the US and Canada that oversampled vaccinated women. Data for the present paper are from an addi- Keywords: tional cross-sectional telephone survey completed during the 2010–2011 influenza season. -
1 What Is Scientific Progress?
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by PhilSci Archive What is Scientific Progress? Lessons from Scientific Practice Moti Mizrahi St. John’s University Forthcoming in Journal for General Philosophy of Science Abstract: Alexander Bird argues for an epistemic account of scientific progress, whereas Darrell Rowbottom argues for a semantic account. Both appeal to intuitions about hypothetical cases in support of their accounts. Since the methodological significance of such appeals to intuition is unclear, I think that a new approach might be fruitful at this stage in the debate. So I propose to abandon appeals to intuition and look at scientific practice instead. I discuss two cases that illustrate the way in which scientists make judgments about progress. As far as scientists are concerned, progress is made when scientific discoveries contribute to the increase of scientific knowledge of the following sorts: empirical, theoretical, practical, and methodological. I then propose to articulate an account of progress that does justice to this broad conception of progress employed by scientists. I discuss one way of doing so, namely, by expanding our notion of scientific knowledge to include both know-that and know-how. Keywords: aim of science; Alexander Bird; Darrell Rowbottom; scientific knowledge; scientific practice; scientific progress 1 1. Introduction According to Chang (2007, p. 1), “Scientific progress remains one of the most significant issues in the philosophy of science today.” This is partly because it seems rather odd to deny that science is making progress, but it is difficult to articulate in what sense exactly science is making progress. -
Epistemic Justification, Normative Guidance, and Knowledge
13 Epistemic Justication, Normative Guidance, and Knowledge ∗ ARTURS LOGINS Abstract. Recently, Pascal Engel has defended a version of a compatibilist view in epistemology that combines both an element of externalism and an element of internalism (Engel 2007, 2012). According to this position exter- nalism has to be adopted about knowledge, whereas internalism has to be endorsed concerning epistemic justification. In this paper I argue that consi- derations that, allegedly, motivates Engel’s internalism about epistemic justi- fication, can be explained equally well, or, indeed, even better by a knowledge based externalist account of epistemic justification. ∗This paper is dedicated to Pascal Engel. I would like to express my gratefulness to Pascal for his teaching and support. His work has made an important impact on me. In particular his Engel 2000, and his Engel 2007 contributed largely to my initiation to analytic philosophy and contem- porary epistemology, respectively. The research work that lead to this article was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant number 100015_131794 (project Knowledge, Evidence, and Practice). 169 170 ARTURS LOGINS 1. Introduction Recently, Pascal Engel has defended a version of a compatibilist view in epis- temology that combines both an element of externalism and an element of internalism (Engel 2007, 2012). In short, according to this view, knowledge has to be characterized in externalist terms, whereas epistemic justification and ra- tionality has to be characterized in internalist terms. The externalist view about knowledge that Engel favours integrates a ver- sion of safety account of knowledge that requires that knowledge is safe belief and does not require that a subject has a reflective access top in order for the subject to know thatp (see Engel 2012 : 8). -
Hartian Positivism and Normative Facts: How Facts Make Law II
UCLA UCLA Public Law & Legal Theory Series Title Hartian Positivism and Normative Facts: How Facts Make Law II Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/81q9p7hk Author Greenberg, Mark Publication Date 2006-03-03 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Hartian Positivism and Normative Facts: How Facts Make Law II Mark Greenberg UCLA School of Law and Department of Philosophy I. Introduction In How Facts Make Law and other recent papers,1 I argue that a full constitutive account of the content of the law – of legal facts – must appeal to normative facts. The project of HFML is to defend this position without assuming that legal facts are themselves normative facts. The argument’s engine is a requirement that a constitutive account of legal facts must meet. According to this rational-relation requirement,2 it is not enough for a constitutive account of legal facts to specify non-legal facts that modally determine the legal facts. The constitutive determinants of legal facts must provide reasons for the obtaining of the legal facts (in a sense of “reason” that I develop). In HFML,3 I argue that non-normative, contingent facts – descriptive facts, for short – do not provide such reasons without normative facts.4 In the present paper, I focus on the rational-relation requirement. I deploy it in three related projects. First, I respond to a family of objections that challenge me to explain why normative facts and descriptive facts together are better placed to provide 1 Mark Greenberg, How Facts Make Law, <INSERT CITE FOR HFML IN THIS VOLUME HERE 2006> [hereinafter HFML].