Templeton Religion Trust’s Post

Exciting insights from John List's recent paper on the complexities of scaling social science interventions: List delves into the challenge of 'voltage drop,' where policies may lose effectiveness when expanded. His call for a paradigm shift urges researchers to incorporate scalability tests early in experimental design, ensuring interventions stand strong with diverse populations. The paper also navigates economic considerations in scaling, emphasizing high fixed costs and decision-maker impatience. List proposes a backward induction approach to address scalability constraints upfront, drawing parallels with engineering practices. The suggestion to design experiments with scalability in mind reflects a strategic mindset for robust policy translation. Food for thought for social science research enhancing the impact of our interventions! #SocialScience #PolicyResearch #Scalability #JohnList #BehavioralScience #AcademicInsights

New publication; a practical guide to apply an Indigneous Standpoint in research. https://lnkd.in/gCjxuQe6

This is interesting. In my country, much of the social sciences research are lodged in the academia. There is no government agency that is dedicated to supporting social sciences research- it is lumped as one of the 13 divisions of the Council on "basic sciences" (which themselves have less than ideal funding capacity). Social Sciences research is only deemed important insofar as it leads to policy for national economic development (there is a separate matter on how much of these policy studies are translated to upstream/ downstream governance). So I am curious how "research impact" is framed so that funders may support more SS research.

Why I do what I do. 🏛 September 2020. This was the time I started with Essydo Magazine (essydo.com). Politics was the field where I always felt I could see quite far, even through complex webs of societal interactions. Initially, I wanted to simply channel my thoughts and document them. With each article, Essydo Magazine's meaning changed - for me and in general. I understood that most people view politics from the perspective of always being problematic. It is always bad or, at the very best, not enough. I also understood that people do not engage with political topics because they want a solution to those problems. Talking about politics is a vehicle to express social standing and keep oneself busy. This is why political discourse is filled with buzzwords, opinions and emotions. I want to move far beyond those things with Essydo Magazine. This magazine is designed to understand, and understanding is complex. It is easy to emotionally vent about corrupt governments. It is easy to position oneself on the left or right. It is easy to criticise other nations' actions. But everything that moves in the direction of professional statecraft seems unattractive to the common man. There are solutions to all those problems that we talk about quantitatively enough to keep them alive and superficially enough to leave them unsolved. I write political and societal analyses for Essydo Magazine because it is the right thing to do. Politics is a serious matter, and I want to create a counterbalance to the general discourse laden with buzzwords, opinions and emotions. I want to come closer to truly understanding our world and share my analyses with this world. I do not have opinions or even an ideology, as I know that understanding stands beyond that. Essydo Magazine, so my vision, lays at that very place - far beyond the unseriousness of our wishes to keep our daily lives busy with entertainment and attraction at the expense of our nations' progress.

Development research is more than just academic inquiry—it's about turning theories into practical, real-world solutions. By integrating insights from various disciplines, we can address complex challenges and drive sustainable growth and social equity globally. Read more at https://lnkd.in/dJ5gp-nx #DevelopmentResearch #SustainableGrowth #SocialEquity #InterdisciplinaryInsights #TheoryToPractice

This past month, I've found myself crossing new thresholds. I've taken up harmonica lessons and shifted to self-employment (not as a harmonicist, yet). These changes are, in part, an effort to slow down and focus on my PhD research exploring community-centred governance and capital. At the heart of my doctoral research sits a long-time curiosity: What needs to change to better enable local people to make decisions about local futures? 🔀 We're at a crucial juncture. The challenges we face - from climate change to social inequality - demand new ways of thinking about, governing, and resourcing change. Our modern Gordian Knot – a tangle of interconnected systems and issues - doesn't have a 'single stroke' solution. Instead, we need to patiently unravel this knot together, thread by thread. For those wanting to understand or engage with this work, I've created this site to share my research insights and reflections: ➡ https://lnkd.in/gUKMx-6N 📒 This experiment includes 'field notes' - a learning (b)log featuring purposefully unpolished, plain-language observations and reflections. These serve to make academic research more accessible to many and, equally, to test my thinking and approach with others. You can read my first field note, The Gordian (un)Knot: unravelling systemic issues through community-centred approaches, here: ➡ https://lnkd.in/gQETCb9c 💬 'Spinning Yarns' is in production, including recorded conversations with people holding similar curiosities or leading the work on the front-lines. The name is a ‘hat tip’ to Aussie storytelling culture and in-relation research methodologies, like yarning, that weave together multiple modes and ways of knowing. 💡 I'd value your thoughts: What would it take to untangle systemic issues?

https://lnkd.in/eqHbcxgu Science and Technology in Society: A Critical Reflection. In Sayantan Mandal (Ed.). Roadmap for Humanities and Social Sciences in STEM Higher Education. Springer, pp. 25-34.

Thrilled to welcome our latest journal partner !! Ecokritike 👉 lnkd.in/drTWNNTC 🤟🔻 Now using ReviewerCredits services! Ecokritike is an international, open access, blind and double peer-review journal for academics and researchers who study the fields of Environmental Humanities, Literary Theory and Cultural Criticism. The journal seeks to explore issues beyond the traditional binary and complex relationship of nature-culture, and also examines the changing status of subjectivity, agency, and citizenship, while envisioning matters for sustainable futures in a more-than-human world. #publishing #researchintegrity #publishingintegrity #reproducibility

“For degrowth research to be taken more seriously, it is essential that it sets higher standards for size and representativeness of samples in empirical studies, investigates public and stakeholder support of degrowth thinking, and strives for synergy with existing research fields (e.g. economics, psychology, policy studies) as these offer a wealth of insights about designing effective, efficient, and equitable environmental/climate policy that can count on sufficient public support.”

The fields of social science, political science, and social engineering stand at the intersection of human behavior, governance, and societal change. Evolving from centuries of philosophical inquiry and empirical research, these disciplines offer insights into the complexities of human societies, political systems, and the dynamics of social change. In this blog post, we delve into the origins, definitions, applications, and interdisciplinary connections of these fascinating fields, exploring their significance in understanding and shaping the world we live in.