Usable social science

"This volume is a one-of-a-kind contribution to applied social science and the product of a long collaboration between an established, interdisciplinary sociologist and a successful banking executive. Together, Neil Smelser and John Reed use a straightforward approach to presenting substantive social science knowledge and indicate its relevance and applicability to decision-making, problem-solving and policy-making. Among the areas presented are space-and-time coordinates of social life; cognition and bias; group and network effects; the role of sanctions; organizational dynamics; and macro-changes associated with economic development. Finally, the authors look at the big picture of why society at large demands and needs social-science knowledge, and how the academy actually supplies relevant knowledge."-- Read more... Abstract: Presenting substantive social science knowledge and indicating its relevance and applicability to decision-making, problem-solving and policy-making, this title looks at the big picture of why society at large demands and needs social-science knowledge, and how the academy actually supplies relevant knowledge. Read more... Content: Space and time : constraints and opportunities -- Some dynamics of cognition, judgment, and bias -- Sanctions in organizational and social life -- Groups, teams, networks, trust, and social capital -- How decisions are made -- Organizations and organizational change -- Economic development and social change -- Methods of research and their usability -- Social change, social problems, and demands for knowledge -- The production of knowledge in the social sciences.