The use of mixed methods research in the behavioral sciences field

Mixed methods research involves the combined use of quantitative and qualitative methods in the same research study, and it is becoming increasingly important in several scientific areas. The aim of this paper is to review and compare through a mixed methods multiple-case study the application of this methodology in three reputable behavioural science journals: the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Addictive Behaviors and Psicothema. A quantitative analysis was carried out to review all the papers published in these journals during the period 2003-2008 and classify them into two blocks: theoretical and empirical, with the latter being further subdivided into three subtypes (quantitative, qualitative and mixed). A qualitative analysis determined the main characteristics of the mixed methods studies identified, in order to describe in more detail the ways in which the two methods are combined based on their purpose, priority, implementation and research design. From the journals selected, a total of 1.958 articles were analysed, the majority of which corresponded to empirical studies, with only a small number referring to research that used mixed methods. Nonetheless, mixed methods research does appear in all the behavioural science journals studied within the period selected, showing a range of designs, where the sequential equal weight mixed methods research design seems to stand out.

Conflicto, colaboración y consenso en la enseñanza de las ciencias sociales = Conflict, collaboration and consensus in the teaching of the Social sciences

This article suggests the study of the key concept of conflict as a means of implementing a critical and communicativecurriculum based on the study of relevant social themes. To this end we put forward the principal characteristics of thecritical/communicative curriculum. We offer a didactic proposal about conflict and explain the results of its application intwo Secondary Education classrooms

La construcción social de las emociones en las sociedades occidentales: el amor materno en la Catalunya del siglo XXI

El objetivo principal de esta investigación es analizar la forma cómo se construye socialmente el amor materno en el marco de las sociedades occidentales, y para ello partiremos del estudio del caso de las maternidades en la Catalunya actual. El amor materno, como emoción, aparece como una codificación cultural que responde a la canalización de la vida que cada cultura establece. En las sociedades occidentales el amor materno se revela como uno de los ejes vertebradores y legitimadores de la esfera reproductiva y del papel de la mujer dentro de ésta, definiéndose en consonancia y dando coherencia al resto de aspectos del sistema social. Dada su importancia los discursos hegemónicos de la sociedad que lo define tienden a naturalizar esta emoción en favor del mantenimiento y el no cuestionamiento del orden social dado, a pesar de que abundante evidencia empírica en ciencias sociales demuestra que se trata de una construcción social que responde a las necesidades del sistema social en cuestión. Actualmente los discursos tradicionales que contenían y definían la concepción de amor materno en Occidente se han ampliado y diversificado debido a cambios sociales como el ingreso de la mujer en la esfera pública; el logro de igualdad jurídica entre géneros; cambios en los modelos familiares; nuevas situaciones en torno a la infancia y la juventud; la intensificación de los flujos migratorios; la creciente urbanización; la expansión de los servicios públicos (escuela y salud); el alargamiento de la esperanza de vida, los métodos anticonceptivos modernos..., de manera tal que muchos de ellos entran en contraposición con las definiciones tradicionales. Es decir, nuevos y viejos discursos alrededor de la maternidad se encuentran enfrentados en su redefinición a otros que lo cuestionan, y a prácticas y cambios en ciertas instituciones que llevan en otra dirección la construcción de esta emoción. Esta nueva situación, aún en fase de conformación, reclama una explicación que pasa por conocer las causas, las formas y la definición del amor materno, en nuestro actual contexto.

The European Social Survey. Methodological aspects

From a scientific point of view, surveys are undoubtedly a valuable tool for the knowledge of the social and political reality. They are widely used in the social sciences research. However, the researcher's task is often disturbed by a series of deficiencies related to some technical aspects that make difficult both the inference and the comparison. The main aim of the present paper is to report and justify the European Social Survey's technical specifications addressed to avoid and/or minimize such deficiencies. The article also gives a characterization of the non-respondents in Spain obtained from the analysis of the 2002 fieldwork data file.

Identificación y evaluación de revistas en procesos de evaluación de la investigación española en humanidades y ciencias sociales: análisis de las áreas de antropología, comunicación social, derecho, documentación, economía y filosofía

ESTUDIO EA2005-0191. Programa de estudios y análisis del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. Línea de estudio: 1.8 Publicaciones científicas españolas

Use of social networks for academic purposes: a case study

Purpose This paper aims to analyse various aspects of an academic social network: the profile of users, the reasons for its use, its perceived benefits and the use of other social media for scholarly purposes. Design/methodology/approach The authors examined the profiles of the users of an academic social network. The users were affiliated with 12 universities. The following were recorded for each user: sex, the number of documents uploaded, the number of followers, and the number of people being followed. In addition, a survey was sent to the individuals who had an email address in their profile. Findings Half of the users of the social network were academics and a third were PhD students. Social sciences scholars accounted for nearly half of all users. Academics used the service to get in touch with other scholars, disseminate research results and follow other scholars. Other widely employed social media included citation indexes, document creation, edition and sharing tools and communication tools. Users complained about the lack of support for the utilisation of these tools. Research limitations/implications The results are based on a single case study. Originality/value This study provides new insights on the impact of social media in academic contexts by analysing the user profiles and benefits of a social network service that is specifically targeted at the academic community.

¿Islamofobia o currículo nulo? La representación del Islam, las culturas musulmanas y los inmigrantes musulmanes en los libros de texto de Cataluña

El objetivo de nuestro artículo es analizar la presentación del Islam, de los musulmanes y de las culturas árabe y musulmana en los libros de texto. Nos basamos en un enfoque metodológico complementario, entre cuantitativo y cualitativo. En el estudio cuantitativo, se han analizado 246 documentos (el 84,1% de los cuales son manuales y libros de texto; el 10,2%, libros de ejercicios; el 4,2%, documentos de acompañamiento y el 1,1%, guías del profesor) que incluyen la totalidad de las asignaturas de la enseñanza no universitaria de Cataluña. Una primera aproximación a los resultados nos permite observar el predominio de referencias en la asignatura de Historia de Bachillerato con diferencias estadísticamente significativas respecto a los porcentajes que se dan en otras disciplinas. Otras asignaturas de ciencias sociales como el Conocimiento del Medio en Primaria (11,7%) o las Ciencias Sociales en ESO (8%) también muestran una buena proporción de representaciones. En el resto de materias, las referencias presentan porcentajes que oscilan entre el 1% y el 5%. Por otra parte, en el 46,2% de los textos analizados no se ha encontrado ni una sola referencia. En el estudio cualitativo (análisis del discurso), que hemos desarrollado a partir de la revisión de un centenar de libros de texto de ciencias sociales correspondientes a los niveles educativos de ESO y Bachillerato, se han seleccionado diez extractos (seis de contenido verbal y cuatro de representaciones icónicas). En esta segunda revisión, se comprueba que solo algo menos de los dos tercios de los textos (64%) contiene alguna alusión –ya sea verbal o icónica– a las culturas musulmanas o al resto de los temas anteriormente citados. Los datos que hemos obtenido ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de revisar y actualizar los contenidos de nuestros libros escolares con respecto a las omisiones y deformaciones del tratamiento del Islam, las culturas musulmanas y la presencia de musulmanes en nuestra sociedad.

Use of social networks for academic purposes: a case study

Purpose- This paper aims to analyse various aspects of an academic social network: the profile of users, the reasons for its use, its perceived benefits and the use of other social media for scholarly purposes. Design/methodology/approach- The authors examined the profiles of the users of an academic social network. The users were affiliated with 12 universities. The following were recorded for each user: sex, the number of documents uploaded, the number of followers, and the number of people being followed. In addition, a survey was sent to the individuals who had an email address in their profile. Findings- Half of the users of the social network were academics and a third were PhD students. Social sciences scholars accounted for nearly half of all users. Academics used the service to get in touch with other scholars, disseminate research results and follow other scholars. Other widely employed social media included citation indexes, document creation, edition and sharing tools and communication tools. Users complained about the lack of support for the utilisation of these tools. Research limitations/implications- The results are based on a single case study. Originality/value- This study provides new insights on the impact of social media in academic contexts by analysing the user profiles and benefits of a social network service that is specifically targeted at the academic community.

Early Childhood Mathematics Education: Research, Curriculum and Educational Practice

This article reviews data obtained through research into early childhood mathematics education in Spain. It analyses the current curricular directions in mathematics education with early learners. It also provides an overview of mathematical practices in early childhood education classrooms to analyse the commonalities and differences between research, curriculum and educational practice. A review of the research presented at SEIEM symposia from 1997 until 2012 demonstrates: a) very little research has been done, a trend that is repeated in other areas, such as the JCR-Social Sciences Edition or the PME; b) the first steps have been taken to create a more and more cohesive body of research, although until now there has not been enough data to outline the curricular directions; and c) some discrepancies still exist between the mathematical practices in early childhood education classrooms and the official guidelines

A Model-to-model analysis of the repeated Prisoners' Dilemma: genetic algorithms vs. evolutionary dynamics

We study the properties of the well known Replicator Dynamics when applied to a finitely repeated version of the Prisoners' Dilemma game. We characterize the behavior of such dynamics under strongly simplifying assumptions (i.e. only 3 strategies are available) and show that the basin of attraction of defection shrinks as the number of repetitions increases. After discussing the difficulties involved in trying to relax the 'strongly simplifying assumptions' above, we approach the same model by means of simulations based on genetic algorithms. The resulting simulations describe a behavior of the system very close to the one predicted by the replicator dynamics without imposing any of the assumptions of the analytical model. Our main conclusion is that analytical and computational models are good complements for research in social sciences. Indeed, while on the one hand computational models are extremely useful to extend the scope of the analysis to complex scenar

Possibilitats i límits de la democràcia deliberativa

La meva investigació s’articula entorn a l’obra del filòsof alemany Jürgen Habermas. L’aportació filosòfica més important de Habermas ha estat l’elaboració d’una racionalitat discursiva. Aquesta nova manera d’entendre la raó com a discurs ha tingut importants repercussions en l’àmbit de la filosofia i de les ciències socials en general. La primera part de la meva investigació analitza l’obra de Habermas, posant èmfasi en el procés de configuració d’aquesta racionalitat discursiva. Aquest primer període culmina amb la presentació de la tesina “Introducció al pensament i l’obra de Jürgen Habermas”. Com a resultat d’aquesta investigació, la meva recerca es centrarà, primer, en les nocions habermasianes de publicitat (Öffentlichkeit) i d’opinió pública (öffentliche Meinung) i, finalment, en l’anomenada democràcia deliberativa. Per tant, la recerca consta de dos part estretament relacionades: (1) un anàlisi del procés de configuració d’una raó discursiva en l’obra de Habermas; (2) una valoració crítica dels límits i les possibilitats de la democràcia deliberativa en les societats contemporànies. Aquesta darrera fase d’investigació –en la qual treballo actualment– s’endinsa en el debat dels “teòrics deliberatius”. Entre d’altres, aprofundeix en les repercussions ètiques i polítiques d’una relació problemàtica entre esfera pública i esfera privada. Desfer aquesta problemàtica passa per repensar l’exigència d’una racionalitat imparcial que, alhora, sigui Desfer aquesta problemàtica capaç de garantir la participació democràtica de la ciutadania en el context actual, on el pluralisme de valors ha esdevingut un dels fenòmens vertebradors de les societats contemporànies.

Complementarities between mathematical and computational modeling: the case of the repeated Prisoners' Dilemma

We study the properties of the well known Replicator Dynamics when applied to a finitely repeated version of the Prisoners' Dilemma game. We characterize the behavior of such dynamics under strongly simplifying assumptions (i.e. only 3 strategies are available) and show that the basin of attraction of defection shrinks as the number of repetitions increases. After discussing the difficulties involved in trying to relax the 'strongly simplifying assumptions' above, we approach the same model by means of simulations based on genetic algorithms. The resulting simulations describe a behavior of the system very close to the one predicted by the replicator dynamics without imposing any of the assumptions of the mathematical model. Our main conclusion is that mathematical and computational models are good complements for research in social sciences. Indeed, while computational models are extremely useful to extend the scope of the analysis to complex scenarios hard to analyze mathematically, formal models can be useful to verify and to explain the outcomes of computational models.

Grámmata Kaì épos : Introducció a la literatura grega I

Aquest treball consisteix en la creació d'un crèdit variable adreçat a alumnat de 3r d'ESO. Hem de tenir en compte que aquest alumnat ja ha estat introduït prèviament a la cultura i civilització clàssica grega dins de l'àrea de ciències socials, per tant el que pretenem és endinsar-nos un poc més en aquesta temàtica, tot aprofundint en alguns aspectes sobre la seva literatura.

La mujer y la geografia universitaria española

This article lies within the sphere of studies initiated recently in various social sciences and which aim to introduce women's problems as an element of analysis, or in other words, the gender perspective. In the field of geography, the earliest contributions of this nature were made in English-speaking countries. It is only in the 1980s that similar contributions begin to appear in Spanish geography, albeit sporadically . In the first part of this article, an analysis is made of the presence of women geographers in Spanish universities, based on a questionnaire submitted to twenty-six departments of geography. The questionnaires provide information on the age, sex and marital status of women staff, and other relevant facts. It becomes evident that women lecturers are in the minority in Spanish university Geography Departments, especially in the top posts, although the percentage compares favourably with English-speaking countries. The second part of the article consists of a study of the written contributions of women geographers through the analysis of the various geographical magazines published by geography departments and other related bodies. The author reaches the conclusion that the percentage of articles written by women geographers is even lower than the corresponding percentage of staff members. Especially noteworthy is the very limited number of articles in the fields of physical geography and geographical theory, in contrast to a certain tendency to publish studies on, for example, population or urban topics with a highly restricted territorial scope

Las habilidades sociales en la intervención social y educativa: de la creatividad a la adquisición de competencias

Presentamos una comunicación sobre la experiencia llevada a cabo en la asignatura de Habilidades Sociales, en la Facultad de Educación Social y Trabajo Social Pere Tarrés. Se trata de una metodología innovadora centrada en el alumno que, desde la creatividad y el sentido del humor, utiliza la metáfora de la fiesta de cumpleaños como elemento simbólico favorecedor del proceso de aprendizaje y de crecimiento personal y profesional. La vinculación de esta metáfora con las competencias trabajadas se hace a través de diversos elementos que representan el contenido específico de la asignatura. Es así como se ofrecen herramientas y estrategias para transferir lo experimentado en el aula al futuro entorno profesional. La valoración del profesorado y de los estudiantes nos confirma que es una práctica educativa de éxito.