Search results for "science studies"
showing 10 items of 182 documents
The Hidden Charm of Life
2019
Synthetic biology is an engineering view on biotechnology, which has revolutionized genetic engineering. The field has seen a constant development of metaphors that tend to highlight the similarities of cells with machines. I argue here that living organisms, particularly bacterial cells, are not machine-like, engineerable entities, but, instead, factory-like complex systems shaped by evolution. A change of the comparative paradigm in synthetic biology from machines to factories, from hardware to software, and from informatics to economy is discussed.
Fragments of peer review: A quantitative analysis of the literature (1969-2015)
2018
This paper examines research on peer review between 1969 and 2015 by looking at records indexed from the Scopus database. Although it is often argued that peer review has been poorly investigated, we found that the number of publications in this field doubled from 2005. A half of this work was indexed as research articles, a third as editorial notes and literature reviews and the rest were book chapters or letters. We identified the most prolific and influential scholars, the most cited publications and the most important journals in the field. Co-authorship network analysis showed that research on peer review is fragmented, with the largest group of co-authors including only 2.1% of the wh…
The dawn of a golden age in mathematical insect sociobiology
2009
23 pages; It is bold. It is also arguably overly grand and it may be illusory. History alone will judge if this is the dawn of a golden age in mathematical sociobiology. To be sure, mathematical biology has already seen a number of false dawns. It may appear, for example, that both catastrophe theory and chaos theory each have enjoyed almost all of their 15 minutes of fame. However, it is right and proper that a wave of initial excitement, or indeed, hyperbole, is followed by slower and steadier progress as a field matures. So what justifies our unbridled optimism? The first answer is demonstrable progress. Self-organization theory and complex systems theory coupled with pioneering experime…
Unlock ways to share data on peer review
2020
Peer review is the defining feature of scholarly communication. In a 2018 survey of more than 11, 000 researchers, 98% said that they considered peer review important or extremely important for ensuring the quality and integrity of scholarly communication.
Drift and evolutionary forces
2016
This arride analyzes the view of evolutionary theory as a theory of forces. The analogy with Newtonian mechanics has been challenged due to the alleged mismatch between drift and the other evolutionary forces. Since genetic drifr has no direction severa! authors tried to protect its status as a force: denying its lack of directionality, extending the notion of force and looking for a force in physics which also lacks of direction. I analyse these approaches, and although this strategy finally succeeds, this discussion overlooks the crucial point on the debate between causalists and statisticalists: the causal status of evolutionary theoty.; El presente artículo analiza la visión de la teorí…
Towards the realization of a basic professional profile model for Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) teachers
2017
[EN] In this work it is both discussed and provided a framework of speci c competences that may serve asa guide for setting up an ongoing process in the professional development of Science, Technology andMathematics (STEM) teachers. The fundamentals of the TPACK model serve to base the theoreticalbackground of this scheme, to which we have incorporated an additional feature which means to considerthe linguistic (L) dimension, thus transforming it into the TPACLK model. The di erent detailed profes-sional STEM capacities have been classi ed into six main sections. The two rst points discussed establishthe STEM disciplinary and didactic capacities; the third section corresponds to the role of…
Two Peas in a Pod: Book Sales Clubs and Book Ownership in the Twentieth Century
2017
In the early twentieth century, book sales clubs became popular as an alternative means of book distribution. Corinna Norrick-Ruhl offers a unique comparative approach, synthesizing research about book sales clubs in twentieth-century Germany and the USA. Whereas previous studies have focussed mainly on the recommended literature and the effect on middlebrow reading, Norrick-Ruhl shows how book sales clubs rendered the book as a cultural object available and affordable, filling working-class and middle-class shelves with attractive volumes of “furniture books”. While book sales clubs were enormously successful in the twentieth century, they have recently declined. The author finally underli…
Wie konzipieren wir Kinderkriegen?
2016
Zusammenfassung: Wie geht Kinderkriegen? Im Alltag lautet die Antwort Sex – Schwangerschaften resultieren aus Geschlechtsverkehr und Befruchtung. Sozialwissenschaftliche Studien führen sie dagegen auf ein (rationales) Entscheidungshandeln von Paaren zurück. Diesem unterliegen ‚Fertilitätsintentionen‘, denen ein entsprechendes ‚Fertilitätsverhalten‘ korrespondiert. Theoriegrundlage bilden Rational-Choice- und kognitionspsychologische Ansätze. Der Aufsatz wird diese Modellbildung hinterfragen, da sie das Kinderkriegen in seiner lebensweltlichen Komplexität nicht nur empirisch ausklammert, sondern auch normativ idealisiert und dabei dessen sozialen Eigensinn verfehlt. Anhand narrativer Intervi…
Der strategische Einsatz von Fake News zur Propaganda im Wahlkampf
2018
Im Zeitalter digitaler Medien und Sozialer Netzwerke sind Fake News kein neues Phanomen, haben aber eine Radikalisierung erfahren. Kennzeichnend sind hierbei vier Aspekte: Skandalisierung und Emporung, die Instrumentalisierung von Verbreitungsalgorithmen, neue Rezeptionsdynamiken und fehlende Gatekeeper-Funktionen. Mit Blick auf den US-Wahlkampf 2016 und die Bundestagswahl 2017 werden diese Facetten naher beleuchtet, vorliegende Untersuchungsergebnisse dabei einbezogen und auf Aufklarungs- als Gegenmasnahmen eingegangen.
Agenda and media pluralism in Al Rojo Vivo and Las Mañanas de Cuatro
2019
espanolAun con el auge del entorno digital e hibrido, la television continua siendo el principal medio de informacion en Espana. Se toma una muestra de 50 programas (25 de “Al Rojo Vivo” y 25 de “Las Mananas de Cuatro”) para registrar quien participa en ellos, en que condiciones lo hacen y sobre que temas se discute. Se aprecia un alto grado de equivalencia en la agenda establecida y una bajisima inclusion de mujeres. El Proces catalan monopolizo la atencion. La metodologia incluye la cuantificacion de los contraargumentos recibidos por los contertulios, mostrando una clara desventaja de las posiciones soberanistas e izquierdistas (a pesar de tratarse de las dos cadenas identificadas mas a …