Workshop: Problem-Solving Sociology Workshops: Evanston, IL 2018-2019

这个项目包括一系列的研讨会，为研究生在论文前期阶段解决问题的社会学。研究表明，基础科学的许多根本性进步源于对具体、应用问题的答案的追求，与此一致，问题解决社会学是一种方法，认为解决现实世界的问题可以导致对社会理解的突破。工作坊将指导学生发展以解决社会问题为导向的论文研究计划。该项目有可能通过拓宽进入该领域的学者的视角来影响社会学领域。36名来自全国各地的申请者将受邀参加在西北大学举办的为期两天的研讨会。研讨会的目标是在非常早期的阶段提供关于研究设计的反馈，并允许学者与同龄的其他研究人员一起发展专题网络和社区，进行类似的研究。这些研讨会旨在帮助学生避免在研究社会问题的学术研究中常见的三个陷阱：简单描述或抱怨问题的陷阱，只研究问题的受害者而不研究导致问题的过程的陷阱，以及满足于批评别人提出的解决方案而不提出自己的解决方案的陷阱。每次研讨会的目标是让每个参与者或参与者小组在第二天结束时为一个研究项目提出一个简短的建议，以针对正在讨论的具体问题制定一个社会学知情的解决方案。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project consists of a series of workshops for graduate students at the pre-dissertation stage in problem-solving sociology. In line with research that shows that many fundamental advances in basic science have resulted from the pursuit of answers to specific, applied problems, problem-solving sociology is an approach that argues that grappling with real-world problems can lead to breakthroughs in the understanding of society. The workshops will guide the students in the development of dissertation research proposals oriented toward solving social problems. The project has the potential for influencing the field of sociology by broadening the perspectives of scholars entering the field.From applicants from around the country, 36 students will be invited to two-day workshops held at Northwestern University. The goal of the workshops is to provide feedback on research design at a very early stage, and to allow scholars to develop thematic networks and communities with other researchers in their age cohort conducting similar research. The workshops aim to help students avoid three traps common in scholarship that studies social problems: the trap of simply describing or complaining about a problem, the trap of studying only the victims of the problem rather than the process that is causing the problem, and the trap of resting content with critiquing others' proposed solutions without proposing solutions of one's own. The goal of each workshop will be for each participant or group of participants to develop, by the end of the second day, a short proposal for a research project to develop a sociologically informed solution to the specific problem being discussed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.