Web-based Tools for Developing and Accessing Sociological Theory

barry Markovsky （P.I.）何塞·维达尔（合作私家侦探）该项目包括设计、实现和测试一个基于网络的系统，用于在学科的所有领域开发、改进和传播社会学理论。拟议中的“Wikitheoria”将通过一系列用户友好的工具和一系列鼓励广泛参与的激励措施提供一系列服务。系统的核心是“模块化理论化”的概念，也就是说，小的、明确的、相互连接的理论，可以为不同的目的以不同的方式组合起来。在管理方面，该系统将接收和存储原始提交，分析提交材料的逻辑和语义结构，组织、索引和超链接文本以最大限度地方便使用，显示和传播内容，提供改进建议，并评估使用模式。从用户的角度来看，系统将提供工具来帮助学习界面，智能地搜索特定领域的内容，从其他实质性领域识别相关材料，集体评估和增强提交的材料，在子学科之间交叉施肥，识别可研究的主张，评估先前研究的相关发现，从理论上为经验应用提供信息，促进非社会学家的使用，补充教学等等。该系统将利用已证实的激励措施和知识汇总方法，促进改进理论的发展。web界面和底层流程将充分利用从其他知识系统（如Wikipedia和StackOverflow）的成功以及b谷歌Knol和Yahoo！的答案。模块化程序将在谷歌应用引擎上开发，谷歌应用引擎是一个免费的托管平台，允许在谷歌服务器云上开发和部署应用程序。pi使用谷歌帐户服务和其他用户可能已经熟悉或可以轻松获得的web功能。通过提供一个基础设施工具，鼓励理论驱动的研究，Wikitheoria将同时推进实质性的知识，并为那些寻求应用这些知识的人提供资源。该系统将相对容易使用，并将告知学者和从业者内外的社会学。该系统的盲评估系统和对贡献者的开放性消除了参与者人口特征可能产生的任何影响。专业网络、级别、学科地位、种族、性别和地理位置都不能决定任何贡献的相关性。该项目还为学生和教师提供了一些参与系统的独特机会，例如贡献理论材料，在课堂上使用内容，以及在讨论组中发帖。

SES - 1123040Barry Markovsky (P.I.)Jose Vidal (co-P.I.)University of South CarolinaWeb-based Tools for Developing and Accessing Sociological TheoryAbstractThis project involves designing, implementing and testing a web-based system for developing, improving and disseminating sociological theories across all areas of the discipline. The proposed "Wikitheoria" will provide a range of services via a set of user-friendly tools, and a set of incentives to foster broad participation. At the heart of the system is the concept of "modular theorizing," i.e., small, explicit, inter-connectable theories that can be assembled in different ways for different purposes. On the management side, the system will receive and store original submissions, analyze logical and semantic structures of submitted materials, organize, index and hyperlink text to maximize ease of use, display and disseminate content, offer recommendations for improvements, and evaluate usage patterns. From the user's perspective the system will provide tools to help learn the interface, search intelligently for content in specific areas, identify relevant materials from other substantive areas, collectively evaluate and enhance submitted materials, cross-fertilize between sub-disciplines, identify researchable claims, evaluate relevant findings from prior research, theoretically inform empirical applications, promote use by non-sociologists, supplement teaching, and more. The system will facilitate the development of improved theories using proven incentives and knowledge aggregation methods. The web interface and underlying processes will capitalize on what has already been learned from the successes of other knowledge systems such as Wikipedia and StackOverflow, and the lack of success of others such as Google Knol and Yahoo! Answers. The modularized program will be developed on the Google App Engine, a free hosting platform that allows application development and deployment on the Google cloud of servers. The PIs use Google account services and other web functions with which users are likely to be familiar already or else can acquire with ease.By offering an infrastructure tool that encourages theoretically-driven research, Wikitheoria will simultaneously advance substantive knowledge and offer resources for those seeking to apply that knowledge. The system will be relatively easy to use, and will inform scholars and practitioners within and outside of sociology. The system's blind evaluation system and openness to contributors eliminates any possible impact of participants' demographic characteristics. Professional network, rank, status in the discipline, race, gender, and geographic location play no part in determining the relevance of any contribution. The project also offers some unique opportunities for students and instructors to participate in the system such as contributing theoretical material, using content in class, and posting to discussion groups.