What's On? - Events & Exhibitions at ICOSS
ICOSS is the home of Social Science in Sheffield and as such we play host to a wide range of events from across the faculty and aim to run Social Science themed exhibitions every month. Here are details of upcoming events and exhibitions at ICOSS which may be of interest, and open to, a wider audience...
APRIL 2012 - CEES exhibition
The new ICOSS research centre CEES (Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainability) is holding an exhibition of its work in the ICOSS Foyer throughout April.
MAY 2012 - new exhibition
Details of the exhibition for May will be revealed here shortly.
6th-7th JUNE 2012 - Creativity and Methods in the Social Sciences
This two day workshop is designed to explore some of the issues and potential of a range of creative methods for carrying out social research in the social sciences. The workshop will involve a series of talks that include: re-using old methods in new research environments, creating new research arenas, mixing qualitative methods, being creative with quantitative methods and design for participatory methods. On each day, there will also be some workshop sessions so that participants can experiment with some of these approaches.
The workshop is free and is open to all staff and postgraduate students. Please reserve a place by emailing Jayne Parkin: j.e.parkin@sheffield.ac.uk ** NOW FULLY BOOKED **
11th JUNE 2012 - Evaluating what is meant by good research: Epistomology and Criteriology Workshop
All of us strive to produce ‘good’ research. However, what is meant by ‘good’ research is a hotly contested issue. When any assessment of social science research is undertaken, inevitably criteria of some kind are deployed, either implicitly or explicitly, by those undertaking the evaluation in order to enable their judgement of whether or not the research in question is acceptable in terms of quality. In this respect, evaluation criteria form a boundary without which it would be difficult to prevent poor quality, untrustworthy or illegitimate work from entering the mainstream. These processes can be seen as ‘criteriological’ in that a variety of criteria are used to assess research quality.
Understanding such criteriological processes is important for all researchers: everyone is subject to such assessments undertaken by other people in a variety of social contexts. In what some might see as an increasing audited society, the neutral assessment of research quality may seem a laudable endeavour ensuring quality assurance and accountability. However, any evaluation of research is potentially precarious given different criteriological assessments. It is these difficulties that this one-day workshop seeks to discuss.
The aims of the workshop are to:
- discuss and critique how we define 'good research'
- engage with aspects of the philosophical diversity evident in social science research
- present a metatheory, as a reflexive and heuristic device, that aids our understanding of aspects of this philosophical and theoretical diversity
- explore the criteriological implications of varying philosophical stances
- apply these considerations to recent developments in the social sciences such as research audit frameworks and evidence-based practice
The workshop is free and is open to all staff and postgraduate students, but places are limited - please reserve your place by emailing Jayne Parkin: j.e.parkin@sheffield.ac.uk