Links
In this Section you will find links to websites dealing with the study
of social sciences.
You are invited to visit them and report, if it is the case, any broken
link by email at master@ailun.it
We are also interested in exchanging links with other websites that have
common scientific interests in social sciences like we have.
If you feel our readers might be interested in your web site, and you think
that our website is of interest to your readers, please send us an
email telling us that you want to be considered for a link in the "LINKS
Section" of our web.
We reserve the right to refuse any link that does not fit the image AILUN
wants to maintain.
SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS
The B.F. Skinner FoundationShort excerpt from the website: “This foundation was established in 1987 to improve the understanding of human behavior through the science first proposed by B. F. Skinner."
"The major problems of the world today can be solved only if we improve our understanding of human behavior" About Behaviorism (1974)
http://www.bfskinner.org/index.asp
American Psychological Society
Short excerpt from the website: “The American Psychological Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of scientific psychology and its representation at the national level.
The Society's mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in research, application, teaching, and the improvement of human welfare.”
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/
Association for Behavior Analysis
Short excerpt from the website: “The Association for Behavior Analysis Strategic Plan is: To develop, enhance, and support the growth and vitality of behavior analysis through research, education and practice.” http://www.abainternational.org/
Behavior Analyst Online.org
Short excerpt from the website: “The Behavior Analyst Online.org will develop and deploy new resources making them available on the internet free of charge to the public. These resources will be dedicated to educating the public about Behavior Analysis as well as serving as a resource for professionals involved in Behavior Analysis.”
http://www.behavior-analyst-online.org/
Institute for International Economic Studies
Short excerpt from the website: “The Institute for International Economic Studies is primarily a research institute. It was founded in 1962 by Gunnar Myrdal with financial support from the Swedish government, and it is affiliated with the Stockholm University, with its own independent budget. The main ambition of the Institute is to create a research environment characterized by high competence in economic analysis of international issues.
Today, three areas of research dominate the work of the Institute: (i) macroeconomic analysis of open economies; (ii) foreign trade; and (iii) general economic theory and methodology.”
http://www.iies.su.se/
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Short excerpt from the website: “The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) serves the scientific and professional needs of OR/MS investigators, scientists, students, educators, and managers, as well as the institutions they serve, by such services as publishing a variety of journals that describe the latest OR/MS methods and applications and by organizing professional conferences. The Institute also serves as a focal point for OR/MS professionals, permitting them to communicate with each other and to reach out to other professional societies and to the varied clientele of the profession's research and practice.”
http://www.informs.org/
Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior
Short excerpt from the website: “The Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior (SQAB) was founded in 1978 by J. A. Nevin and M. L. Commons to present symposia and publish material which bring a quantitative analysis to bear on the understanding of behavior.”
http://sqab.psychology.org/
The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies
Short excerpt from the website: “[The] mission [of the CCBS is]: To advance the scientific study of behavior and its humane application to the solution of practical problems, including the prevention and relief of human suffering.“
http://www.behavior.org/ccbs/index.cfm?page=http%3A//www.behavior.org/ccbs/ccbs_welcome.cfm
The Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (SEAB)
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] publishes both the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. SEAB was formed in 1957 to serve as the publisher of JEAB. The Journal itself was founded to meet the needs of those who had been attracted to the behavior analytic approach but were unhappy with the lack of a journal specializing in that rapidly growing area. As described on its inside front page ever since, the new journal is “primarily for the original publication of experiments relevant to the behavior of individual organisms.” JEAB started as a quarterly in 1958 but has appeared bimonthly since 1964.”
http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/society/
The Center for Programmed Instruction
Short excerpt from the website: “The Center for Programmed Instruction (PI) offers subscription access to on-line, interactive tutorials, training programs, and courses. The tutorials and training programs are created using the educational technology of Programmed Instruction (PI). Learning from a PI tutorial is like learning from a private tutor. Subject matter is presented in a carefully crafted frame-by-frame sequence of steps. Students work through the interactive programmed material by themselves at their own pace.”
http://www.centerforpi.com/
The Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) Network
Short excerpt from the website: “The OBM Network founded in 1982 exists in order to develop, enhance, and support the growth and vitality of Organizational Behavior Management through: Research, Education, Practice, & Collaboration.”
http://www.obmnetwork.com/index_mid.html
Organizational Behavior Management (OBM)
Short excerpt from the website: “OBM is a science-based approach to improving human performance systems in organizations. OBM modifies and adapts organizational systems, structures and processes to enable high levels of human performance and competitive business performance.”
http://www.behavior.org/performanceMgmt/index.cfm
European Association of Experimental Social Psychology
Short excerpt from the website: “The purpose and objects of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology are the promotion and development of experimental and theoretical social psychology within Europe and the interchange of information relating to this subject between European members and other associations throughout the world towards an international achievement of these objects and purposes.”
http://eaesp.hexabinaer.net/index.php
Social Science Research Network
Short excerpt from the website: “Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research and is composed of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences.”
http://ssrn.com
ON ECONOMICS, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
Archive for the History of Economic ThoughtShort excerpt from the website: “This archive is an attempt to collect in one place a large number of significant texts in the history of economic thought. [The website owner has] tried to cast the nets as wide as possible including representative texts of all of the major thinkers and schools of thought; and most of the sub-fields of economics. The archive is a work in progress that may never be completed. The field of economic thought is a very large one.”
http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/%7Eecon/ugcm/3ll3/index.html
The History of Economic Thought WebSite
Short excerpt from the website: “This web site serves as a repository of collected links and information on the history of economic thought, from the ancient times until the modern day. It is designed for students and the general public, who are interested in learning about economics from a historical perspective.”
http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/het/
Classic Works in Economics and Political Economy
Links to some classic texts in Economics and Political Economy (such as: Friedrich Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State; Alfred Marshall, The Principles of Economics; John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism; Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations; …)
http://www.oswego.edu/%7Eeconomic/oldbooks.htm
Online Economics Textbooks
Links to different web pages for Introductory Economics, Introductory Microeconomics, Intermediate Microeconomics, International Economics, Game Theory, Law and Economics, Public Choice, Production Economics, Public Finance.
http://www.oswego.edu/%7Eeconomic/newbooks.htm
Capitale sociale.it
Short excerpt from the website: “During the nineties, new explanations of economic development have spread across social sciences. A growing number of studies have suggested that the process of growth is determined not only by economic factors, such as natural capital, physical capital and human capital, but also by some aspects of the economy’s social and institutional structure, all collected under the common label of social capital.
Social capital is a multidimensional concept, composed by the set of social norms, social networks, and organizations that affect relations among people and are an asset for the individual and collective production of well-being.
These webpages contain useful resources for researchers, students, and practitioners interested in social capital and in its relationship with human, social and economic development.”
http://dep.eco.uniroma1.it/~soccap/index.html
Classics in the History of Psychology
Many links to classic papers in psychology. Internet resource developed by Christopher D. Green (York University, Toronto, Canada)
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/author.htm
Behaviorism Tutorial
Short excerpt from the website: “Behaviorism is generally characterized as the viewpoint holding that the appropriate subject matter for psychology is behavior and the appropriate methods for psychology are those of the natural sciences. It developed primarily in the United States, although it was certainly influenced by other traditions, such as European forms of empiricism. It is generally contrasted with other viewpoints in psychology, for example, those holding that the appropriate subject matter has something or other to do with mental/subjective/conscious experience, and the appropriate method is introspection. Worth noting, however, is that there are several different forms of behaviorism, and that these forms differ in many important ways. The objective of the present tutorial is to promote an understanding of the differences between two of these forms of behaviorism--methodological behaviorism and radical behaviorism.”
http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/Behaviorism/
Animal Learning Videos
Short excerpt from the website: “These video files are intended to illustrate some traditional and contemporary laboratory preparations and animal behaviors that have been employed in animal learning and cognition research. The behaviors are meant to represent what [the website owner] believes are typical behaviors seen using the techniques described. They are not meant to be used as empirical evidence in support of scientific theories. In all cases, the observed behaviors represent those of the individual subject portrayed in the video. It is common for behaviors shown by an individual subject and across different subjects of the same species or strain to vary dramatically. In many cases, minor variations in procedures and environments can produce behavior changes that are not yet fully understood.”
http://go.owu.edu/~deswartz/introduction.html
SocioSite Social Science Information System based at University of Amsterdam
Short excerpt from the website: “The SocioSite is designed to get access to information and resources which are relevant for sociologists and other social scientists. It has been designed from a global point of view - it gives access to the world wide scene of social sciences. The intention is to provide a comprehensive listing of all sociology resources on the Internet. The enormity and constantly changing nature of the Internet makes it impossible to develop a definitive and comprehensive listing. That's why the SocioSite will always be 'under construction'.”
http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/sociosite/index.html
Wilhelm Dilthey
"The human being knows itself only in history, never through introspection; indeed, we all seek it in history. Or, to put it more generally, we seek what is human in it, such as religion, and so on. We want to know what it is. If there were a science of human beings it would be anthropology that aims at understanding the totality of experience through structural context. The individual always realizes only one of the possibilities in its development, which could always have taken a different turning whenever it has to make an important decision. The human being is only given to us at all in terms of its realized possibilities." (W. Dilthey)
A web page containing links to articles and book reviews on Wilhelm Dilthey
http://www.mythosandlogos.com/Dilthey.html
Economic Education Resources for Students & Teachers
The website indicates many links where to find resources to study economics on the web.
http://www.onlineeducation.org/econ-students#2
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS
Annual ReviewsShort excerpt from the website: “Annual Review is proud to publish authoritative, analytic reviews in 30 focused disciplines within the Biomedical, Physical, and Social Sciences. Annual Reviews publications are and have been among the most highly cited in scientific literature.”
http://www.annualreviews.org/
Behavior and Social Issues
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is a journal focusing squarely on the mission of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies: Bringing solutions from behavioral science to real world challenges. Behavior and Social Issues publishes innovative approaches to tackling the continuing problems of our society, and encourages authors or groups of authors to develop linked articles centered on a particular social issue. ”
http://www.behavior.org/ccbs/index.cfm?page=http%3A//www.behavior.org/ccbs/ccbs_welcome.cfm
Behavior and Philosophy
Short excerpt from the website: “Founded in 1973 under the name Behaviorism, Behavior and Philosophy is a journal devoted to the philosophical, metaphysical, and methodological foundations of the study of behavior, brain, and mind. In addition to original articles, critical or historical reviews and responses to articles are also welcome. While we hope that everything we publish will be scientifically and philosophically sound, we insist above all on clarity and directness, respecting Francis Bacon's dictum that “truth will sooner come from error than confusion.” Every article should be accessible to an educated but unspecialized audience.
http://www.behavior.org/journals_BP/
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is published annually by the Association for Behavior Analysis International, and is primarily for the original publication of experimental or theoretical papers relevant to a behavioral analysis of verbal behavior. Manuscripts are typically relevant to at least one of the following topics: the elementary verbal operants, autoclitics, multiple control, private events, rule-governed behavior, epistemology, scientific verbal behavior, language acquisition, language assessment and training, second languages, pedagogy, the verbal behavior of nonhumans, and verbal behavior research methodology.”
http://www.abainternational.org/avbjournal/
Behavioral Technology Today
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] publishes, via the world wide web, technically valid yet readily understood information about the application of the results of behavioral research to problems of general public concern. Types of manuscripts appropriate for submission include Brief Empirical Reports, Technology Descriptions, Technical Information, Discussion Articles, and invited submissions. ”
The Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB)
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is a psychology journal primarily for the original publication of experiments relevant to the behavior of individual organisms.”
http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jeab/index.html
The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA)
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is a psychology journal that publishes research about applications of the experimental analysis of behavior to problems of social importance.”
http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/index.html
The Behavior Analyst
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is the official publication of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA), an international organization. The Behavior Analyst was first published in 1978 by the Midwestern Association of Behavior Analysis. ... The Association for Behavior Analysis took over publication of the journal in 1995 and Editors following that transition were Daniel Bernstein (1996-1998) and Philip Chase (1999-2001).”
http://www.abainternational.org/tbajournal/
Current Research in Social Psychology (CRISP)
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is a peer reviewed, electronic journal covering all aspects of social psychology. Publication is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Group Processes at the University of Iowa which provides free access to its contents. Authors retain copyright for their work. CRISP is permanently archived at the Library of the University of Iowa and at the Library of Congress. Beginning in April, 2000, Sociological Abstracts publishes the abstracts of CRISP articles.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp.html
Electronic Journal of Sociology
Short excerpt from the website: “The Electronic Journal of Sociology (EJS) is an international online refereed journal published on the Internet in both html and ascii formats. ... . Our online review produces very fast turn around in decisions and publication. We pride ourselves in an open, transparent, and democratic review procedure. Being freely available on the Internet, authors are assured that their works have a global audience. Anyone with a computer, modem and internet access can read or download articles and notes published in the EJS.”
http://www.sociology.org/
Experimental Economics
Short excerpt from the website: “Laboratory methods are uniquely suited to the study of many phenomena that have been difficult to observe directly in naturally occurring economic contexts. ... . Experimental Economics is an international journal that serves the growing group of economists around the world who use laboratory methods. ... . Experimental Economics is structured to promote experimental economics by bringing together innovative research that meets professional standards of experimental method, but without editorial bias towards specific orientations.”
http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/1386-4157
Public Choice
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] deals with the intersection between economics and political science. The journal was founded at a time when economists and political scientists became interested in the application of essentially economic methods to problems normally dealt with by political scientists. It has always retained strong traces of economic methodology, but new and fruitful techniques have been developed which are not recognizable by economists. Public Choice therefore remains central in its chosen role of introducing the two groups to each other, and allowing them to explain themselves through the medium of its pages.
http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/0048-5829
Rivista di Politica Economica
Short excerpt from the website: “La Rivista di Politica Economica incoraggia l'invio di saggi in tutti i filoni delle Scienze Economiche, con particolare riguardo per opere con chiari risvolti di politica economica, analisi economica, strategia d'azienda e per opere di storia economica o di analisi del pensiero economico, comprese originali rassegne su temi sviluppati dalla letteratura economica.”
http://www.faronet.it/sipi/2003/set_ot/default.htm
The American Economic Review (AER)
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] was first published in 1911. Each of the regular issues (March, June, September and December) contains a number of articles and shorter papers on economic subjects. The May issue is the Papers and Proceedings (P&P) of the annual meeting. Selected papers and discussions of papers presented at the meetings are published along with reports of officers, committees, and representatives.”
http://www.aeaweb.org/aer/
The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is the oldest professional journal of economics in the English language. Edited at Harvard University's Department of Economics, QJE covers all aspects of the field. The journal's traditional emphasis on microtheory has been expanded to include both empirical and theoretical macroeconomics.”
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=4&tid=8
The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Short excerpt from the website: “[It] is devoted to theoretical and empirical research concerning economic decision, organization and behavior and to economic change in all its aspects. Its specific purposes are to foster an improved understanding of how human cognitive, computational and informational characteristics influence the working of economic organizations and market economies and how an economy's structural features lead to various types of micro and macro behavior, to changing patterns of development and to institutional evolution. Research with these purposes that explore the interrelations of economics with other disciplines such as biology, psychology, law, anthropology, sociology and mathematics is particularly welcome. The journal is eclectic as to research method; systematic observation and careful description, simulation modeling and mathematical analysis are all within its purview. Empirical work, including controlled laboratory experimentation, that probes close to the core of the issues in theoretical dispute is encouraged.”
http://www1.elsevier.com/homepage/sae/econworld/econbase/jebo/frame.htm
The Learning Organization - An International Journal
Short excerpt from the website: “Are you seeking to explore the concept of the learning organization in order to advance your understanding of what the learning organization is and does? And would you like to assess the different ways in which an organization can adopt learning strategies and find out how these theories can be successfully applied? You’ll find the answers in The Learning Organisation: An International Journal.”
http://iris.emeraldinsight.com/vl=1690555/cl=83/nw=1/rpsv/tlo.htm
Tourism Journal - Tourism Resources
A list of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Journals prepared by Professor Alastair M. Morrison for Tourism Research
http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~alltson/journals_1.htm
PAPERS IN THE WEB
Paper: Pareto Ottimalità by Paolo
Serafini
Excerpt from the paper: “Per operare una scelta all’interno di
un insieme di diverse decisioni possibili, è importante poter stabilire
dei criteri con cui operare la scelta. Tuttavia non è sempre elementare
identificare chiaramente i criteri e anche quando questo sia possibile è
sempre problematico pervenire alla scelta finale in base ai criteri adottati.
Per identificare i criteri e valutare la loro rilevanza è utile esplicitare
le preferenze del decisore (cioè della persona che deve operare la scelta
e sulla quale ricade la responsabilità di tale scelta). …”
http://www.dimi.uniud.it/~serafini/RO02.pdf
Paper: Philanthropy by
James Andreoni
Abstract: Philanthropy is one of the enduring
areas of economic research. Why would people work hard only to give their
earnings away? The paper explores the theoretical foundations, as well as
the empirical and policy research on philanthropy. This paper reviews over
25 years worth of economic research, and points to the many challenging
new questions that remain.
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~andreoni/WorkingPapers/Philanthropy.pdf
Paper: Bringing the corporation into
corporate branding, by
Mary Jo Hatch &
Majken Schultz
Abstract: This paper describes corporate branding
as an organisational tool whose successful application depends on attending
to the strategic, organisational and communicational context in which it
is used. A model to help managers analyse context in terms of the alignment
between strategic vision, organisational culture and corporate image is
presented. The model is based on a gap analysis, which enables managers
to assess the coherence of their corporate brand. Use of the model is illustrated
by examining the stages of development that British Airways passed through
in the creation of its corporate brand. The paper concludes that corporate
brand management is a dynamic process that involves keeping up with continuous
adjustments of vision, culture and image. The model suggests an approach
to corporate branding that is organisationally integrated and cross-functional,
hence the thesis that it is important to bring the (whole) corporation into
corporate branding.
http://www.kommunikationsforum.dk/Log/bringingthecorp.pdf
Paper: Probabilità e incertezza di misura
by
Giulio D'Agostino
Excerpt from the paper: “La meccanica classica insegna che se si
conoscono le proprietà di un corpo (massa, forma, etc.), le sue condizioni
iniziali di moto (posizione, velocità etc.) e le condizioni esterne (campi
di forze, condizioni al contorno, etc.) è possibile determinarne in modo
esatto il suo comportamento negli istanti successivi. Ciò nonostante, è
sufficiente analizzare il semplice esperimento del lancio di una moneta
o di un dado per capire che non è affatto facile prevedere il risultato,
cioè l’occorrenza rispettivamente di testa/croce o di un certo numero impresso
nella faccia superiore. Un caso simile si verifica quando si tenta di trattare
un sistema costituito da un gas di cui si voglia descrivere l’evoluzione
partendo dai moti delle singole molecole.
Questo non implica che le leggi della meccanica classica siano necessariamente
violate. Anche supponendo che il tipo di processo sia tale che, istante
per istante, gli oggetti obbediscano alle leggi di Newton in ogni interazione
con l’ambiente, il numero di parametri che determinano il moto rende proibitivo
sia calcolare esattamente il risultato a partire dalle condizioni iniziali
che cercare di riprodurre le stesse condizioni ad ogni lancio.…”
http://zeual1.roma1.infn.it/~agostini/PRO-Parte1.pdf
http://zeual1.roma1.infn.it/~agostini/PRO-Parte2.pdf
http://zeual1.roma1.infn.it/~agostini/PRO-Parte3.pdf
http://zeual1.roma1.infn.it/~agostini/PRO-Parte4.pdf
Paper: How a Structural Solution to a
Real-World Social Dilemma Failed: A Field Experiment on the First Carpool
Lane in Europe by
Mark Van Vugt,
Paul A. M. Van Lange, Ree M. Meertens, Jeffrey A. Joireman
Abstract: In the current field experiment we evaluate
a structural solution to a real-life social dilemma by examining the effects
of a carpool priority lane on judgments and preferences concerning to the
decision to commute by carpool (i.e., the presumed cooperative option) or
driving alone (i.e., the presumed noncooperative option). Our general hypothesis
was that this intervention would evoke a process of self-justification in
solo drivers, arising from feelings of relative deprivation and/or cognitive
dissonance. Consistent with predictions, we found that in comparison with
judgments made before the implementation of the carpool lane, solo drivers
tended to decrease the importance of an attribute inherently linked to carpooling
(i.e., low travel costs) and to increase the importance of an attribute
inherently linked to driving alone (i.e., flexibility). Moreover, solo
drivers exhibited a weaker preference for carpooling after the establishment
of the carpool lane. This finding suggests that the negative side effects
of this structural measure were more pronounced than the intended carpool-promoting
effects.
http://psy.soton.ac.uk/~mvv/carpoolspq.doc
Paper: An Introduction to the Theory of
Social Dilemmas by
Leon Felkins
Abstract: Philanthropy is one of the enduring
areas of economic research. Why would people work hard only to give their
earnings away? The paper explores the theoretical foundations, as well as
the empirical and policy research on philanthropy. This paper reviews over
25 years worth of economic research, and points to the many challenging
new questions that remain.
http://www.perspicuity.net/sd/sd-1.html
Paper: La definizione del concetto di
tempo by Gerold v. Gleich
Abstract: L'universo spaziotemporale della
teoria della relatività non è nient'altro che un diagramma
fittizio. I due concetti di tempo tra loro distinti della t. d. r. sono
soltanto conseguenza di trasformazioni fisicamente infondate delle coordinate
del diagramma, e rispettivamente di un'applicazione a sproposito della teoria
degli invarianti.
http://matsci.unipv.it/persons/antoci/re/Gleich28.pdf
Paper: The New Empirics of Economic Growth
by Steven
N. Durlauf and Danny T. Quah
Abstract: We provide an overview of recent
empirical research on patterns of cross-country growth. The new empirical
regularities considered differ from earlier ones, e.g., the well-known Kaldor
stylized facts. The new research no longer makes production function accounting
a central part of the analysis. Instead, attention shifts more directly
to questions like, Why do some countries grow faster than others? It is
this changed focus that, in our view, has motivated going beyond the neoclassical
growth model.
http://www.santafe.edu/~durlauf/file/dq.pdf
Paper: Rationally Inaccessible Rationality
by John F. Padgett
Excerpt from the paper: Economists, public choice theorists,
and other utilitarians have achieved great strides by vigorously insisting
that preferences and beliefs are exogenous. Widespread presumptions of selfishness
notwithstanding, consistency and computational sophistication are the only
psychological axioms required. Elster calls this the "thin theory" of rationality.
The refusal to inquire into the genesis of preferences, however, creates
a dilemma for utilitarian moral theory…
http://www.geocities.com/hmelberg/elster/padget86.htm
Paper: Street-Level Epistemology and Democratic
Participation by
Russell Hardin
Excerpt from the paper: In post-war public choice theory there
have been at least four devastating theoretical claims against the coherence
of democratic theory. The first of these was Kenneth Arrow's ([1951] 1963)
impossibility theorem, which concludes that there is no general, acceptable
way to aggregate from individual level to collective level preferences.
One might have supposed that democracy does not require this kind of aggregation
anyway, because it requires only majority rule, not collective rule. But
an implication of Arrow's theorem is that with simple majority rule we may
have cycles and no genuine majority. Suppose we face three independent policy
issues. One majority can carry allocation A across these issues over allocation
B; another majority can carry B over C, and yet a third can carry C over
A. Hence, at least in principle, majoritarianism cannot solve our problem.
http://cniss.wustl.edu/Rikerpapers/hardinpaper1.html
Paper: The Strong Programme in the Sociology
of Knowledge by David
Bloor
Excerpt from the paper:Can the sociology of knowledge investigate
and explain the very content and nature of scientific knowledge? Many sociologists
believe that it cannot. They say that knowledge as such, as distinct from
the circumstances surrounding its production, is beyond their grasp…
http://faculty.washington.edu/lynnhank/Bloor.pdf
Paper: The New Age of Tourism: Postmodern
Tourism for Postmodern People? by Paul Sutton and Joanna House
Excerpt from the paper: Since its inception, the history of
the tourism industry has been one of exponential growth and increasing diversity.
The number of activities and experiences that can legitimately be categorised
as tourism has increased significantly. It seems that nearly every dimension
of human culture now has the potential to become a form of tourism. Thus,
cultural pluralism, a major characteristic of the postmodern landscape,
is no where better illustrated than by the expanding horizons of the
tourism industry.
http://www.arasite.org/pspage2.htm
Paper: Power and Weakness by
Robert Kagan
Excerpt from the paper: "It is time to stop pretending that Europeans
and Americans share a common view of the world, or even that they occupy
the same world. On the all-important question of power - the efficacy of
power, the morality of power, the desirability of power - American and European
perspectives are diverging. …"
http://www.policyreview.org/JUN02/kagan.html
MISCELLANEOUS
Electronic Statistics TextbookShort excerpt from the website: “This Electronic Statistics Textbook offers training in the understanding and application of statistics. The material was developed at the StatSoft R&D department based on many years of teaching undergraduate and graduate statistics courses and covers a wide variety of applications, including laboratory research (biomedical, agricultural, etc.), business statistics and forecasting, social science statistics and survey research, data mining, engineering and quality control applications, and many others.”
http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html
Econometria.net - Risorse web per l'econometria e l'economia quantitativa
Short excerpt from the website: “Il sito econometria.net nasce per iniziativa di Alberto Bagnai come supporto all'attività didattica del corso di Econometria (facoltà di Economia, Università "La Sapienza"). Il sito è un contenitore di materiali didattici e risorse utili per quanti si interessano a vario titolo all'econometria e all'economia quantitativa.”
http://econometria.net/
The FreeDictionary.com by Farlex
An interesting "collection" of dictionaries for many different disciplines, such as:
Mathematical and Natural Sciences
Astronomy - Biology - Chemistry - Computer science - Earth science - Ecology - Health science - Mathematics - Physics - Statistics
Applied Arts and Sciences
Agriculture - Architecture - Business - Communication - Education - Engineering - Family and consumer science - Government - Law - Library and information science - Medicine - Politics - Public affairs - Software engineering - Technology - Transport
Social Sciences and Philosophy
Anthropology - Archaeology - Economics - Geography - History - History of science and technology - Language - Linguistics - Mythology - Philosophy - Political science - Psychology - Sociology
… http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
Arts & Letters Daily - A service of The Chronicle of Higher Education
As declared in the head banner, this web site is a wide and interesting source for update articles in many field such as philosophy, aesthetics, literature, language, ideas, criticism, culture, history, music, art trends…
There are also links to English language newspapers and televisions.
http://www.aldaily.com/