The Big (Data) Bang: Policy,Prospects, and Challenges

Big data is increasingly the cornerstone on which policy making is based. However, with potential benefits and applications come challenges and dilemmas. In this set of symposium articles, authors examine the promise and problems of big data, exploring associated prospects, risks, parameters, and payoffs from a variety of perspectives. The articles address myriad challenges in the handling of big data sets, such as collection, validation, integrity, and security; ontological issues attending data analytics and conceptual transformations; the foundations of big data collection for social science research; the gap between the acquisition of data and its use to advance discovery and innovation; the costs and benefits of using big data in decision making and analysis; and, finally, related problems of privacy, security, and ethics. Issues such as these will continue to arise with increased use of big data as fundamental to policy making and governance in today's growing information society.     

The Social Capital of Global Ties in Science: The Added Value of International Collaboration

The globalization of science is demonstrated in the mobility of scientists across national boundaries, the composition of the U.S. scientific workforce, and increased collaboration across national boundaries. While studies based on bibliometric and other data have been useful in identifying trends, collaborative clusters, and other patterns in international collaboration, they do not reveal the social dynamics behind those collaborations. This paper addresses the human and social capital factors that explain whether or not an academic researcher in science and engineering has an international collaborator. Further, through detailed statistical models, the analysis also addresses the factors that differentiate the specific resources derived from those international ties. Results show that non‐U.S. citizens are more likely to have close international collaborators, but that a range of factors explain this relationship. Further, results show that U.S. academic faculty mobilize different collaborative resources from international collaborators, versus their domestic collaborators.     

对网络世界的人文社会科学审视

网络不是纯技术问题.不可以忽视从人文社会科学视角看待网络.网络是社会、网络有助于提高生产率、网络本身特点有助于违法现象泛滥、网上道德规范具有特殊性、网络政治的特点是超国家、上网者需要心理健康.网络世界的物质文明与精神文明结合好,需要各门学科共同努力.     

International Co‐Authorship and Research Team Performance in Colombia

This article examines the ways in which International Scientific Collaboration, as observed by the co‐authorship of journal articles written by local scientists and partners located overseas, affects the ability of research teams to produce bibliographic outputs and to contribute to local knowledge. A sample of 672 teams was randomly selected for the analyses. In addition, 20 interviews with experts and team members were administered to discuss models and results. Results show that co‐authoring with partners located overseas increases team output by nearly 40% and by between three and five bibliographic products. It also shows that a team's odds of involving Colombia in its research process are 2.2 times larger for those co‐authoring with a partner located overseas than for those that do not. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

Means,Motive, and Opportunity – Local Government Data Distortion in a High‐Stakes Environment

Regulatory authorities are increasingly relying upon performance data for developing public policy. However, this reliance necessarily assumes that the data are free from material distortion. This paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding the ‘means’, ‘motive’, and ‘opportunity’ for distorting data employed in high‐stakes performance‐management programmes. We present empirical evidence which suggests that the use of data drawn entirely from financial statements by no means guarantees a distortion‐free depiction of performance. In addition, we provide econometric evidence of some important determinants of performance data distortion. Taken as a whole, the following analysis provides a comprehensive picture of the salient matters which must be addressed to ensure accurate data for public policy‐making purposes.     

Tactics,traditions and opportunities: British and French crop‐trashing actions in comparative perspective

This article compares the tactic of trashing genetically modified crops in activist campaigns in Britain and France. In Britain, most crop trashing was carried out covertly, while in France most activists undertook open, public actions. In seeking an explanation for this, the article shows that the analysis of political opportunities, dominant in comparative studies of social movements, can only take us so far. While it helps explain the occurrence of direct action, it is much less useful in explaining the tactical differences between each country. It is argued that a fuller explanation requires an understanding of how action was shaped by different activist traditions. In France, action was staged as a demonstration of serious, responsible, collective Republican citizenship; in the United Kingdom, activists combined a sceptical view of legality developing from anarchist individualism with an explicitly non‐threatening, playful, ethos. The article concludes that a focus on activist traditions can provide an effective bridge between structural and cultural approaches to understanding the determinants of social movement action.     

Science Use in Regulatory Impact Analysis: The Effects of Political Attention and Controversy

Scholars, policy makers, and research sponsors have long sought to understand the conditions under which scientific research is used in the policy‐making process. Recent research has identified a resource that can be used to trace the use of science across time and many policy domains. U.S. federal agencies are mandated by executive order to justify all economically significant regulations by regulatory impact analyses (RIAs), in which they present evidence of the scientific underpinnings and consequences of the proposed rule. To gain new insight into when and how regulators invoke science in their policy justifications, we ask: does the political attention and controversy surrounding a regulation affect the extent to which science is utilized in RIAs? We examine scientific citation activity in all 101 economically significant RIAs from 2008 to 2012 and evaluate the effects of attention—from the public, policy elites, and the media—on the degree of science use in RIAs. Our main finding is that regulators draw more heavily on scientific research when justifying rules subject to a high degree of attention from outside actors. These findings suggest that scientific research plays an important role in the justification of regulations, especially those that are highly salient to the public and other policy actors.     

Reforming Social Services in Hong Kong: The Role of Contracting and Performance Management in the Non‐Profit Sector

Contracts and performance management, along with the concept of consumerism, have become the fundamental metaphors for New Public Management (NPM) and key changes in the public service. ‘Doing well while doing good’ and finding generally acceptable accountability measures for social services have become the perennial aspirations of planners, service providers and funders. This article examines the contingent factors and rationales behind the quality movement and recontracting exercise in reforming the delivery of personal social service programs in Hong Kong within the framework of New Public Management (NPM). It explains the use of long‐term relational contracts rather than the standard business contracts between the government as funder and non‐profit organisations as service providers. It also deals with the complex relationships among quality issues, quality standards, consumerism, accountability, performance indicators, and performance management.