Empirical Approaches To Social Representations

A long-awaited and critical review of a key topic, this book shows how different empirical approaches to the study of social representations are viable and can be complementary. Empirical examples of the analysis of particular social representations - from museums to new technology - are included. The ten chapters in the first half of the book present the key arguments concerning the relationship between the theory and methods. The second half looks at a wide variety of research topics. Of central concern to all the topics are the circumstances under which one can be certain of having described a social representation. The answer lies in the use of multivariate statistical analysis, the use of which is clearly explained.

The political structure of Europe has changed and continues to do so. The changing allegiances of the popluations of Europe pose problems and challenges for social psychological theory. Changing European Identities explores these issues using social identity theory and alternative models such as alienation theory and representational identity theory. It provides a highly topical and relevant context for exploring the validity and limits of current theories. Providing a valuable new perspective on people's reactions to change in Europe, it will be useful for advanced scholars in psychology and other social and political sciences.

This comprehensive text presents key theoretical issues and extensive empirical research using different theoretical and methodological approaches to consider the value of social representation theory when social representations are examined not only in isolation, but also in context.

This Handbook provides the requisite theoretical and methodological guidelines for undertaking social research addressing relevant contemporary social issues.

This book scrutinizes how social - common sense - knowledge is shared, transmitted and transformed in different social and psychological contexts, particularly in research related to education, social work and communication.

Social Representations in the 'Social Arena' presents key theoretical issues and extensive empirical research using different theoretical and methodological approaches to consider the value of social representation theory when social representations are examined in real world contexts. This comprehensive text brings together international experts to explore the relevance of a variety of applications of social representation theory in both institutional and organizational settings, and discusses how social representation theory compares with other constructs of social psychology. Areas covered include: justice leadership health and mental illness intergroup relations identity politics environment and tourism economics. This book will appeal to a range of academic researchers and practitioners from a variety of fields who are concerned with the application of social representation theory to various contexts as a heuristic tool for addressing and understanding relevant societal issues faced with 'social demand'.

This book presents a broad range of research related to how social knowledge is shared, transmitted and transformed in the context of education and professional formation. The chapters of this edited collection reflect different theoretical and empirical approaches to that form of common-sense knowledge called social representations, the theory of which was developed almost a half-century ago by Serge Moscovici. Scholars from various research institutions in Brazil, France and Sweden, spanning a wide variety of disciplines within the social sciences, have contributed chapters that are grouped into three main categories related to education, professionalization and transformation of knowledge. Part I covers theoretical approaches to understanding the transformation of social knowledge from the perspective of social representations. Part II analyzes the impact of the theory of social representations on the transformation of knowledge in the field of education and professional formation. Finally, Part III presents several empirical studies focused on the social and cultural frames that condition the transformation of knowledge. While the book is devoted to education and the emerging field of research on professionalization, it will also appeal to anyone with a general interest in how people acquire their worldviews and how these views influence their actions.

Common sense, by definition, is familiar to us all. Science, for some of us, is more remote, yet it is not always clear what the connections are between these two ways of seeing the world. In this title, originally published in 1993, the author explores several related themes in social psychology to elucidate the way we understand the social construction of knowledge and the means by which we change social reality. From the perspective of a critique of social representations theory, the author argues that this necessitates a change of viewpoint from the individualistic and mechanistic assumptions of Cartesian science to the social and evolutionary perspective of a Hegelian framework. This not only emphasizes the cultural and historical dimensions of social phenomena but also illuminates the social and dynamic nature of individuals. As a consequence, the discipline of social psychology must itself be transformed, recognizing the active participation of scientists in the social construction of scientific knowledge. This title will be of interest to those working in social psychology, history and philosophy of science, and sociology.