Importance of Social Science with Professor Cary Cooper
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes the critical role of social sciences in driving behavior change across various societal issues, such as health, climate sustainability, and tax compliance. They highlight the importance of social scientists in creating incentives and techniques to encourage positive behaviors for personal and societal benefit. The speaker also discusses the government's adoption of social sciences through initiatives like 'What Works' and the need for the field to promote its impact in education, social services, and health.
Takeaways
- 🎓 The speaker has multiple degrees in social sciences, emphasizing their importance in understanding and influencing human behavior.
- 🌍 Social sciences are crucial for addressing global issues like climate change and health, as they help in changing people's attitudes and behaviors.
- 🚹 The example of prostate cancer highlights the need for social sciences to encourage men to seek medical help when needed.
- 🤔 The speaker argues that without social sciences, even the best scientific advancements may not be effectively utilized by society.
- 🏋️♂️ Social scientists are involved in promoting healthy behaviors such as exercise, balanced diets, and sports participation.
- 🏛️ Governments are increasingly adopting social sciences to create policies that encourage positive behaviors in areas like health, sustainability, and tax compliance.
- 🔍 The 'What Works' approach is an example of how social sciences are being used to develop evidence-based strategies for behavior change.
- 📈 The UK has a strong presence in social science research, ranking second globally for high-quality publications.
- 📢 The Campaign for Social Science is important for promoting the field and its contributions to various sectors.
- 🌟 The speaker believes that social sciences are undervalued and need better promotion to showcase their impact on society.
Q & A
Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of social sciences?
-The speaker emphasizes the importance of social sciences because they play a crucial role in understanding and influencing human behavior, which is essential for addressing issues like climate change, health, and sustainability.
What is the primary challenge mentioned regarding men's health in the script?
-The primary challenge mentioned is getting men to seek help when they exhibit symptoms of potential prostate issues, as they often try to deny it and avoid medical attention.
According to the speaker, what is the key role of social sciences in medical research?
-The key role of social sciences in medical research is to facilitate behavior change, ensuring that people adopt healthier behaviors and practices, such as seeking timely medical care and engaging in preventive health measures.
What does the speaker suggest about the role of social sciences in promoting sustainability?
-The speaker suggests that social sciences are vital in changing people's attitudes towards sustainability, which is necessary for implementing effective environmental policies and practices.
How does the speaker describe the government's approach to adopting social sciences?
-The government has adopted a 'What Works' approach, collaborating with social scientists to develop techniques that incentivize behavior change in various areas, including health, sustainability, and financial responsibility.
What is one of the specific examples given by the speaker about behavior change in health?
-One specific example is encouraging people to engage in physical exercise, eat a balanced diet, and participate in sports to improve their health.
What is the significance of the 'What Works' approach mentioned in the script?
-The 'What Works' approach signifies a government initiative to identify and implement evidence-based strategies that effectively bring about desired behavioral changes in the population.
How does the speaker view the role of social scientists in government initiatives?
-The speaker views social scientists as essential collaborators in government initiatives, as they develop and apply techniques to motivate individuals to adopt behaviors that benefit their personal and societal well-being.
What is the speaker's opinion on the promotion of social sciences?
-The speaker believes that the promotion of social sciences is crucial, as it helps disseminate the impact and value of social sciences to a wider audience, including the media, government, and businesses.
How does the speaker describe the achievements of social scientists in the UK?
-The speaker describes the achievements of social scientists in the UK as significant, with the country having more published papers than almost any other country and being second in the world for top-quality publications in the social sciences.
What is the 'Campaign for Social Science' mentioned in the script, and why is it important?
-The 'Campaign for Social Science' is an initiative aimed at promoting and disseminating the work of social scientists, highlighting their contributions to various fields and ensuring that their impact is recognized and understood by different stakeholders.
Outlines
📚 Importance of Social Sciences in Behavior Change
The speaker emphasizes the critical role of social sciences in facilitating behavior change across various societal sectors. They highlight the significance of social sciences in understanding and addressing issues like climate change, medical research acceptance, and promoting sustainable practices. The speaker argues that despite advancements in science, it is the application of social sciences that can effectively encourage individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles, engage in environmental sustainability, and adhere to societal norms such as tax payment and legal compliance. The government's adoption of social sciences through 'What Works' initiatives is noted as a positive development, indicating the growing recognition of the field's impact on policy and public behavior.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Social Sciences
💡Behavior Change
💡Managerial Economics
💡Psychology
💡Management
💡Sustainability
💡Prostate Cancer
💡What Works
💡Incentivize
💡Flexible Working Arrangements
💡Campaign for Social Science
Highlights
The speaker has multiple degrees in social sciences, emphasizing their importance from a personal perspective.
Social sciences are crucial for understanding and influencing human behavior, even when scientific knowledge is available.
Behavior change is a central theme in social sciences, including economics, psychology, and sociology.
The challenge of getting men to seek help for prostate cancer symptoms highlights the need for social science in health issues.
The role of social science in changing attitudes towards sustainability and climate change is discussed.
The importance of social science in promoting individual health through exercise, diet, and lifestyle choices.
Government adoption of social sciences through 'What Works' approaches to influence behavior change.
Social scientists working with governments to improve health, sustainability, and compliance with societal norms.
The development of techniques by social scientists to incentivize positive personal and family behaviors.
The right to request flexible working arrangements as an example of social science influencing policy.
The need for social sciences to promote themselves and their impact on various sectors effectively.
The UK's strong position in social science publications and the importance of the 'Campaign for Social Science'.
The campaign's role in disseminating the impact of social sciences to a wider audience, including government and business.
The proactive involvement of social scientists in education, social services, and health sectors.
The necessity for social scientists to communicate their contributions and the benefits they bring to society.
Transcripts
you know I've I've been in the social
sciences for a long time in fact I have
all sorts of funny degrees in social
sciences from managerial economics to
psychology to management I have a number
of them the social sciences are really
important in my in my point from my
point of view and I'll tell you why
they're important because we can have
all the great science in the world we
can have the greatest climate change we
can have the greatest medical uh
research on prostate cancer and
everything else but how do we get men to
turn up when they have symptoms of
potential prostrate how do we do it how
do we change the behavior of men who try
to deny it and don't turn up how do we
change people's attitudes toward
sustainability the climate and
everything else that's more important
you could have all the greatest science
in the world tells us really we can
identify that that illness we can we
know for sure what causes problems but
you have to get people to change their
behavior and actually almost all the
social science economics psychology
sociology you name it is about Behavior
change in one form or another but from
different perspectives if somebody said
to me social science isn't important I'd
say to them something like so education
isn't important health is individual
health isn't important because what
we're trying to do for example just in
the Health Arena alone is we're trying
to get people to engage in physical
exercise we're trying to get them to eat
proper food um get a balanced diet
uh we're trying to get people to uh
engage in sport as well and do things in
they walk 10,000 steps a day hey how do
we do that without the advice and help
of the social scientist who's done the
work on how people are going to actually
make their own health better we're lost
what I think is really fascinating is
how the government is adopted social
sciences in the way by creating this
what works uh approach and they're all
over the country small pockets of of
groups of social scientists who have who
are working with government to try to
get people to change their behavior with
regard to their health to change their
behavior with regard to sustainable
issues to change their behavior in terms
of paying their taxes on time and and
also paying for things like um the the
TV license a whole range of things in
other words social scientists whether
their sociologist psychologist
economists are developing techniques to
incentivize people to take on behaviors
that will help them personally will help
their families uh uh actually accessing
benefits that quite a lot of people
haven't access didn't know about um uh
requesting flexible working Arrangements
which is coming in now at the end of
June which is all about people now have
the right to request it regardless of
whether they have kids or not no kids
it's a whole range of topics and I think
this is a real uh move forward for the
social sciences it's a real stamp of
approval I think social sciences until
recently hasn't been very good at
promoting itself we have great academics
if you take the UK we have more
published papers than almost any country
other than the United States and we're
second in the world for top quality
Publications in the social sciences the
campaign for social science is really
really important and the reason it is is
because it is disseminating what we do
it's letting the wider community it's
not just the media it's government it's
business it's a whole range of uh
stakeholders and saying hey this is what
we do look at and we make a difference
we've done that and the bottom line is
it delivers that whether it's about in
education or in Social Services or in
health and we we hit all of those areas
we're really very proactive in all those
kinds of areas we just have to let them
know that we
are
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