News tagged with social scientists

Why rumors spread fast in social networks

Information spreads fast in social networks. This could be observed during recent events. Now computer scientists from the German Saarland University provide the mathematical proof for this and come up with a surprising explanation.

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Experimental philosophy opens new avenues into old questions

Philosophers have argued for centuries, millennia actually, about whether our lives are guided by our own free will or are predetermined as the result of a continuous chain of events over which we have no control.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Mar 17, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (17) | comments 219 | with audio podcast

Next generation of algorithms inspired by problem-solving ants

(PhysOrg.com) -- An ant colony is the last place you'd expect to find a maths whiz, but University of Sydney researchers have shown that the humble ant is capable of solving difficult mathematical problems.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 10, 2010 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (27) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Study shows disorder may cause an increase stereotyping

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study performed by Dutch social scientists Diederik Stapel and Siegwart Lindenberg, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, suggests that people may resort to stereotyping to cope with ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Apr 08, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (10) | comments 3 | with audio podcast report

Study finds small groups demonstrate distinctive 'collective intelligence' when facing difficult tasks

When it comes to intelligence, the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts. A new study co-authored by MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and Union College researchers documents the existence of ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Sep 30, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (13) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Researchers create first large-scale model of human mobility that incorporates human nature

For more than half a century, many social scientists and urban geographers interested in modeling the movement of people and goods between cities, states or countries have relied on a statistical formula called ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Feb 27, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Can social media detect the changes in public mood?

New research has analysed the mood of Twitter users in the UK and detected various changes in the mood of the public. In particular, the researchers observed a significant increase in negative mood, anger and fear, coinciding ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Apr 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Social scientists build case for 'survival of the kindest'

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (40) | comments 61

Global manhunt pushes limits of social mobilization

(Phys.org) -- An international team of researchers, including computer scientist Manuel Cebrian from the University of California, San Diego, has won a seemingly impossible challenge: tracking down a group ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Apr 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Facebook, Yahoo to test 'six degrees of separation'

Yahoo Inc. and Facebook Inc. are joining forces to test an iconic 1960s-era social experiment that showed there are just six degrees of separation between most people on the planet.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Aug 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2

New study shows how integrated institutions can lead diverse populations to cooperate in rebuilding countries

(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the most pressing issues in world affairs today is state building: how countries can construct stable, inclusive governments in which a variety of religious and ethnic groups coexist.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 09, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Why do pivotal cultural differences among countries exist?

In today's world, conflicts and misunderstandings frequently arise between those who are from more restrictive cultures and those from less restrictive ones. Now, a new international study led by the University of Maryland ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created May 26, 2011 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Humanist funerals

Funeral directors need to be aware of the needs of non-religious people. A unique investigation into the subject funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) provides a snapshot of a defining aspect of life - ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created May 16, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Computer science researchers provide insight into how we understand social networking

The rise of social media has allowed people to connect and re-connect with friends, colleagues and family from across the world. A new paper by University of Minnesota computer scientists in the College of Science and Engineering ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Jan 28, 2011 | popularity 2 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Large study shows females are equal to males in math skills

(PhysOrg.com) -- The mathematical skills of boys and girls, as well as men and women, are substantially equal, according to a new examination of existing studies in the current online edition of journal Psychological Bulletin.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 11, 2010 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (14) | comments 6 | with audio podcast