sexta-feira, 5 de outubro de 2012

Palestra de Gilson Lima DURBAN - África do Sul - Committee Logic & Methodology of the International Sociological Association (ISA).


THE SOCIOLOGICAL DOUBLE COMPETENCE
Sociology and Informatics in Brazilian Social Sciences.

RC33, Research Committee Logic & Methodology of the International Sociological Association (ISA). - jul 2005


 
Gilson Lima (*)
(PhD in Sociology. Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil)


My name is Gilson Lima and I am doctor in Sociology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
This presentation is about of a research of the use of computers by sociologists in Brazil: THE TITLE IS THE SOCIOLOGICAL DOUBLE COMPETENCE.

I will present here a short argument about the results of the usage of computer programs by sociologists in Brazil.
First of all, let’s answer two basic questions about this research:
Who are the RESEARCH TARGET PEOPLE? The research was done in a group of fifty sociologists that are integrated in various Brazilian universities research groups.
ACIMA FOTO COM ALAN TOURAINE - Importante intelecutal e pensador francês conhecido muldialmente por sua extensa obra e reflexões.

WHAT DID WE WANT? We intended to measure and analyze the sociological double competence in Brazil. Double competence means, competence in sociology and in informatics.
Competence here is not used as in the structural systemic perspective integrated to the positivist-rationalist modernizer paradigm, that is reduced to the mere functional and linear enlargement of disciplinal mono-competence.
The perspective showed here is included in the complexity paradigm, specifically as in Edgar Morin’s approach.
The sociological double competence, imply the dominance of reflexive aptitudes and necessary methodologies in the way of handling different plans of the micro and macro informational reality in its self production of the sociological knowledge.
So, double competence is about empirical, analytic and reflexive skills.
This is related to a Cartesian idea that the reality has only one possible plan. Double competence means to deal with two distinct plans of the informational reality with their specificities, singularities, and heterogeneous, dynamics themselves in a complex symbiosis.
The research was done with the use of informational resources. We created a SPECIFIC SOFTWARE, a survey program for the research. WE APPLIED A QUESTIONNAIRE SUPPORTED BY RELATIONAL DATABASE, composed of more than a hundred questions.
The questionnaires used computational resources and the sociologists had to handle them through more or less complex routines. At the end of the entire process, the researchers themselves had to send the data through the Internet, that were immediately transferred to a Database.
What did the questionnaire allow to identify and accomplish?
-First, the sociologists’ intensity of use of an heterogeneous collection of basics and specialists softwares.
-Secondly, the use by the sociologists of the micro processes and of computer supported routines;
-Thirdly, we classify the researchers by variables such as: academic degree, gender, age and then, analysis of their double competence, and its intensity .
-Fourthly, we conclude about the difficulties of sociological double competence and the identification of the methodologies challenges to the social research.
Let’s see the characterization of the Interviewees.
We classified the researchers by their academic degree. The graphic one shows this classification by the researchers’ academic degree. The majority have masters and PHD in different Brazilian universities.
We defined four age ranges for the population. The first one is from twenty to thirty years old, (eight percent (8%))the interviewed researchers. The second, from thirty-one to forty years old, represents thirty-two percent (32%) of the total general sample.
The third, from forty-one to fifty years old, represents twenty-six percent (26%) of the interviewees.
The fourth, over fifty years old, represents twenty-nine percent (29%) of the interviewees.
We see that the largest percentage of researchers are between thirty-one and forty years old: in this age range eighteen percent (18%) of them are doctors and seventy-two percent (72%) are masters. The second age range, in number of researchers, is the one over fifty years old. In this range, though, in opposition to the first, eighty percent (80%) of the interviewees are doctors and twenty percent (20%) are masters.
We classified the SOFTWARES in two big groups: basic computers programs and specialists programs.
As basic programs we considered the ones related to text edition (Word), presentation supports (Power Point), spreadsheets (Excel) and relational data storage (Access Database).
As specialist programs we considered a group of softwares that allow to aggregate knowledge in some significant way for the research; also, for the academic and scientific knowledge production. We decided to consider specialists programs a statistic program (SPSS), a research support program with questionnaires and lexical and content analysis (SPHINX), a narrative analysis program (NUD*IST/NVIVO), finally, we incorporated in this group some matters related to the use of the Internet/Web.
We calculated the generic double competence index number by the use of basic programs; obtained is value of seventy-four percent (74%). An indicative that we considered high, even if deals with the general usage of some basic computable programs. (See graphic two).
But we see a decrease of the double competence index number, when we analyze the generic use of specialists programs. We fall from 74 to 40% of the interviewees.  (See graphic three).

We found out a significant paradox, that we will call generational paradox, in the usage of specialists programs. (See graphic four).
As higher the program complexity, that means a higher need for double competence (informational), the percentage of interviewees from the highest age range decreases.
We could say, that the researchers that have more research trajectory and culture, and who should have more necessity of complex resources of handling information, are the ones that less use the sophisticated computational resources. In opposition, the lowest age range is the one that has the highest index number of usage of these programs and of more complex routines, at the same time that certainly, they have less research trajectory and culture in complex data handling. It is a paradox.
The research tried to examine the intensity of use of basics and specialists programs, too.
To analyze this intensity, we codified routines in the use of softwares and classified them as you can see in this table. (see table).
They are 7.990 (seven thousand nine hundred and ninety). After that, we analyzed the capacity of control of these routines by the researchers. The routines are divided in six groups. They are:
1. (one) Routines that support knowledge discoveries.
2. (two)Routines that support knowledge expression/socialization.
3. (three) Operational hastening routines, and routines of data precision or data security;
4. (four) Routines that allow sharing the simulations settings.
5. (five) Routines that allow long term memory sharing.       
6. (six) Routines that allow the parameterized data and information recovery.




Even if the long term memory sharing is important in the research process and in the knowledge construction, it is a too primary cognitive routine in the informational complex handling.
This data supports the idea that sociology in Brazil needs to improve the use of informational methodologies in undergraduation as much as in graduation and post-graduation courses.
The second most used routine is the one that allows to share the simulations settings such as links, pre-operation visualizations and so on[RCCS]. This routine is much more sophisticated in the cognitive sharing of the analysis and knowledge production. We found a very high double competence indicative in the use of this routine; it is of seventy-five percent (75,23%).
Unfortunately, the lower double competence indicative is related to the most significant and complex routine, that is the support to sociological knowledge discoveries, such as to find and to mine numerical data terms, images... [RADC]. The RADC double competence indicative was only of thirty-two percent 32,23%. (See graphic six).
We detected in our research the generational question, it means, that as higher the researchers’ age, lower is the double competence.
 So, we can resume the paradox in this way:
Research and complex knowledge production practices are acquired in many years, through a process of optimization that involves mistakes and hits. The older researchers have dense accumulations of complex knowledge production practices, but, in general, works in a pre-digital culture. This drive us again into our generational paradox.
Finally the conclusions are:
we verified that the workplace locus, integrated to a computer installed laboratory software’s and research assistants are significant factors to the diffusion of a sociological digital culture.
So, we propose, as a policy to develop the sociological double competence in brazilian sociology, the implementation of Activities Centers, laboratories integrated in networks, as a nucleus of applications and studies about the programs. Also their the organization of courses oriented by specialized teams.
We conclude that Sociology in Brazil needs to improve the use of informational methodologies in undergraduation, graduation courses, mainly in what concerns the usage of general and specific databases, because handling information and analyzing the topics of the research with these supports need some skills of basic digital proceedings and habilities of translating social problems into algorithmic. (Tank You).

Nenhum comentário: