Sociologies Of Moderation

Sociological Review Monograph Featured onTHINKING ALLOWED (Radio 4) on 29th January and 5th February 2014 Contributions from the most recent Sociological Review Monograph, SOCIOLOGIES OF MODERATION (edited by Alex Smith and John Holmwood), featured on Radio 4's Thinking Allowed on 29 January and 5 February 2014. While 'moderation' was once a potent social idea and ideal grounded in compelling cultural, intellectual and religious traditions, it has in recent decades fallen out of fashion as political forms engage with mass consumerism, neoliberal economics and religious fundamentalisms. Against this background, and in an age characterised by excess and extremism, SOCIOLOGIES OF MODERATION offers a sociological reappraisal of the intellectual foundations and contemporary salience of moderation. The importance and timeliness of its arguments will be discussed on Laurie Taylor's programme. ****************************************** Sociologies of Moderation presents a series of original papers that explore the origins, intellectual foundations, and relevance of moderation in 21st-century politics, religion, and society. Reappraises an old idea—‘moderation’—in order to salvage and recast it for the challenges of 21st-century politics, religion, and society Represents an important and innovative concept for contemporary times Brings together leading sociologists and social theorists from Britain and America as well as emerging scholars conducting original empirical research in the US, the UK, and beyond Makes a timely contribution to contemporary debates regarding the future of democracy, expertise, and the role of the media

In an age seemingly characterized by polarizing culture wars, political and religious extremism, and increasing economic and social inequities, just what is the definition of 'moderation' these day? And what might a reasoned contemporary programme of moderation look like - intellectually, politically, and in practice? Despite its importance to public policy debates, the field of sociology has been surprisingly reticent in its coverage of the concept of moderation in recent years. Sociologies of Moderation corrects this oversight through a series of original papers that probe the sociological origins, intellectual foundations, and contemporary relevance of mderation in 21st-century politics, religion, and society. Featuring contributions from top sociologists, social theorists, and emerging scholars working in the US, Great Britain, and beyond, the papers in this special supplement of The Sociological Review collectively argue for a sociological reappraisal of the intellectual foundations and contemporary salience of moderation. Drawing in part on the American pragmatist tradition, and backed by the latest cutting-edge empirical evidence, their findings suggest that moderation is better grasped as a disciplined engagement with deeply divided publics in a variety of socio-cultural contexts. Throught-provoking and timely, Sociologies of Moderation provides a wealth of enlightening insights into what the pursuit of moderation would look like in our increasingly immoderate world.

An eye-opening look at the invisible workers who protect us from seeing humanity’s worst on today’s commercial internet Social media on the internet can be a nightmarish place. A primary shield against hateful language, violent videos, and online cruelty uploaded by users is not an algorithm. It is people. Mostly invisible by design, more than 100,000 commercial content moderators evaluate posts on mainstream social media platforms: enforcing internal policies, training artificial intelligence systems, and actively screening and removing offensive material—sometimes thousands of items per day. Sarah T. Roberts, an award-winning social media scholar, offers the first extensive ethnographic study of the commercial content moderation industry. Based on interviews with workers from Silicon Valley to the Philippines, at boutique firms and at major social media companies, she contextualizes this hidden industry and examines the emotional toll it takes on its workers. This revealing investigation of the people “behind the screen” offers insights into not only the reality of our commercial internet but the future of globalized labor in the digital age.

Examining the writings of twentieth-century thinkers such as Raymond Aron, Isaiah Berlin, Norberto Bobbio, Michael Oakeshott, and Adam Michnik, Faces of Moderation argues that moderation remains crucial for today's encounters with new forms of extremism.

This book presents the elaboration model for the multivariate analysis of observational quantitative data. This model entails the systematic introduction of "third variables" to the analysis of a focal relationship between one independent and one dependent variable to ascertain whether an inference of causality is justified. Two complementary strategies are used: an exclusionary strategy that rules out alternative explanations such as spuriousness and redundancy with competing theories, and an inclusive strategy that connects the focal relationship to a network of other relationships, including the hypothesized causal mechanisms linking the focal independent variable to the focal dependent variable. The primary emphasis is on the translation of theory into a logical analytic strategy and the interpretation of results. The elaboration model is applied with case studies drawn from newly published research that serve as prototypes for aligning theory and the data analytic plan used to test it; these studies are drawn from a wide range of substantive topics in the social sciences, such as emotion management in the workplace, subjective age identification during the transition to adulthood, and the relationship between religious and paranormal beliefs. The second application of the elaboration model is in the form of original data analysis presented in two Analysis Journals that are integrated throughout the text and implement the full elaboration model. Using real data, not contrived examples, the text provides a step-by-step guide through the process of integrating theory with data analysis in order to arrive at meaningful answers to research questions.

Written in a friendly, conversational style, this book offers a hands-on approach to statistical mediation and moderation for both beginning researchers and those familiar with modeling. Starting with a gentle review of regression-based analysis, Paul Jose covers basic mediation and moderation techniques before moving on to advanced topics in multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, and hybrid combinations, such as moderated mediation. User-friendly features include numerous graphs and carefully worked-through examples; "Helpful Suggestions" about procedures and pitfalls; "Knowledge Boxes" delving into special topics, such as dummy coding; and end-of-chapter exercises and problems (with answers). The companion website (www.guilford.com/jose-materials) provides downloadable data and syntax files for the book's examples and exercises, as well as links to Jose's online programs, MedGraph and ModGraph. Appendices present SPSS, Amos, and Mplus syntax for conducting the key types of analyses.

This book has been replaced by Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis, Third Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-4903-0.

An eye-opening look at the invisible workers who protect us from seeing humanity's worst on today's commercial internet Social media on the internet can be a nightmarish place. A primary shield against hateful language, violent videos, and online cruelty uploaded by users is not an algorithm. It is people. Mostly invisible by design, more than 100,000 commercial content moderators evaluate posts on mainstream social media platforms: enforcing internal policies, training artificial intelligence systems, and actively screening and removing offensive material--sometimes thousands of items per day. Sarah T. Roberts, an award-winning social media scholar, offers the first extensive ethnographic study of the commercial content moderation industry. Based on interviews with workers from Silicon Valley to the Philippines, at boutique firms and at major social media companies, she contextualizes this hidden industry and examines the emotional toll it takes on its workers. This revealing investigation of the people "behind the screen" offers insights into not only the reality of our commercial internet but the future of globalized labor in the digital age.

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