Using genetics for social science

Genetics and the social science explanation of individual outcomes.

Accumulating evidence from behavioral genetics suggests that the vast majority of individual-level outcomes of abiding sociological interest are genetically influenced to a substantial degree. This raises the question of the place of genetics in social science explanations. Genomic causation is described from a counterfactualist perspective, which makes its complexity plain and highlights the d...

Integrating social science and genetics: news from the political front.

There has been growing interest in the use of genetic models to expand the understanding of political preferences, attitudes, and behaviors. Researchers in the social sciences have begun incorporating these models and have revealed that genetic differences account for individual differences in political beliefs, behaviors, and responses to the political environment. The first Integrating Geneti...

The genetics of loneliness: linking evolutionary theory to genome-wide genetics, epigenetics, and social science.

As a complex trait, loneliness is likely to be influenced by the interplay of numerous genetic and environmental factors. Studies in behavioral genetics indicate that loneliness has a sizable degree of heritability. Candidate-gene and gene-expression studies have pointed to several genes related to neurotransmitters and the immune system. The notion that these genes are related to loneliness is...

Using Social Science in Design

This paper deals with ways in which designers of user-centered systems and products can make use of other disciplines, primarily social science, to inform design practice. It discusses various ways in which theories, models and frameworks from social science can be integrated into design research and the problems that can arise when translating concepts, theories and methods from one discipline...

Social science. Computational social science.