Maintaining diversity in policy-oriented research (第88回日本社会学会大会 2015-09 報告申込、審査中)
Maintaining diversity in policy-oriented research: alternatives of work-life balance measures for gender equality in Japan
TANAKA Sigeto (田中 重人) Tohoku University
Abstract prepared for a poster session in the 88th Annual Meeting, Japan Sociological Society (2015-09-19..20 Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan)
This proposal is under review by the Japan Sociological Society. Result will be opened by late August.
(Below is a draft before submission, as by 2015-05-18. See http://www.sal.tohoku.ac.jp/~tsigeto/15x.html for the final version.)
1. Problem
Policy-oriented research often suffers from overconcentration on a narrow topic. For instance, research on gender equality in Japan has concentrated on the effects of work-life balance (WLB) measures on continuous regular employment of women in their childrearing stage. Although we have already compiled negative evidence indicating that there has been no increase in women's continuous regular employment despite expanding WLB measures [1], we are still spending a large amount of resources on WLB research. Overconcentration reduces diversity and the capacity of social sciences to make appropriate contributions to public issues.
This problem partly arises from a defect in the PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle model, which policy-oriented research is always based on implicitly. It offers no motivation to break the cycle. The cycle is merely a repetition of fine-tuning in a production process to achieve the given goal, as is naturally expected given that the root of PDCA was a product management system used in private companies [2]. There will thus be no chance to set another goal, to discover a new research topic, or to appeal to the public to overwrite the fundamental philosophy behind the policy.
2. Solution
I put forward a proposal for a new framework for policy-oriented research: "ideology-institution dynamics with causal modeling" (IIDCM), a framework upper-compatible with the PDCA cycle. Like the PDCA cycle, IIDCM assumes a cycle between consideration of ideology (what we perceive and think about the real world) and observation of social phenomena in the real world. In addition, IIDCM offers a schema to analyze ideology as a system of interdependent beliefs about how the real society is, how the ideal society should be, and what we should do according to the social status we occupy.
In the IIDCM framework, the researcher sets policy goals after consideration of interdependent beliefs constituting ideology. Different ideologies give different policy goals, as well as different concrete measures. The researcher should also consider existing normative beliefs in a specific social institution, which sometimes let people act against the given policy goal. These features of IIDCM let researchers have a bird's-eye view of the dynamics of ideology and institution and write diverging scenarios for possible future societies, taking into account whether the policy goals are achievable, what the feasible measures are, and how we can solve by-product problems.
3. Case studies
In this paper, I will introduce three issues for gender equality in Japan: negative evidence against WLB policies and how the focus of WLB research has recently shifted [3], debates on reforms of the divorce system and redefinition of core beliefs about "equity" between (ex-)spouses [4], and expected effects of universal child benefit and opposition by "traditionalists" [5]. I will locate the current state of these issues on the IIDCM framework, find normative constraints in legal/political discourses, and discuss what scenarios are probable in the future.
(See http://tsigeto.info/15x for details)
References
- Senda Y., 2015, Childbearing and careers of Japanese women born in the 1960s, Springer.
- Sokovic, M., D. Pavletic, and K. K. Pipan, 2010, "Quality improvement methodologies: PDCA cycle, RADAR matrix, DMAIC and DFSS", Journal of achievements in materials and manufacturing engineering, 43: 476-483.
- 山口一男, 2009,『ワークライフバランス: 実証と政策提言』日本経済新聞出版社.
- Tanaka S., 2013, "Gender gap in equivalent household income after divorce", Tanaka S. ed. A quantitative picture of contemporary Japanese families: tradition and modernity in the 21st century, Tohoku University Press, 321-350.
- 宮本太郎, 2013,「権力・承認・福祉社会」武川正吾編『シリーズ福祉社会学1』東京大学出版会, 217-227.
Related articles in this blog
- {blog:282} 政策研究の多様性のために
- {blog:266} Ideology-Institution Dynamics with Causal Modeling
- {blog:research} その他「研究」カテゴリの記事一覧
Related articles
- ウィメンズヘルスリテラシー協会 (2017-09-22)
- 濫用される国際比較調査と日本の世論形成: International Fertility Decision-making Survey と少子化社会対策大綱 (第61回数理社会学会大会 2016-03-17) (2016-03-17)
- 【論文】「妊娠・出産に関する正しい知識」が意味するもの:プロパガンダのための科学? (2016-03-09)
- 11月30日(月)シンポジウム「高校保健・副教材にみる専門家の倫理と責任―データ改ざんと出産誘導」(東京ウィメンズプラザ) (2015-11-30)
- A Spider's-Eye View of National Sociologies: Web 2.0 Technologies to Go Beyond Borders (ISA Forum of Sociology, 2016 Vienna) (under review) (2015-09-30)
- Dynamics of Ideology and Institution: Probable Scenarios for Changes in Beliefs about Gender and Family in Japan (ISA Forum of Sociology, 2016 Vienna) 2016-07-11 (2015-09-30)
- 学会報告メモ即時公開の手順 (2015-06-14)
- Maintaining diversity in policy-oriented research (第88回日本社会学会大会 2015-09 報告申込、審査中) (2015-06-08)
- What will we witness when we seriously try to boost fertility? (第25回日本家族社会学会大会 2015-09 報告申込中) (2015-06-07)
- WLBと児童給付の経済的効果のシミュレーション (2015-05-26)
- 政府が本気で出生力増大に取り組んだら何が起きるのか? 普遍的児童給付政策の規範的制約 (2015-05-25)
- 政策研究の多様性のために (2015-05-17)
- Ideology-Institution Dynamics with Causal Modeling (2015-02-24)
- 両立政策が結婚・出生をめぐる意思決定にあたえる経済的影響 (2015-02-18)
- 東北大学 文系4学部合同「クワトロセミナー」第4回「統計学のネクスト・ステージ: 公共的社会科学における統計分析の実践と展開」(2015-01-14) (2015-01-14)
Comment:
Leave your comment
All items are optional (except the comment content). Posted comment will be immediately published, without preview/confirmation.
To pass my SPAM filter, include some non-ASCII characters more than 1% of Your Comment content. If you cannot type non-ASCII characters, copy & paste the star marks: ★☆★☆★☆.
Trackback:
http://blog.tsigeto.jp/tb.php/288-1af7451a