R Evans
Biographic Data
| ID | 17478 |
|---|---|
| NAME | R Evans |
| GIVEN NAMES | R |
| FAMILY NAME | Evans |
| SIGNATURE | EVANS R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cardiff University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7034-5122 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 68 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 668 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 68 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1961 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Virtual diversity revisited
Mapping Approaches to ‘Citizen Science’ and ‘Community Science’ and Everything In-between: The Evolution of New Epistemic Territory
Over the last decade or so, the rate of growth of academic publications involving discussion of ‘citizen science’ and ‘community science’, and similar variants, has risen exponentially. These fluid terms, with no fixed definition, cover a continuum of public participation within a range of scientific activities. It is, therefore, apposite and timely to examine the evolving typologies of citizen science and community science and to ask how particu…
Virtual diversity: Resolving the tension between the wider culture and the institution of science
There are widespread calls for increased demographic diversity in science, often linked to the epistemic claim that including more perspectives will improve the quality of the knowledge produced. By distinguishing between demographic and epistemic diversity, we show that this is only true some of the time. There are cases where increasing demographic diversity will not bring about the necessary epistemic diversity and cases where failing to exclu…
Postcards from Absurdistan: Prague at the End of History
The Role of Slavery in Athenian Democracy: An Economic Perspective
Classical Athens is strongly associated with two phenomena: democracy, and slavery.The interaction between these two institutions, seemingly at odds when evaluated by modern standards, reveals a complex web of philosophical, social, and economic relationships.The question of whether or not Athenian democracy was predicated on slavery as an institution has been the subject of scholarly debate for centuries, and no strict answer has been reached.Ho…
Evaluating the imitation game as a method for comparative research: A replication study using imitation games about religion
The Imitation Game is a new method and, as such, it is important to show that its results are plausible and replicable. We tested this by conducting Imitation Games on religion in a range of European countries, returning approximately 12 months later to repeat the research. The idea was that non-Christian members of strongly Christian countries would find it easy to pass as members of the practicing majority because Christian beliefs and practice…
Sage advice and political decision-making: ‘Following the science’ in times of epistemic uncertainty
This article presents a preliminary analysis of the advice provided by the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) held between 22 January and 23 March 2020 in response to the emerging coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on the published minutes of the group's meetings, the article examines what was known and not known, the assumptions and working practices that shaped their work, and how this knowledge was reflected in the dec…
A Pioneer in Context: T R Miles and the Bangor Dyslexia Unit
T R (‘Tim’) Miles (1923–2008) was one of the most important pioneers of dyslexia research and treatment in the UK. He worked with dyslexics from the time of his appointment to a lectureship at Bangor in 1949 and later, with his wife, established the Dyslexia Centre there. Miles’ professional role and theoretical contribution are reasonably well documented, not least through his own autobiographical account of them. I aim to reappraise his work in…
Groups and individuals: Conformity and Diversity in the Performance of Gendered Identities
The nature and role of social groups is a central tension in sociology. On the one hand, the idea of a group enables sociologists to locate and describe individuals in terms of characteristics that are shared with others. On the other, emphasizing the fluidity of categories such as gender or ethnicity undermines their legitimacy as ways of classifying people and, by extension, the legitimacy of categorization as a goal of sociological research. I…
Improving carbon footprinting of agricultural systems: Boundaries, tiers, and organic farming
Mapping the integrative field: Taking stock of socio-technical collaborations
Responsible innovation requires that scientific and other expert practices be responsive to society. We take stock of a variety of collaborative approaches to socio-technical integration that seek to broaden the societal contexts technical experts take into account during their routine activities. Part of a larger family of engaged scholarship that includes inter- and trans-disciplinarity as well as stakeholder and public engagement, we distingui…
The Imitation Game and the Nature of Mixed Methods
We describe the Imitation Game, a new research method that collects both qualitative and quantitative data, and which can be used as a mixed methods procedure in many disciplines. Drawing on two projects, one investigating gender, the other sexuality, we show that the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the Game combine in four different ways, from more quantitative to more qualitative, involving increasing cultural understanding by the resea…
Probes, Surveys, and the Ontology of the Social
By distinguishing between a survey and—a newly introduced term—a “probe,” we recast the relationship between qualitative and quantitative approaches to social science. The difference turns on the uniformity of the phenomenon being examined. Uniformity is a fundamental idea underlying all scientific research but is rarely spoken about. The idea explains the different approaches to social science and has implications for monomethod and mixed method…
Crater's Edge, by Michal Giedroyc
Journal Article Crater's Edge, by Michał Giedroyć Get access Crater's Edge, by Michał Giedroyć (London: Bene Factum, 2010; pp. 199. £19.99). R.J.W. Evans R.J.W. Evans Oriel College, Oxford [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CXXVI, Issue 523, December 2011, Pages 1582–1583, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cer265 Published: 01 December 2011
The Tragedy of American School Reform: How Curriculum Politics and Entrenched Dilemmas Have Diverted Us from Democracy
Two persistent dilemmas haunt school reform: curriculum politics and classroom constancy. Both undermined the 1960s' new social studies, a dynamic reform movement centered on inquiry, issues, and soci
Object and shadow: Responses to the CPS critiques of Collins, Weinel and Evans', ‘Politics and policy of the Third Wave’
The very stuff of academic life is debate and we sincerely thank our critics for taking the time to consider our work. In the way of things we are going to be robust in our responses but we have fo
The politics and policy of the Third Wave: New technologies and society
We outline the political implications of the program known as the ‘Third Wave of Science Studies’. Here we develop the politics of the Third Wave showing how it bears on technological decision-making in the public domain. The main concern is to combat ‘technological populism’. The prescriptions that emerge include asking and answering as many technical questions as is reasonable and giving these questions and answers the maximum exposure before m…
Runoff and soil erosion in arable Britain: Changes in perception and policy since 1945
Communicating Empire: The Habsburgs and Their Critics, 1700–1919
In the vibrant current debate about European empires and their ideologies, one basic dichotomy still tends to be overlooked: that between, on the one hand, the plurality of modern empires of colonisation, commerce and settlement; and, on the other, the traditional claim to single and undivided imperium so long embodied in the Roman Empire and its successor, the Holy Roman Empire, or (First) Reich. This paper examines the tensions between the two,…
The Creighton century: British historians and Europe, 1907-2007
The series of Creighton memorial lectures, delivered annually since 1907, reflects changing interests and priorities within British historiography. This centenary address seeks to illustrate attitudes to the history of Europe as revealed especially in the lectures, but also in the context of the development of the historical profession in this country as a whole. Many of the issues raised were already adumbrated in the work of Mandell Creighton h…
The Sociology of Expertise: The Distribution of Social Fluency
Expert knowledge is an essential component of modern society. It is also a potentially difficult topic for sociology because of the importance sociology attaches to culture and context. The sociology of science has emphasised the continuity between scientific expertise and more traditional forms of knowledge. Whilst this suggests an increasing ‘democratisation of expertise’ is desirable, it also risks erasing the idea of expertise itself. This mi…
Articulating Contextualized Knowledge: Focus Groups and/as Public Participation
Calls for increased public participation in science and technology policy are now commonplace and raise challenges for social scientists as well as policy-makers. For social scientists, the practice of public participation raises questions about the methods used by social scientists to collect data and develop the representations of public opinion that inform this new dialogue but also reflect it. In this paper, the difference that different meth…
Human rights and genomics: Science, genomics and social movements at the 2004 London Social Forum
The third meeting of the European Social Forum (ESF) was held in London during October 2004 with a broad ranging formal agenda and a penumbra of affiliated workshops and cultural activities. We draw on participant observation in all sessions dealing with science and genomics and offer an evaluation of Rothman's (2000) argument that NGOs and protest movements have a vital role to play in consolidating and disseminating the UN Universal Declaration…
Listening Without Prejudice: Re-discovering the Value of the Disinterested Citizen
Public participation in technological decision-making is increasingly seen as de rigueur, but the limits and purpose of such participation remain open to debate. In this paper we explore the tension between different rationales for widening participation and examine their implications for its practice. Taking debates about medical genomics in the UK as an illustrative example, we argue that more heterogeneous participation and debate have the pot…
The Habsburg Monarchy, 1848 1918, and the Habsburgermonarchie Project
THEHabsburgermonarchie series has transformed our understanding of the history of the Dual Monarchy and of the antecedent period of instability between the revolutions of 1848 and the settlement of 1867. Given the special circumstances of the historiography of the Habsburg lands, the agenda of which has so often been set by preoccupations in the successor states of Central Europe that replaced the Monarchy after 1918, its significance has been in…
The Third Wave of Science Studies: Studies of Expertise and Experience
Science studies has shown us why science and technology cannot always solve technical problems in the public domain. In particular, the speed of political decision-making is faster than the speed of scientific consensus formation. A predominant motif over recent years has been the need to extend the domain of technical decision-making beyond the technically qualified élite, so as to enhance political legitimacy. We argue, however, that the `Probl…
Listening Without Prejudice: Re-discovering the Value of the Disinterested Citizen
Public participation in technological decision-making is increasingly seen as de rigueur, but the limits and purpose of such participation remain open to debate. In this paper we explore the tension between different rationales for widening participation and examine their implications for its practice. Taking debates about medical genomics in the UK as an illustrative example, we argue that more heterogeneous participation and debate have the pot…
King Canute Meets the Beach Boys: Responses to the Third Wave
The politics and policy of the Third Wave: New technologies and society
We outline the political implications of the program known as the ‘Third Wave of Science Studies’. Here we develop the politics of the Third Wave showing how it bears on technological decision-making in the public domain. The main concern is to combat ‘technological populism’. The prescriptions that emerge include asking and answering as many technical questions as is reasonable and giving these questions and answers the maximum exposure before m…
Socio-economic factors in soil erosion and conservation
Soothsaying or Science: Falsification, Uncertainty and Social Change in Macroeconomic Modelling
Macroeconomic models play an increasingly important role in economic policy-making and evaluation. They cost large sums of money, yet appear unable to forecast the ups and downs of economic activity with any accuracy. Drawing on material gathered during interviews with leading UK economists, I draw a distinction between `strong' and `weak' claims in econometrics, and discuss how these relate to the falsification of economic models and theories. E…
Improving carbon footprinting of agricultural systems: Boundaries, tiers, and organic farming
Probes, Surveys, and the Ontology of the Social
By distinguishing between a survey and—a newly introduced term—a “probe,” we recast the relationship between qualitative and quantitative approaches to social science. The difference turns on the uniformity of the phenomenon being examined. Uniformity is a fundamental idea underlying all scientific research but is rarely spoken about. The idea explains the different approaches to social science and has implications for monomethod and mixed method…
Crop marks and soils at two archaeological sites in Britain
The Sociology of Expertise: The Distribution of Social Fluency
Expert knowledge is an essential component of modern society. It is also a potentially difficult topic for sociology because of the importance sociology attaches to culture and context. The sociology of science has emphasised the continuity between scientific expertise and more traditional forms of knowledge. Whilst this suggests an increasing ‘democratisation of expertise’ is desirable, it also risks erasing the idea of expertise itself. This mi…
The Imitation Game and the Nature of Mixed Methods
We describe the Imitation Game, a new research method that collects both qualitative and quantitative data, and which can be used as a mixed methods procedure in many disciplines. Drawing on two projects, one investigating gender, the other sexuality, we show that the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the Game combine in four different ways, from more quantitative to more qualitative, involving increasing cultural understanding by the resea…
Articulating Contextualized Knowledge: Focus Groups and/as Public Participation
Calls for increased public participation in science and technology policy are now commonplace and raise challenges for social scientists as well as policy-makers. For social scientists, the practice of public participation raises questions about the methods used by social scientists to collect data and develop the representations of public opinion that inform this new dialogue but also reflect it. In this paper, the difference that different meth…
Virtual diversity: Resolving the tension between the wider culture and the institution of science
There are widespread calls for increased demographic diversity in science, often linked to the epistemic claim that including more perspectives will improve the quality of the knowledge produced. By distinguishing between demographic and epistemic diversity, we show that this is only true some of the time. There are cases where increasing demographic diversity will not bring about the necessary epistemic diversity and cases where failing to exclu…
Muddy floods on the South Downs, southern England: Problem and responses
Runoff and soil erosion in arable Britain: Changes in perception and policy since 1945
Some Notes on Coerced Labor
Though Social critics have often spoken of the “wage slavery” associated with modern capitalism, it is more common to believe that coerced labor was banished with the coming of modern standards of civilization. Thus the corvee of ancient China, the feudalism of Western Europe and Japan, and the New World enslavement of blacks in the 17th-19th centuries are seen as products of those earlier and less enlightened ages, mere way stations in the histo…
Empire: The Russian Empire and its Rivals
Journal Article Empire: The Russian Empire and its Rivals Get access R. J. W. Evans R. J. W. Evans Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume 118, Issue 477, June 2003, Pages 728–730, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/118.477.728 Published: 01 June 2003
Evaluating the imitation game as a method for comparative research: A replication study using imitation games about religion
The Imitation Game is a new method and, as such, it is important to show that its results are plausible and replicable. We tested this by conducting Imitation Games on religion in a range of European countries, returning approximately 12 months later to repeat the research. The idea was that non-Christian members of strongly Christian countries would find it easy to pass as members of the practicing majority because Christian beliefs and practice…
Groups and individuals: Conformity and Diversity in the Performance of Gendered Identities
The nature and role of social groups is a central tension in sociology. On the one hand, the idea of a group enables sociologists to locate and describe individuals in terms of characteristics that are shared with others. On the other, emphasizing the fluidity of categories such as gender or ethnicity undermines their legitimacy as ways of classifying people and, by extension, the legitimacy of categorization as a goal of sociological research. I…
Object and shadow: Responses to the CPS critiques of Collins, Weinel and Evans', ‘Politics and policy of the Third Wave’
The very stuff of academic life is debate and we sincerely thank our critics for taking the time to consider our work. In the way of things we are going to be robust in our responses but we have fo
Sage advice and political decision-making: ‘Following the science’ in times of epistemic uncertainty
This article presents a preliminary analysis of the advice provided by the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) held between 22 January and 23 March 2020 in response to the emerging coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on the published minutes of the group's meetings, the article examines what was known and not known, the assumptions and working practices that shaped their work, and how this knowledge was reflected in the dec…
Evaluation of modelled spatially distributed predictions of soil erosion by water versus field-based assessments
Essay and Reflection: Frontiers and National Identities in Central Europe
(1992). Essay and Reflection: Frontiers and National Identities in Central Europe. The International History Review: Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 480-502
The Role of Slavery in Athenian Democracy: An Economic Perspective
Classical Athens is strongly associated with two phenomena: democracy, and slavery.The interaction between these two institutions, seemingly at odds when evaluated by modern standards, reveals a complex web of philosophical, social, and economic relationships.The question of whether or not Athenian democracy was predicated on slavery as an institution has been the subject of scholarly debate for centuries, and no strict answer has been reached.Ho…
The Creighton century: British historians and Europe, 1907-2007
The series of Creighton memorial lectures, delivered annually since 1907, reflects changing interests and priorities within British historiography. This centenary address seeks to illustrate attitudes to the history of Europe as revealed especially in the lectures, but also in the context of the development of the historical profession in this country as a whole. Many of the issues raised were already adumbrated in the work of Mandell Creighton h…
Some Economic Aspects of the Domestic Slave Trade, 1830-1860
Without Regard for Cost: The Returns on Clipper Ships
Some Notes on Coerced Labor
Though Social critics have often spoken of the “wage slavery” associated with modern capitalism, it is more common to believe that coerced labor was banished with the coming of modern standards of civilization. Thus the corvee of ancient China, the feudalism of Western Europe and Japan, and the New World enslavement of blacks in the 17th-19th centuries are seen as products of those earlier and less enlightened ages, mere way stations in the histo…
The Significance of the White Mountain for the Culture of the Czech Lands
The Significance of the White Mountain for the Culture of the Czech Lands Get access R. J. W. EVANS R. J. W. EVANS Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, Volume 44, Issue 109, May 1971, Pages 34–54, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2281.1971.tb00390.x Published: 12 October 2007
Japanese Blue Collar: The Changing Tradition
The use of Japan for comparative sociology is now extremely fashionable. In industrial sociology, the fall-out from the bomb exploded by Abegglen in 1958 is still noticeable. There appears to be an ever-present demand for articles and books on the peculiarities of Japanese society and culture and 'life-time commitment' is firmly fixed in students' minds as the basis of Japanese institutions. Cole's book has many virtues, but the most outstanding …
Rudolf II and His World: A Study in Intellectual History, 1576-1612
Property Crime in Canada: An Econometric Study
Crop marks and soils at two archaeological sites in Britain
The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany . Michael Baxandall Octavian Secundus Fugger (1549-1600) und die Kunst . Norbert Lieb
Johann Jakob Moser and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Mack Walker
Rantzau and Welser: Aspects of later German humanism
(1984). Rantzau and Welser: Aspects of later German humanism. History of European Ideas: Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 257-272
The church and healing
Culture and Anarchy in the Empire, 1540–1680
Drawings from the Holy Roman Empire 1540–1680 must have appeared to the untutored eye as a fairly miscellaneous exhibition of drawings, themselves a very miscellaneous genre. Perhaps their only common ground lies in that even more ineffable geographical expression: the Holy Roman Empire. Yet for all the accidental quality of its provenance, the show possessed a certain logic. Let us note two crude facts about it: firstly the threefold and almost …
In the Shadow of Maria Theresa, 1741-1780
Journal Article In the Shadow of Maria Theresa, 1741–1780 Get access R. J. W. Evans R. J. W. Evans Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar German History, Volume 6, Issue 1, January 1988, Pages 81–86, https://doi.org/10.1093/gh/6.1.81 Published: 01 January 1988
Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century
R. J. W. Evans; Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century, German History, Volume 7, Issue 3, 1 July 1989, Pages 388
The Habsburgs and the Hungarian Problem, 1790–1848
ON 4 MARCH 1848 Hungarians were excitedly debating the devastating criticisms of their country's rulers pronounced before assembled members of the diet the previous day by the popular tribune, Lajos Kossuth, the culmination of a campaign of agitation which stretched back a decade and more. Kossuth called for a constitutional transformation, with a responsible ministry, full legal equality, and the abolition of all privilege. The following month h…
Bildungsgeschichte, Bevolkerungsgeschichte, Gesellschaftsgeschichte in den bohmischen Landern und in Europa: Festschrift fur Jan Havranek zum 60. Geburtstag
Journal Article Bildungsgeschichte, Bevölkerungsgeschichte, Gesellschaftsgeschichte in den böhmischen Landern und in Europa: Festschrift für Jan Havránek zum 60. Geburtstag Get access R. J. W. Evans R. J. W. Evans Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar German History, Volume 8, Issue 3, July 1990, Pages 357–359, https://doi.org/10.1093/gh/8.3.357 Published: 01 July 1990
Essay and Reflection: Frontiers and National Identities in Central Europe
(1992). Essay and Reflection: Frontiers and National Identities in Central Europe. The International History Review: Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 480-502
The City and the Crown. Vienna and the Imperial Court, 1600-1740
Journal Article The City and the Crown. Vienna and the Imperial Court, 1600–1740 Get access R. J. W. Evans R. J. W. Evans Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar German History, Volume 12, Issue 2, April 1994, Pages 261–262, https://doi.org/10.1093/gh/12.2.261 Published: 01 April 1994
Regionalismus und Staatsintegration im Widerstreit. Die Lander der Bohmischen Krone im ersten Jahrhundert der Habsburgerherrshaft, 1526-1619
Journal Article Regionalismus und Staatsintegration im Widerstreit. Die Länder der Böhmischen Krone im ersten Jahrhundert der Habsburgerherrshaft, 1526–1619 Get access R. J. W. Evans R. J. W. Evans Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar German History, Volume 14, Issue 1, January 1996, Pages 87–88, https://doi.org/10.1093/gh/14.1.87 Published: 01 January 1996
Healthy Aging: Insights for Research and Policy
B. Payne, J. Dawe, R. Evans, V. Marshall, P. Clarke, D. Norris, J. Hagey, E. Shapiro, R. Wilkins, B. Havens, Healthy Aging: Insights for Research and Policy, Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, Vol. 23, Special Joint Issue: Aging / Vieillissement (Spring, 1997), pp. 42-52
Soothsaying or Science: Falsification, Uncertainty and Social Change in Macroeconomic Modelling
Macroeconomic models play an increasingly important role in economic policy-making and evaluation. They cost large sums of money, yet appear unable to forecast the ups and downs of economic activity with any accuracy. Drawing on material gathered during interviews with leading UK economists, I draw a distinction between `strong' and `weak' claims in econometrics, and discuss how these relate to the falsification of economic models and theories. E…
Xenotransplantation, risk, regulation and surveillance: Social and technological dimensions of change
This paper examines xenotransplantation as one specific technique associated withthe "new genetics" The development of this particular technique is set within the context of emergent regulatory practices that simultaneously confront the national and global dimensions of the technique whilst balancing collective and individual risks and benefits.The adoption of an incremental, and arguably ad hoc, regulatory approach within the UK is assessed in r…
A Cause to Believe In
Shorter notice. Envoy Extraordinary. Memoirs of a Romanian Diplomat. I Tilea [ed]
Journal Article Envoy Extraordinary. Memoirs of a Romanian Diplomat. I Tilea [ed] Get access RJW Evans RJW Evans Oriel College, Oxford, UK Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume 115, Issue 461, April 2000, Pages 504–505, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/115.461.504 Published: 01 April 2000
Political science (36 works) · Law (32 works) · History (29 works) · Sociology (29 works) · Law (22 works) · Philosophy (20 works) · Epistemology (17 works) · Politics (17 works) · Art (16 works) · Computer Science (16 works)