What Good Is Social Science in Times of Crisis? Lessons and Answers from Corona
Talk by Macartan Humphreys
When Corona hit, many social scientists turned their attention to trying to understand the social and political correlates of the spread of the disease, the socioeconomic impacts of the crisis, and social explanations for the effectiveness of different responses to the disease. Social sciences, however, largely study normal times and the utility and validity of their model tools can get stretched when turned to address a crisis. How well did these models and tools perform in this crisis and what can be done to ready social sciences for the next one?
Macartan Humphreys is Director of the Research Unit Institutions and Political Inequality.
This session is moderated by Harald Wilkoszewski, Head of Communications at WZB.
The event is part of the WZB series (Un)Solvable Problems? Social Science Perspectives on the Challenges of our Time, which will take place online on Fridays from 9 to 10 a.m. until 8 December 2023.
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