| NSF Org: |
IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 21, 2015 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 21, 2015 |
| Award Number: | 1551458 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
William Bainbridge
IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2015 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $290,439.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $290,439.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1600 HAMPTON ST COLUMBIA SC US 29208-3403 (803)777-7093 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Dept. of Sociology Columbia SC US 29208-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | HCC-Human-Centered Computing |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
This project will develop an integrated set of web-based tools for advancing theories about human individual and social behavior, called Wikitheoria. The primary goal is to facilitate the evolution of better and more useful theories by capitalizing on conditions for successful knowledge aggregation. The benefits cut at least two ways. Tools developed in various areas of information technology will be serving the social sciences by systematizing the theory-building process. The theory modules thus produced will, in turn, enhance research in cyber-human systems and other fields where assumptions that are made about human and group behavior are not always well-grounded in prior theory and research. In general, users that participate even minimally in Wikitheoria are likely to gain an appreciation for the benefits of more careful attention to the logic and terms of their theories. Assuming a threshold of participation is eventually surpassed, the project may even transform the way theory is produced and evaluated in the social sciences, and the way that social science theories are utilized in cyber-human systems and elsewhere. The lessons learned should also be applicable to the development of programs that facilitate Internet community formation through incentive systems, especially knowledge aggregation communities. The software will be made freely available, both as source code and as a hosted service for research use.
A previous NSF grant supported the construction of a prototype that included, among other elements, introductory presentations, instructions, tools to submit "modular theories" to a library, and several crucial administrative subsystems. This innovative new work will develop a completed online system that generalizes beyond the prototype's basic functions, implementing a range of powerful services and infrastructure. These include automated logical and semantic analyses, recommender systems, extensive hyperlinking of the lexicon, analytics, instructional and pedagogical materials, and discussion boards. The system will support collective evaluation and cumulative enhancement of submitted materials, user incentive systems, cross-fertilization between disciplines, identification of integratable modules, evaluations of supporting research, theoretically informed applications, and support for students and applied researchers outside of the social sciences. Wikitheoria will provide tools for those seeking to advance knowledge, and resources for those seeking to apply that knowledge. The interactive nature of the site permits users at any level to ask questions about content, point out ambiguous terms and statements, and in general become part of the theory-development process in a way that is not possible with standard publication models. Thus Wikitheoria can become a valuable standard resource for computer and information scientists and engineers working on human-centered projects, who need to sharpen their theoretical ideas, learn what similar theoretical frameworks are already available, and situate their innovations in a wider cognitive and social context.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Scientific theories are precise, abstract and general explanations used to explain and predict phenomena in the “real world” under a variety of conditions and circumstances. In the social sciences, however, many theories are written in a highly informal fashion and fall short of scientific standards of logical soundness and semantic transparency. This project developed key elements of an online system designed to promote more rigorous theory construction in the social sciences, starting with Sociology. The portal to our system is the “Wikitheoria” website. Among other services, it guides users through the development of small "theory modules" for inclusion in a searchable library of modules. Each module consists of a set of logical propositions composed of theoretical terms. Terms and their definitions are either drawn from, or can be added to, the system’s lexicon. Development of terminological combinations is facilitated by a recommender system that searches for already-defined terms of similar meaning to those suggested by the user. Existing modules and terms are available to any registered user. Users may evaluate modules and recommend improvements in a kind of crowdsourcing review process—an alternative to standard peer-review procedures. Users may also borrow modules and combine them into integrated theories to be used in applied research or for practical purposes. A significant component of this project that is not visible from the Wikitheoria homepage is a set of functions that facilitates site administration, e.g., updating instructional materials, messaging users, shepherding submitted modules through a review process.
Intellectual Merit
Wikitheoria was conceived as an infrastructural tool for social science theory construction. Its primary function is to promote the incremental improvement of theories by capitalizing on conditions for successful knowledge aggregation and collective evaluation. Additionally, participation in the web site, and dissemination of information about its functioning and products, can only enhance appreciation for the benefits of more careful attention to the logic and terms of notoriously “fuzzy” social science theories. If eventually a critical number of users adopts the system, the project could change the way theory is produced and evaluated in what are still known as the “soft sciences.” Theoretical methods such as those built into Wikitheoria are not difficult to master, but potentially would benefit theorists of any stripe by promoting well-reasoned arguments and clarity in the communication of ideas. On the technical side, the user interface has evolved some inviting ways to engage users with some newly developed and quite sophisticated logical and semantic tools.
Broader Impacts
A key concern for this project from its inception has been to maximize its impact on the discipline and beyond, such as by fostering deeper theoretical interpenetrations, both among the social sciences and between social sciences and traditionally “hard sciences.” Wikitheoria offers an approach that encourages theoretically-driven research. It simultaneously provides tools for those advancing knowledge, and resources for those seeking to apply that knowledge. Formalization in general, and modularization in particular, do incur some costs in time and effort. To ensure the broadest impact, we have sought to minimize those costs and to maximize the value of those efforts for the collective good. This means making Wikitheoria easy, engaging and highly effective, and demonstrating its potential benefits to contributors, their subdisciplines and their students. If successful in the long-run, Wikitheoria will bring together researchers spanning micro and macro interest levels, basic and applied research activities, and numerous disciplines and subdisciplines. The system’s review processes and openness to contributors reduces or eliminates any potential impact of participants’ demographic characteristics such as status in the discipline, professional ties, race or gender.
Last Modified: 11/11/2018
Modified by: Barry Markovsky
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