Sociological studies have not been very interested in the study of emotions. Sociological reflection has dealt with the existing literature, but there are few empirical studies. This document aims to present the analysis of data related to a small section of the research “Medically Assisted Procreation and Surrogacy: the new social imaginaries”. The research has taken place at the end of 2017 to 360 subjects (24-45 years old) residing in the Italian regions: Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Campania. The aim of the research was to understand whether or not there was a new social imaginary related to the technique of PMA. In the survey there were some questions to investigate the emotional state of women who use PMA or who ask a surrogate mother for help. The data showed that the emotional area of the self emerges with high values in case the woman decides not to have children to prioritize her professional career. The data show that people involved in medically assisted procreation techniques experience very different emotions. The emotions they feel depend on their motivations and goals.
The authors of this article report the results of the M.O.M.A.P. study about the monitoring of probation on adult defendants, carried out by the Universities of Bologna and Parma in collaboration with UEPE offices in Bologna, Modena and Reggio Emilia. The aim is to investigate the multiple functions of probation, as well as the opinion of legal and social operators on the regulatory device introduced with Law 67/2014. The study has consisted on the analysis of 192 dossiers about adult defendants, a questionnaire to 37 social service professionals of UEPE offices in Emilia Romagna, and 13 interviews with key-informants (UEPE officials, UEPE consultants, and social workers). The research outputs show that probation has been used much more frequently for Italian and adult defendants than for the foreign and young ones. The final evaluation of the process is generally positive, but some critical issues emerge about the possibility to accomplish all the probation functions.
In Italy in the third millennium, barriers to women’s employment and career remain high and propose serious issues for the political debate. This study investigates the phenomena of segregation in the Piedmont’s labour market using the data collected by the Office of the Piedmont Regional Councilor for Equality as prescribed by the Legislative Decree 198/06 (art. 46). The sample includes all enterprises with more than 100 employees located in the region in 2012-2013. We combined and integrated these data with interviews to HR managers and focus groups with union representatives to deepen the aspects that emerged from the data analysis. The contribution highlights that without constructive dialogue between enterprises, institutions and households on the issues of reconciliation and flexibility, the male leadership remains the only reference model.
Mixed methods approach has gained a broad consensus among social science scholars, who often regard it as a “new paradigm” or the “third way” able to offer new and convincing answers to the never-ending debate between quantitative and qualitative approaches to social research. In the first part of the article we reconstruct the theoretical reflection on this topic, showing how the mixed methods research is a well-rooted practice, dating back to the times of Paul Lazarsfeld and Rensis Likert. Then, we present some results of a methodological study in which, in a mixed method approach three questionnaire pretesting techniques – expert evaluation, cognitive interview, and verbal interaction coding – is used to evaluate a structured questionnaire designed to study public opinions and attitudes.
The aim of the present paper is to discuss, from a critical perspective, the theme of online misinformation, and to investigate the heuristic validity of the post-truth concept by reflecting on the nature of the relationship existing between this concept and the disintermediated communication practices. Starting from Luhmann’s reflections, in the first part, the online discursive context is analyzed and described by means of an up-to-date version of the classic two-step flow of communication model. In the second part, the fake news’ phenomenon is discussed in the light of the broader debate of the algorithm studies. While rejecting a deterministic point of view, the undeniable role of algorithms is discussed in relation to the online relational dynamics in order to find the social roots behind the success of persistent biases. The present paper therefore suggests a new reading of the fake news’ phenomenon through an interpretative model that takes into account the social, communicative and technological forces which act simultaneously.
The essay focuses on the media image of the stranger which, despite his omnipresence, has become progressively composite and even enigmatic, although it is possible to recognize some recurring themes that strengthen collective representations deeply ambivalent on the relationship between cultures. At the collective level, media content is directly reflected in the formation of anxieties, insecurities and fears that settle in civil society and then are reworked and/or exploited by political society. They acquire the consistency of social representations with a strong capability to produce social aggregation and collective action, at the same time constituting a symbolic universe of massive consumption. It is therefore plausible to reconstruct at least three narrative frames relating to the stranger/migrant, noting how the migratory phenomenon from an exceptionality feature has acquired a normality one in the media flow, while confirming its centrality with original nuances.
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