Pre-conference: Politics and societal impact of social work research

Politics and societal impact of social work research

In this preconference, we discuss research topics, settings, methods, and results from the perspectives of politics and societal impacts in social work doctoral research. We reflect the different meanings and relations of the concepts of politics, impacts, and effectiveness in different social work research settings. We pay attention to the different positions of researchers and research participants and their implications for politics and societal impacts. We also discuss how and where to communicate the research results and what are the possibilities and preconceptions regarding different research topics to get published and funded. The introductory lectures are mainly held in English. Some working groups are held in English and some in Finnish.

The preconference is intended for doctoral researchers in social work. The afternoon will begin with a keynote presentation prepared by postdoctoral researcher Tuomo Kokkonen (JYU), doctoral researcher Marja Hekkala (TAU) and doctoral researcher Maija Haapala (TAU).. After this, the participants will work in smaller groups based on papers submitted in advance by participants.

Pre-conference as doctoral studies assignment

Doctoral students in social work can include the seminar as a 2-credit study in their doctoral studies. This requires active participation in the pre-conference and submitting a seminar paper of approximately five pages. The idea of the seminar paper is to reflect what politics and societal impact of research mean in my own research. You can discuss a variety of questions from political and societal impact point of view, related to, for example, the research topic, the theoretical framework, the research setting, the researcher’s own or research participants’ positions or the research results. Politics and societal impact of research can be approached broadly, and it can connect to public relations and popularisation of results, to science communication, e.g., what are the possibilities and preconditions regarding publishing your research results and getting research funding. 

You can discuss the topic for example in relation to power relations, to relational networks regarding publishing your results as well as in relation to research ethics in social work. There is also a possibility to consider what justifies your research (e.g. from the point of view of ethical or socially sustainable development), and/or what justifies your research morally: what kind of actions are regarded right or wrong in certain/different circumstances.

Please follow the scientific writing guidelines of your own university. You can make use of, for example, an already prepared research plan or dissertation text. In addition, please attach a cover page to the seminar paper, including your name, university, dissertation topic and a short summary of your dissertation. Based on the seminar paper, please prepare a short introduction to be presented in the workgroup.
Before attending the seminar, please consult your university about including the credits in your studies. 

The maximum number of participants in the pre-conference is 20 participants. The registration is open from 1st November to 15th November. The link will opened here on 1st Nov at 9am.  Acceptance to the preconference by December.

For the accepted participants: Please submit the seminar paper no later than 15th January 2024 via email to mari.suonio(a)uef.fi

Contact: Mari Suonio, mari.suonio(a)uef.fi

See programme