ABSTRACT. The 'Lived Democracy in Small Island States: Sociopolitical Dynamics of Governance, Power, and Participation in Malta and Singapore' research employs a multimodal ethnographic approach to examine the lived experience of democracy in small island states, focusing on Malta and Singapore. By integrating participant observation, political ethnography, and digital ethnographic tools, this research critically engages with how power, governance, and civic participation are enacted and contested within these unique sociopolitical environments​.

Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence, the study explores how political networks, patronage systems, and informal governance shape democratic engagement​.

Ethnography serves as a reflexive method for capturing both the embodied and digital dimensions of participation, revealing the interplay between institutional mechanisms and everyday lived experiences. The research foregrounds the tensions between traditional cultural norms and modern democratic ideals, particularly in contexts where democracy is mediated through symbolic power and exclusionary politics​.

This methodological reflection considers the epistemological challenges of studying governance in small states, where political proximity heightens the researcher’s positionality and influences access to data​.

The study adopts a situated knowledge framework, recognising that meaning-making is contingent on specific historical, social, and cultural contexts​.

Furthermore, by integrating multimodal techniques such as video, photography, and digital fieldwork, it expands the heuristic potential of ethnography to capture contemporary political transformations​.

Ultimately, this research contributes to methodological debates on reflexivity in political ethnography, demonstrating how multimodal techniques enhance the production of context-specific knowledge in studying governance, power, and civic engagement in small island states​.

ABSTRACT. In our contribution, we aim to illustrate the commonalities and differences in ethnographic processes based on two pedagogical organizational research studies with an ethnographic focus. The first research project is conducted in cooperation with an organization in child and youth welfare, whereas the second study examines a purpose-driven business enterprise. With an organizational-pedagogical focus, both projects are particularly interested in learning and culture within and across organizations. Ethnographic approaches in the context of organizational research are often understood as in-depth methods that enable the reconstruction of organizational cultures, thereby making them accessible for analysis. However, these approaches can vary significantly and lead to distinctly different procedures. Differences within the two research projects can be found, for example, in the types of organizations and in their research objectives. A key commonality between both studies is the question of organizational cultures and the significance they hold for organizational members. By comparing these two research projects, we seek to highlight how ethnographic work generates knowledge and what potential challenges arise in the process. In our presentation, we will conduct a critical analysis based on this comparison, discussing what kind of results are produced through different approaches and the role that researchers' perspectives and attitudes play in this process.

ABSTRACT. This paper discusses the value of the ‘in place’ approach to ethnography (Lindquist, 2009), within a multi-sited research focused on solidarity initiatives along the Western Balkan route. The researcher undertook fieldwork in a highly engaged and participatory way, volunteering for a year in the "free shops" of two local NGOs in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Zagreb (Croatia). These NGOs provide support to migrants in transit, asylum seekers, and local marginalized groups. The term "free shop" is used by the staff to refer to a room set up like a ‘store’, where people can freely take the pieces of equipment they need.

As suggested by Lindquist (2009), examining mobility dynamics from the ‘station’ – that is, adopting a ‘static’ perspective – proves particularly valuable for understanding its social organisation. Along the routes, solidarity groups, by forging alliances with migrants, contribute to the social organisation of their journeys to the EU. In both Sarajevo and Zagreb, citizens have taken active steps to create NGOs – or, following the metaphor, ‘stations’: solidarity spaces where both permanence and mobility are renegotiated, within these two ‘migratory crossroads’ (Queirolo Palmas, Rahola, 2020). For the researcher, volunteering alongside the local NGOs staff became intertwined with the activities of ‘doing’ and ‘writing’ ethnography (Emerson et al., 1995).

In conclusion, by focusing on solidarity actors and assuming their static position along the Western Balkan route, this proposal discusses the pivotal role of engaging in daily activities with research participants, where the process of doing things together becomes a key element informing both the ethnographic work and the selection of the research sites. Furthermore, in analysing field access, this proposal highlights the crucial role of shared biographical traits between the researcher and participants, emphasising the importance of grounding knowledge in a highly participatory research design within the context of social work.

ABSTRACT. For a long time, discourse research was mainly concerned with data that was produced without majour intervention or construction by the researcher. New approaches are now choosing ethnographic approaches to the research field and thus expanding classical discourse analysis to include the method of participant observation and interviews (Keller, 2019). The focus is then no longer solely on the reconstruction of social reality production, but on the everyday negotiation and production of discourses. Here, the interplay of discursive and non-discursive practices and materialities is of fundamental importance (Foucault, 1994, p. 74). The methodological considerations for the investigation of this interplay is the topic of my contribution. In this session, I would like to present the structure and initial results of my transnational dissertation project. I am investigating security and migration discourses in the practical field of schools in Germany and France. The central question is how orders of knowledge about security in the migration society are (re-)produced in social practices in the school environment. I understand security as a phenomenon negotiated in everyday discourses and produced in social practices, which in Europe is related to migration discourses (Bigo, 2002, p. 64). I examine the everyday negotiation and production of discourses using an ethnographic research design. I would like to focus in particular on the relationship between discourse and materiality and the empirical investigation of this relationship. How can materiality be methodologically appropriately addressed in discourse analytical work? Bigo, D. (2002). Security and Immigration: Toward a Critique of the Governmentality of Unease. Alternatives, 27, S. 63-92. Foucault, M. (1994). Dits et écrits. 1954-1988. 3e volume (ed. D. Defert & F. Ewald). Gallimard. Keller, R. (2019). Die Untersuchung von Dispositiven. Zur fokussierten Diskurs- und Dispositivethnografie in der Wissenssoziologischen Diskursanalyse. In: S. Bosančić & R. Keller (Hrsg.), Diskursive Konstruktionen(S. 51-73). Springer.

ABSTRACT. Photography as a research tool in violence prevention is not only applicable to the city of Pomona but also offers valuable insights for international comparisons. By capturing the lived experiences of communities affected by violence, photography provides a universal medium for analyzing socio-environmental factors across different cultural and geographical contexts. While traditional (police) data collection methods vary between countries due to differences in reporting structures, legal frameworks, and social attitudes toward violence, photography transcends these limitations by visually documenting commonalities and contrasts in the urban landscapes where violence occurs. Internationally, photography can reveal patterns of violence linked to environmental neglect, social marginalization, or inadequate urban planning, enabling researchers to identify similarities between cities facing high crime rates. For example, visual documentation from different regions can highlight shared risk factors such as poorly lit areas, abandoned buildings, or lack of community spaces—issues that contribute to insecurity across various cross-national contexts. Moreover, photography facilitates cross-cultural dialogue by allowing local communities to express their perceptions of violence and safety in ways that resonate beyond national borders. Additionally, photography enhances participatory action research across diverse contexts. For example, in a European, North American, or Latin American context, community members can use photography to document their realities, providing policymakers and researchers with grassroots perspectives that are often absent from official crime statistics. This approach fosters a comparative understanding of how social, economic, and political structures shape experiences of violence and prevention efforts worldwide. By integrating photography into international research on violence prevention, we can create a more holistic and inclusive analysis that highlights both localized and global trends. This visual method can bridge gaps between data-driven approaches and human-centered narratives, making it a powerful tool for shaping policy discussions on a broader scale.

ABSTRACT. Cultural and political movements are created and expressed visually, among other means. Cinema, cable television, and contemporary online video platforms distribute loaded messages that shape our worldviews. Analyzing the visually conveyed cultural messages on a large scale is thus essential for understanding culture. However, there is still a lack of sophisticated means and approaches for doing that. In this article, we propose a pipeline for detecting, typologizing, and quantifying visual cultural phenomena. As a case study, we first analyze the visual representation of Leninism – one of the foundational doctrines of the Soviet Union as it is presented in the central Soviet newsreel series Soyuzkinozhurnal, and Novosti Dnya from 1918 to 1992. Using multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs), we introduce a method for creating a ‘Leninism score’ - a heuristic score to identify different types of temporally evolving phenomena. This allows us to detect, typologize, and quantify the portrayals of Leninism and quantify their prevalence frame by frame. The proposed pipeline merges the nuanced understanding of the culture of the humanities with the large-scale and systematic approach of computer vision while simultaneously exploring the benefits and limitations of the computational study of visual cultural phenomena. Our pipeline proposes a method for creating meaningful prompt questions and is independent of any particular model, making it transferable and comparable with newly developed models. The proposed pipeline can also be applied to detect and study other visual cultural phenomena on a large scale, opening the venue for cultural and cross-cultural comparison on a large scale.

ABSTRACT. Narrative research methods are based on the idea that our lives are stories we reflexively engage with and that can be changed by events. Life mapping is a visual method used to enhance this process, with well-documented advantages such as the ability to adapt to different ways of thinking (verbal or visual) and to improve the researcher-respondent relationship. However, the advantages of life mapping in longitudinal qualitative studies specifically remain underexplored in the academic literature. So, what does it mean to use life mapping to study developments over time? And how can it help a diverse research population engage with their life stories? This paper addresses these questions by discussing a repeated life map design developed for a longitudinal study of people moving between sheltered and paid employment. We developed this design to understand the relationship — changing over time — between past experiences and the meaning of work in the present and future. The central question of this paper is: What are the potential advantages and challenges of repeated life mapping in longitudinal qualitative studies? We found that, rather than simply asking whether anything has changed, the use of repeated life maps offers an opportunity for deeper reflection —sometimes even any reflection at all — on the evolving relationships between past experiences and the meaning of work. In the results, we reflect on adapting repeated life mapping to individual needs and abilities within a diverse research population. With this paper, we hope to inform and perhaps inspire researchers who are considering the use of repeated life maps and similar visual elements in longitudinal qualitative studies.

ABSTRACT. What is the value of applying visual methods in researching sensitive topics among hard to study populations, such as orphaned children in southern Africa? The premise of this paper is that it might be more accessible or easier for certain children to draw about sensitive themes than to talk about it. For example, Mitchell (2006) states that ‘a drawing may sometimes express what a child cannot or does not wish to say aloud’. Orphaned children in southern Africa, who lost one or both parents in the context of the HIV epidemic can be considered a hard to study population. These children are not used to be asked for their opinion, topics as HIV/Aids and death are surrounded by taboos, and parental death is a sensitive topic to explore. Studies that explored this theme, describe that responses remained limited when young orphans were interviewed on their feelings about their parent’s death. Therefore, visual methods can be an important tool in data collection among such groups. Firstly, this paper presents a literature review on the use of visual methods to study sensitive topics among children. Secondly, it examines the use of drawings and paintings in an ethnographic study on twenty-one orphaned children in rural Namibia. It presents a few cases where drawings elicited insightful information on death and disease that children had not expressed in verbal interviews.

ABSTRACT. Guided by critical pedagogy and decolonization theory, this study critically examines how Discover Canada, the official citizenship guide, represents First Nations Peoples and their histories. Employing discourse and visual analysis, I investigate the textual and visual narratives that shape newcomers’ understanding of Canadian identity (Hyslop-Healy, 2022; Nordquist, 2020). Through this lens, I aim to reveal the deeper implications of how the guide portrays the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.

Methodologically, the study scrutinizes language use, such as emotionally charged terminology and structural elements, alongside imagery within the guide. By referring to settlers as "invaders" or "colonizers" and addressing colonialism’s enduring impacts, this approach challenges dominant narratives and exposes how colonial ideologies remain embedded in Canada’s historical storytelling (Jafri, 2012).

Preliminary findings indicate that Discover Canada frequently oversimplifies or distorts Indigenous histories, perpetuating narratives that reinforce settler-colonial ideologies. For instance, while recent revisions have removed problematic phrases, the guide still omits critical details, such as the true implications of treaties and the legacies of residential schools (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2012). Visual elements further contribute to this distortion, often sidelining Indigenous perspectives in favor of glorified settler narratives (Hyslop-Healy, 2022).

These misrepresentations have profound implications, shaping how newcomers perceive Canada’s past and its reconciliation efforts. As Yoshida (2014) notes, such biased education risks perpetuating structural racism, while research by the Environics Institute (2016) highlights that immigrant are eager to learn about Indigenous histories and support reconciliation.

This research calls for a reimagining of the citizenship guide—one that authentically integrates Indigenous narratives. By addressing representational gaps, we can contribute to a more inclusive and truthful vision of Canadian identity, fostering mutual respect and understanding.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, the agricultural sector in Italy has faced a shortage of labor. Since Italy largely depends on seasonal foreigners’ work, cases of seasonal and irregular workers working under precarious conditions, managed by individuals with no "institutional" role and no scruples, have become increasingly frequent. These workers operate in precarious sanitary conditions (MSF report). The working conditions have often been described as dangerous, degrading, as a new form of slavery. The history of slavery is nearly as old as that of sedentary humans, but some clarifications are necessary: with regard to ancient slavery, Bales (2002) argues that, despite being widespread, slaves were considered valuable goods, as they were not easily available. With the demographic explosion of the past two centuries, the potential availability of slaves has increased, reducing their value and making them disposable. It is important to emphasize that today, especially in the Global North, the buying of people is rare, while forms of exploitation and submission are implemented that allow us to define these individuals as "new slaves." Often, migrants are aware of the exploitation and harassment they face, but submit to it because it represents the "lesser evil" (Cristaldi, 2015). Many studies suggest that migrants experience a dual condition of estrangement: deprivation of any qualitative relational link with the community and territory. The placement of new immigrant workers, isolated in fields and the invisibility of ghettos, ends up uprooting individuals from the land, depriving them of connections with the land and with those living outside the ghetto. To break this condition, art can play a crucial role. This presentation aims to show how culture and integration are interrelated. The case study is the Orchestra of Agricultural Workers, which brings together musicians, farmers, and workers from different nationalities united by the same work life in agriculture. These good practices will be analyzed, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the integration process. Music can be a powerful tool for integration and dialogue. Through its performances, the Orchestra seeks to raise public awareness about illegal hiring and labor exploitation, as well as offer a way out of poverty and precariousness for both Italian and foreign men and women. Social integration is possible when an identity is considered worthy and thus recognized in its value through its social, relational, and economic capital. Identities have been commodified. Immigrants are linked to stories about labor market conditions, marginalization, and harassment: this particular narrative creates a social perception of migration that makes it difficult to build a positive relationship between natives and migrants. Today, the orchestra has 10 members from 5 different countries: Italy, Burkina Faso, Gambia, India, and Nigeria. Among them are young people who have experienced the drama of migration and ghettos in Italy. The study of the orchestra was conducted through interviews and focus groups to better understand how culture and art can reach people and support social change, as well as raise awareness about labor exploitation, labor segregation, the ethnicization of heavy work, social marginalization, and the protection of human rights. Work remains a relational space where we learn forms of coexistence and how to be part of a network. It is possible for the economic accounts to be in order, while at the same time, the individuals—who constitute the most valuable asset of a company—are humiliated and insulted in their dignity. The individual's determination, shaped by work, is immense, due to the time dedicated to it and the returns from it, but especially because, in answering the question "Who am I?", it satisfies the need to build an identity. As Polanyi (2013) reminds us, society and justice are correlated because if there is a perception of injustice, social cohesion problems arise that even the state cannot manage, as the demands of different subjects and groups will be irreducibly opposed. According to the scholar, a society of this kind would lose the ability to progress, even in terms of economic development. Only the most egalitarian societies can succeed in their growth journey, because a society that inspires greater trust through justice and equality is able to unleash energies generated by hope and trust.

ABSTRACT. Theories and methodologies concerning diaspora research predominantly emerge from the economic, political, and psychological domains of sociology. Space, especially its perceived, represented, and lived values (Lefebvre, 1974), is discussed less frequently. Moreover, its complex, plural, evolving, and interactive nature necessitates more diverse and appropriate scales to understand transregional contexts (Massy, 2005). My research on the transitions of Chinese international students at a Canadian university highlights the role of socio-geography in shaping individuals’ upbringing, as well as their experiences in and contributions to their host country.

Thanks to the flexibility of semi-structured interviews and my bilingual abilities, I tailored my questions for 20 individuals based on their input and discovered that students raised in more internationalized regions, regardless of their socio-economic status, adapted to university life abroad more smoothly. Their disposition aligns with Weenink’s (2008) theory on cosmopolitan capital, which represents a manifestation of human agency that enables individuals to navigate globalized environments with greater ease. All interviewees illustrated how they transferred the knowledge acquired back home to new spaces. Specifically, the varying adaptation rates among students from different backgrounds underscore the internal diversity within the population, despite their shared nationality and culture. Reflecting on the commonalities and differences among people from diverse origins, I propose a paradigm shift (Kuhn, 1962).

Social science research can only reflect and serve the globalized world by transcending traditional parameters and establishing more suitable ones. This phenomenological study integrates interdisciplinary theories and methodologies and possesses transnational significance. International students, along with many other foreign residents, are essential to their host countries’ economic development and cultural diversification. Canada and Italy share similar demographics characterized by aging local populations and significant immigration intakes. Besides a cosmopolitan perspective, I advocate for a human-centric approach to understanding individuals' distinct needs and dispositions to facilitate better integration for all.

ABSTRACT. The central purpose of this research is to explore the key parameters that would facilitate the redesign of agrifood systems in the Amazon basin according to the principles of global prosperity, and from an Indigenous perspective. There already exist in the Amazon region projects that promote a paradigm shift, while demonstrating in practice how to redesign agrifood systems for inclusive, holistic, and local prosperity. Focusing on the localized, bottom-up structure, this research analysed the Saberes y Sabores Ticuna, a woman-led community-based organization in the Colombian Amazon. It investigates how these women define prosperity (“good living”), the challenges they face, and how their innovative practices drive Indigenous-led transitions within the agrifood system, from chagra (farmland) to the table. Specifically, it examines how Ticuna women autonomously restore, innovate, and share traditional recipes, thereby preserving Indigenous food culture, reshaping agrifood systems, empowering women, and fostering a multispecies ethic that extends beyond human concerns. This research explores how niche practices like those of the Ticuna women serve as catalysts for system-wide transformation, generating ripple effects across individual, community, national, and global dimensions of social change. It integrates transition frameworks, such as multi-level perspective, transition management, and social practice theory, to analyze the interplay between vision, pathways, regime structures, and actors’ expectations and attempts within the agrifood system. By bridging ethnographic insights with transdisciplinary analytical frameworks, this study contributes to a methodological rethinking of agrifood system transitions, offering a case for Indigenous-led, community-driven approaches as leverage points for systemic change.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the dynamics of residential segregation in Catania, a prominent urban center in Southern Italy, between 2011 and 2021. Employing Theil’s entropy-based H index and Shapley decomposition, segregation trends are analyzed at both micro and macro spatial levels, using two classifications: municipal districts and Urban-to-Extra-Urban (UEU) zones. Results reveal a duality in segregation processes, with micro-spatial level desegregation for all population sub-groups offset by macro-spatial level clustering of migrant populations, especially, of Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans. In shaping these patterns, the study highlights the pivotal role of Italians’ resettlement in the spatial clustering of migrant populations. By providing a nuanced distinction of subpopulation specific contributions to segregation changes, findings underscore the importance of targeted urban policies, including affordable housing and improved infrastructure, to mitigate segregation. The study enhances comprehension of spatial assimilation and stratification dynamics, offering actionable insights for policymakers and urban planners. Future research should apply the proposed method to other cities to build a comparative framework to address socio-spatial inequalities in Southern Europe.

ABSTRACT. Abstract. Research on immigration’s impact on natives’ well-being has largely focused on objective factors like wages and public spending, with less attention to subjective well-being, especially in Southern Europe. This study examines how immigrant presence at the neighborhood level influences well-being, satis-faction, and community attachment in Naples and Palermo. Using a 2024 survey combined with 2021 Italian census data, regression analyses explore four dimensions of subjective well-being: neighborhood satisfaction, local services, com-munity attachment, and civic engagement. Results show a positive effect of im-migrant presence on all four domains, which remains robust after controlling for demographic characteristics, employment, and subjective income sufficiency. These findings contribute to understanding the role of neighborhood diversity in shaping native well-being in Southern Europe.

ABSTRACT. The dominant neoliberal management model in large European and Spanish cities has resulted in a growing process of socioeconomic inequality whose spatial dimension clearly visualises its contradictions. These social contradictions affect more than a quarter of the Spanish population but are particularly acute in neighbourhoods where the migrant population is concentrated. For this reason, the study of accessibility to Social Infrastructures (SI) is particularly important, as these are spaces that favour integration and social cohesion in the city. Utilising gravitational models, OpenStreetMap and the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) we have developed an index of walking accessibility to the SI at the neighbourhood level to analyse its accessibility in the hot spots of the three main immigrant nationalities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Finally, we reflect on the social and political implications of our results and the suitability of SI as an indicator of integration and an instrument for the design and evaluation of public policy in the city.

ABSTRACT. The measure of urban segregation phenomena has generated a considerable body of literature over many decades – or indeed a century, if one thinks of pioneering African-American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois's work on Philadelphia [1]. A schematic summary could describe a history of segregation measures moving from single figure, a-spatial, two-group indices [2] to spatial and even multiscalar, multigroup measures of segregation [3, 4]. As populations become more and more diverse, segregation phenomena may be at play on much finer and subtler scales, corresponding to levels of entanglement within micro-neighbourhoods and even within individuals themselves (with multiple citizenships and/or multiple perceived origins and identities – eg the case of the so-called “new” citizens in Italy). This paper seeks to offer an overview of new statistical and mathematical tools that have the potential to provide social scientists with ways of measuring such complex phenomena unfolding at different scales. In particular, we explore methods inspired by topological data analysis, using machine learning to learn interactions between various scales and levels of identities and spatial distributions, as well as recently developed methods that make use of optimal transport theory [13, 14]. We also apply some of these new approaches to a data-set from specific metropolitan areas of Southern Italy characterized by comparative high levels of residential segregation and significant spatial inequalities [5, 6].

References [1] Du Bois, W. E. B.. UPenn Press, 1996 [1899]. [2] Duncan, O. D., & Duncan, B. (1955). American sociological review, 20(2), 210-217. [3] Reardon, S. F., & Firebaugh, G. (2002). Sociological methodology, 32(1), 33-67. [4] Olteanu, M., Randon-Furling, J., & Clark, W. A. (2019). PNAS, 116(25), 12250-12254. [5] Benassi, F., Bonifazi, C., Heins, F., & Strozza, S. (2020). Spatial Demography, 8, 269-290. [6] Benassi, F., Iglesias-Pascual, R., & Salvati, L. (2020). Habitat International, 101, 1022000.

ABSTRACT. Exposure to environmental stress has been addressed from the perspective of psychology and environmental sciences. These have focused their analysis on the degree of social well-being in relation to the impact of variables such as air quality, noise pollution or heat waves. This research, centred on the social impact of environmental variables in urban areas, began to be carried out in the United States, highlighting a relationship between environmental threats in the city and the most vulnerable population, which has subsequently been qualified by research carried out in European cities. From a methodological point of view, these studies have been characterised by being developed either through a qualitative approach, focused on the perception of well-being, or through statistical approaches focused on one or two environmental variables (e.g. pollution, exposure to heat or noise). However, the studies carried out to date have two major shortcomings: i) the development of partial approaches, centred on one or two environmental variables; ii) the use of a-spatial statistical instruments that present distorted results by not taking into account the territorial factor. To mitigate these gaps, this paper proposes an Environmental Stress Index developed through seven environmental variables that globally analyse the main socio-environmental challenges to which the population of the city of Barcelona is subjected. Applied at the census section level and approached through a geographically weighted principal component analysis, the spatial distribution of the values of this index and its relationship with the sociodemographic characteristics of the population at risk of poverty are analysed. The aim of this index is to offer an integrated socio-environmental assessment tool for public policies that can be used to detect the urban areas with the greatest socio-environmental inequality and vulnerability.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, the global population has experienced a demographic shift, with a significant increase in the proportion of older individuals. This trend is expected to continue, posing several challenges, especially for healthcare systems. Older adults are more likely to develop diseases than younger individuals, which increases the demand for healthcare services and may limit their availability for the rest of the population. To ensure an efficient allocation of resources, it is crucial to understand better how older adults use healthcare services. Among them, frail individuals are of particular interest, as they are at greater risk of adverse events such as hospitalisation, hip fractures, and even death. Frailty is a key condition in older adults, encompassing physical, psychological, and social dimensions. While frailty's physical and psychological aspects have been widely studied, the social dimension has received less attention. This study provides a bibliometric analysis of the literature on the impact of social frailty on healthcare utilization. Using the Scopus database, 976 articles were analysed with the Bibliometrix package in R. The search was conducted using the query: frail* AND ( "utilization of services" OR "healthcare utilization" OR "healthcare utilizations" OR "healthcare services" OR "healthcare service" OR "healthcare access" OR "health care utilisation" ) AND ( old* OR eld* OR age*. Only articles published between 2000 and 2025 and written in English were included. The analysis revealed a growing interest in this topic, with a notable increase in publications since 2016. Most articles are published by American, British, Canadian, and Italian authors. The principal keywords are care, frailty, patients, and health. Two main collaborations were observed: one among European countries and another among non-European countries. The findings highlight the increasing recognition of social frailty as a key factor in healthcare utilization and the need for further research to support healthcare planning.

ABSTRACT. Data-driven performance monitoring of service providers is nowadays ubiquitous in many contexts, including healthcare. Since the quantitative methods adopted in this framework often involve regression models, it is crucial to correctly handle informative missingness of the outcome variable, a quite a common issue in this framework. If these corrections were not implemented, the overall estimation process would be biased.

In the linear context, the well-known Heckman model (Heckman 1976, and subsequent papers) enables consistent parameter estimation in the presence of non-random missingness in the response variable by explicitly modeling the selection process and correcting the outcome model via regression adjustment. In other words, this approach treats selection as a specification issue generating omitted variable bias.

In this work, an extension of Heckman’s model is proposed which deals with a binary outcome and a selection mechanism influenced by some background variables as well as by the outcome itself. This investigation complements existing results based on the Probit model by making use of a logistic modelling strategy. In detail, the outcome model can be corrected via the inclusion of a relative risk term obtained from the selection model. Some approximations can be made under the assumption that the outcome denotes a rare event. Similarly to Heckman’s model, this approach allows to test whether the background variables and/or the outcome play a role in the selection mechanism.

The methodology described here might also be extended to a longitudinal setting, in the spirit of the existing proposals for the linear case. Future research could focus on this extension, enabling a more comprehensive analysis of selection dynamics over time.

ABSTRACT. Assessing the scientific performance of Academic Health Science Centers (AHSCs) is a crucial task in the context of data-informed healthcare system governance. AHSCs play a pivotal role in integrating clinical care, scientific research, and education, contributing substantially to the advancement of national health systems. However, evaluating their performance requires a multidimensional approach that goes beyond traditional metrics. This study proposes a data-driven framework to measure the performance of Italian AHSCs across several dimensions, such as research productivity, clinical trials, innovation output, and social impact. By integrating data from multiple open-access and proprietary sources, including OpenAlex, Dimensions, and Altmetric, we derive a comprehensive set of standardized indicators reflecting both academic and translational activities. The proposed framework offers strategic insights for institutional decision-makers and policymakers, facilitating evidence-based resource allocation and priority setting. Moreover, the framework contributes to ongoing debates on the role of AHSCs in knowledge production and societal value generation within contemporary healthcare systems. This contribution demonstrates how the integration of bibliometric, altmetric, and innovation data can enhance evaluative practices in complex academic-medical ecosystems, aligning with the broader goals of data-driven health system improvement.

ABSTRACT. Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a growing concern in healthcare systems worldwide, significantly impacting the quality of care and the efficiency of resource allocation. This phenomenon arises when the demand for emergency services exceeds the available capacity, leading to prolonged waiting times and increased strain on healthcare workers. According to the Italian National Agency for Regional Health Services, 18.27 million ED visits were recorded in Italy in 2023, marking a 26% increase compared to 2020 (from 13,259,811 to 18,277,405 visits). Concurrently, the number of hospital-based EDs has declined by 9%, exacerbating the situation and underscoring the need for enhanced triage efficiency. Furthermore, many EDs face critical shortages of inpatient beds, vacant nursing positions, and limited access to on-call specialists. Given these challenges, ensuring the reliability and accuracy of triage systems is of paramount importance, as triage represents the initial and most critical stage in emergency patient management. This study aims to validate the triage system of a reference hospital by employing Propensity Score Matching (PSM), a statistical technique that mitigates selection bias by balancing confounding variables such as age. The analysis encompasses one year of ED data from Caserta Hospital, comprising over 60,000 patient visits. Subsequently, we will model and predict the flow of priority levels assigned to patients, thereby facilitating a more efficient allocation of ED resources. The anticipated findings may either reinforce the robustness of the current triage system or highlight areas for improvement. In both scenarios, this study seeks to contribute to the optimization of triage processes, with potential implications for patient management strategies and reductions in ED waiting times.

ABSTRACT. The digital transformation and adoption of data-driven methodologies are reshaping decision-making processes in healthcare at both local and national levels. In this context, reconstructing the patient journey has emerged as a key paradigm for gaining a deeper understanding of patient experiences and improving healthcare pathways. The patient journey encompasses the full experience of navigating the healthcare system—from symptom onset to diagnosis, treatment, and long-term disease management. This longitudinal perspective helps identify both system strengths and critical gaps, highlighting points of discontinuity that influence care pathways and patient behaviors. A holistic approach considers the physical, emotional, social, and administrative factors shaping healthcare experiences and outcomes (McCarthy et al., 2016; Meyer, 2018; Joseph et al., 2020). Digitalization and data-driven strategies enable real-time collection and analysis of patient behavior across different journey stages: pre-diagnosis, diagnosis, treatment, and disease management. The integration of digital technologies with data analytics presents unprecedented opportunities to monitor, assess, and enhance care processes. Techniques such as process mining and statistical data analysis reveal patterns in patient flows, wait times, and hospital stays. For example, an Australian study using a Patient Journey Database identified bottlenecks in emergency department transitions, measured department efficiency based on patient stay duration, and mapped physician-network interactions to optimize hospital performance (Perimal-Lewis et al., 2012). This integrated approach can drive more efficient healthcare management, addressing challenges like hospital overcrowding and resource allocation. This contribution aims to showcase how patient-centered strategies and personalized care can be achieved through in-depth data analysis and a comprehensive reconstruction of the patient journey. [Reference list exceeds words limit]

ABSTRACT. Socioeconomic status (SES) has been identified as one of the main predictors of student achievement (White, 1985; Sirin, 2005; Liu et al., 2022). Traditional measures of SES developed by International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs), such as the ESCS in PISA, are composite indeces based on the highest occupation and education of one parent, books at home and various indicators of household wealth. Despite these measures are more comprehensive than simply income, they still offer a limited view of SES (Dickinson & Adelson, 2014; Grund et al., 2021) Head-of-household-based SES measures invisibilise the effects of the household as a whole, hiding the effect of having both parents working for a salary compared to situations where only one parent is employed or is a single-parent (frequently single-mother) family, as previous studies have suggested (Cabrera et al., 2013; Pérez et al., 2014; Bianchi et al., 2025). The same holds for educational attainment, so we expect a maximising effect when higher education translates into access to professional and managerial occupations, with both parents having tertiary education and working in higher-paid, more prestigious and stable occupations. Using PIRLS 2011-2021 and TIMSS 2011-2023 data for 4th grade children, we estimate several regression models and ANOVA comparisons to assess the improvement in the explained variance in performance using different measures of SES. Results show that we obtain a more complete picture of SES effects on performance when we consider the impact of the whole household compared to considering only the highest level of one parent. The development of updated and more nuanced SES measures capable of accounting for these complex household effects is a methodological challenge, but necessary for a better understanding of socioeconomic inequalities in achievement, especially in the first years of primary school, to propose effective practices aimed at preventing their widening throughout the school years.

ABSTRACT. An increased emphasis on youth’s right to participation has paved the way for youth participation in research. Researchers and policymakers have begun to involve youth as research partners at various levels, yet research on experiences of such collaboration is scarce. There are numerous ways of involving youth in research. This presentation is based on how involving youth in research has been carried out in the SOBRU study.

The SOBRU study explores how NGOs and social entrepreneurs can contribute to reducing social exclusion among young people who are not in education, employment, or Training (NEET). The NEET status can severely impact young people's lives and increase the risk of marginalization, social isolation, financial dependency, and leading to long-term negative consequences on their overall well-being and integration into society.

The SOBRU study has a mixed-method design with a participatory approach, including a youth panel of five young individuals aged 15-29, with lived experiences of NEET status and social exclusion. The panel meets quarterly and collaborates with researchers, contributing to discussions on the overall research project and specific topics related to the study's development and conduct. They collaborate in developing interview guides, analyzing data, and deriving implications from the study.

This study also investigates the experiences of both youths and researchers participating in the youth panel. Data for this exploration are collected from meeting recordings and experiences of the youth panel and researchers. Preliminary findings indicate that participatory research can significantly influence various stages of a mixed-method study. The youth panel's involvement is crucial for identifying topics for data collection, developing interview guides, and providing nuanced interpretations of quantitative and qualitative data. The youth panels’ participation offers broader perspectives and highlights practical implications of the study.

ABSTRACT. In recent years social science research has made tremendous strides in measuring educational inequality, appreciating children’s position as agentic beings and acknowledging their expertise. Nevertheless, in many studies children only appear as respondents rather than subjects actively interpreting and shaping the research process. Special attention has been given to the tailoring of survey methodology to avoid bias in estimates due to children’s misreporting and nonresponse as well as to informant consent procedures. This paper aims to discuss methodological and ethical issues arising in doing research with children in the educational field, by illustrating the main preliminary results of a research project against summer learning loss in primary school, named MATES (MAtematica per Tutti in EState). The project proposes an interdisciplinary investigation of summer learning loss in mathematics by quantifying it and identifying specific mitigating factors and looking at the connection between cognitive, non-cognitive and emotional competencies. We planned and conducted a survey and a series of focus groups with primary school children (8-9 years of age) in two metropolitan areas, Milan and Naples. In this contribution, we share our initial rationales and methodologically reflect on our experiences in order to derive recommendations for conducting research with children within schools. We concentrate on the dynamics of interaction between researchers and children, the construction of research instruments, and the management of school setting, in the light of variability of teachers stance. We conclude by outlining strengths and weaknesses of both techniques, highlighting the difficulties encountered by the researchers in facilitating children's participation and ensuring a non-coercive research environment.

ABSTRACT. This paper is based on qualitative data that I collected for a study that explores how multidimensional and intersectional inequalities are lived within the school. Using a feminist and poststructural framework, this paper also considers everyday schooling to understand how teachers and students deal with routine barriers in formal and informal school. This presentation adopted an ethnography approach to understand the everyday of three Chilean schools – located in Santiago and Coyhaique- and explore how students, teachers, school staff and other actors promote specific hierarchies within the school. I observed lessons in classrooms, workshops, school breaks and informal activities. I also made maps and diagrams that describe the particularities of each school building and space surrounding the school. I conducted individual interviews with 10 students per school and two – three focus groups per school. Focus Groups included practical activities on the base of visual methods. I asked students to draw a graphic representation of how teachers perceive the ideal student and how they perceive the most popular student among the students. Then, I asked them to draw a map of the different groups within the classroom, where they located themselves within the map and where they located the popular and the ideal students. Results here locate intersectional inequalities as an experience that emerges and can be well-maintained in school. Although concepts such as 'the ideal student' or 'the popular student' can be seen as abstract concepts, students' draws show how such representations are mediated by class, race, gender, and nationality. Even though the participants of this research do not seem aware of such differences, the use of visual methods in the context of focus groups contributes to demonstrating how educational inequalities are lived by students as a significant part of their everyday schooling experiences.

ABSTRACT. This paper presents the preliminary findings of an ongoing research project conducted within the framework of the PRIN programme TraMigrArt. The project aims to investigate the narrative production of migrant writers in Italy between 2013 and 2024, with a specific focus on novels and autobiographical novels catalogued in the BASILI-LIMM database. The selected corpus comprises works by first- and second-generation non-European authors who write in Italian and thematically engage with the migratory experience.

The research pursues multiple analytical objectives. First, it examines the distribution of gender and nationality among the authors. Second, it explores the thematic evolution of migrant literature in the Italian context, paying particular attention to the representational modes through which migrant subjectivities are constructed. Third, the study aims to identify the semiotic field underpinning the narrative discourse and to trace how individual and collective migratory experiences are transformed into literary form.

Methodologically, the project adopts a mixed approach, combining quantitative and qualitative tools. The analysis relies on the use of T-LAB software for text analysis, enabling the identification of recurrent semantic clusters and discursive patterns across the corpus. The current stage of research is based on an exploratory analysis of a sample of 18 novels.

In order to assess both continuities and ruptures in the trajectory of migrant literary production in Italy, the findings will be critically compared with the trends observed in the 1990–2012 period, as outlined by Gibellini (2013). This comparative perspective allows for a diachronic understanding of the evolving forms of cultural expression within migrant literature and contributes to broader debates on literature, identity, and social change in contemporary European societies.

ABSTRACT. Compared to more common creative methods like theatre or storytelling, Kamishibai —a Japanese puppetry technique combining illustrated cards and narration— has been underexplored as an art-based method for dissemination and, especially, for data collection in social research. Its multimodal nature —storytelling, illustration, and performance— offers a unique tool for participatory, creative, and visual practices in qualitative research, allowing deeper engagement with participants and revealing themes that may otherwise remain invisible or unspoken. Kamishibai also creates a space for marginalized voices and perspectives, where personal beliefs, lived experiences, and social injustices can be explored. This paper presents two case studies where Kamishibai was employed in educational and research settings. The first case comes from a University of Bologna course for disability support teachers, where students used Kamishibai to challenge stereotypes related to race, gender, and ableism. Participants adapted existing stories and created original narratives and illustrations, confronting their biases and deconstructing stereotypes. However, the introduction of Kamishibai revealed key challenges, such as the persistence of personal biases despite theoretical competence, the difficulty of addressing intersectional stereotypes, and the risk of reinforcing new stereotypes, particularly through narratives of exceptionalism. The minimal text format of Kamishibai also prompted discussions on the power of language, the use of medicalized terms, and the importance of inclusive visual representation. The second case comes from an art therapy workshop with autistic adults in Bologna, where Kamishibai was used to empower participants to express themselves beyond verbal communication. Ethical challenges arose, particularly regarding authorship, consent, and ownership, especially when considering the potential sharing of participants' creative work. Despite these challenges, Kamishibai proved to be an invaluable tool for participatory data collection in social research, promoting critical reflection, collaboration, and engagement with complex social issues.

ABSTRACT. Adopting a methodology that, in continuity with Morin’s (2017) teaching, considers the novel to bring to sociology a possible cognitive resource (Lassave 2002; Baroni 2006, Meizoz 2006; Merrone2006), this study focuses on a corpus of novels published in Italy and France since 2009 - the year following the spread of Facebook in the two countries - in order to observe according to which interpretive modes they discuss the relationship between the human and the social media, particularly with regard to the processes of production, dissemination and fruition of culture. We will focus on one of the most defining contradictions in contemporary society: the tension - of Enlightenment origin, and exacerbated by the spread of digital devices (Doueihi 2022) - that pits two competing models for the circulation of knowledge. On the one hand, the aspiration for the most capillary dissemination of knowledge possible; on the other, a vision that tends to relegate “digital” production - metonymically represented by smartphones and social media - to an ancillary role with respect to “high” and “institutional” cultural expressions. By identifying the narratological and metaphorical structures (Ricoeur, 1984) underlying the construction of characters in a selection of novels (including Alexandre Postel’s Un homme effacé (2013), Stépanie Dupays’ Comme elle l’imagine (2019), This is not what I dreamed of as a child by Sara Canfailla and Jolanda Di Virgilio (2021), Irene Graziosi’s The Profile of the Other (2022)), and placing them in dialogue with more recent sociological theories on digital culture (e.g., The Digital Culture. Cardon 2019, Balbi 2022, Carboni 2022), we will advance the hypothesis that in the topos of the “disgraced cultural professional” it is possible to identify the figure that is emerging to represent the anxieties related to the processes of democratization of culture fueled by digital technologies.

ABSTRACT. Comics serve as a powerful medium for social justice education and awareness raising. They are particularly effective in distilling information around sensitive or taboo subjects (Logie et al., 2021). In youth research specifically, comics offer a youth-friendly, age-appropriate option for engaging in critical conversations around issues of sexuality, gender and gender identity. This presentation leverages the medium of comics to shore up its transformative potential. I present the findings from a participatory comic research project on Black 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiences in Canada. Youth participants between the ages 16 to 29 participated in two peer-facilitated focus groups that explored the impact of family and social exclusion on their health and well-being. They later took part in a follow up comic workshop where they worked with graphic facilitators and the researcher to co-construct comic panels based on narratives from the previous qualitative data gathering exercise; the focus group. The research project resulted in the production of comic interventions that foreground the epistemological and methodological possibilities of participatory comic methods in gender-based violence mitigation. Importantly, it positions Black 2SLGBTQ+ youth as vital knowledge producers and practitioners championing important community-based solutions that could change lives.

ABSTRACT. A large body of research has consistently demonstrated that family-centered approaches across various contexts result in more positive outcomes for both individuals and family relationships. This highlights the pivotal role families play in enhancing educational success, fostering social competences, facilitating work-life balance, and mitigating the impact of various risk factors. Despite the recognized importance of supporting families through policies and practices, there remains a lack of instruments and tools to design and evaluate policies and services using a “family thinking” approach. This gap leaves practitioners insufficiently equipped to create programs that effectively address family well-being. This study explores how FamILens, the Italian adaptation of the Family Impact Lens (Bogenschneider et al. 2012), can help align policies and services with the specific needs of families. The study’s objective was to develop and validate four Checklists for key areas of intervention: family mediation, elderly home care, human resources management, and child protection social services. Each phase of the research included co-design sessions with professionals and stakeholders and a two-round Delphi process involving over 15 experts in each domain. The four adapted checklists feature a variable number of items across six “think family” principles: responsibility, stability, relationships, diversity, engagement, and networking. Following initial two-step Delphi tools validation , four large-scale survey (two completed, two ongoing) were conducted using checklists, targeting samples of professionals. The survey results were analyzed with factorial alalysis and their association with structural variables (e.g.,sociodemographic characteristics of the target population). The results show high levels of reliability, a six-factor structure and a good attention to family well-being within the two first contexts (management and family mediation). These newly developed tools could provide professionals with the means to design impactful, family-friendly programs, ultimately contributing to enhanced individual and family well-being.

ABSTRACT. Scholars have extensively used administrative records of police stops to uncover racial disparities and bias in law enforcement practices. Despite this, and due to lack of data recording such variables, we know very little about how other marginalized identities such as queerness and disability are policed. In this article, I fill this gap by analyzing $\sim200,000$ traffic stops in San Francisco between 2018 and 2023, looking at whether motorists who are perceived as either LGBTQ+ or disabled are disproportionately targeted by the police. Through multiple tests and models, I find consistent evidence that queerness and disability status are associated with a higher probability of being searched and arrested by the police. Then, drawing from an intersectional framework I test whether the interaction of race with either queerness or disability worsens police discrimination, and find that it does so especially for white civilians, who if LGBTQ+ or disabled are targeted in searches and arrests at similar rates to those of minorities. Finally, I discuss the implications of these findings for research and policy.

ABSTRACT. Intimate partner violence is a pervasive global human rights issue that has prompted the establishment of various international charters and national-level comprehensive legislative measures to combat this problem effectively. To attain success, it is also imperative to contextualize intimate partner violence within its underlying precursors and address them systematically and methodically. In this article, we focus on two obstacles hindering the effort of policymakers to eradicate intimate partner violence in Ghana: wife-beating justification and restricted access to permanent or temporary shelters for victims. The aim is to investigate the correlation between these two indicators to determine if empowerment in property ownership can influence and unseat the belief that wife beating is justified. Leveraging data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, we utilized a comprehensive theoretical approach by integrating normalization, social learning, resource, and gendered resource theories. Subsequently, we estimated a stepwise logistic regression, which revealed that while a higher proportion of women justified wife beating than men, empowering women with landed properties (arable or otherwise) significantly reduced the odds of justifying wife beating. However, among the men, a different pattern was observed. The findings presented in this article emphasize the protective nature of property ownership and stress the significance of improving women’s access to property. This enhancement aims not only to support livelihoods but also to diminish the inclination to justify wife beating.

ABSTRACT. In this research, I explore how different levels of governance interact to shape education within a marginalised school in Santiago, Chile. Chile’s education system has long been a case of privatisation, profoundly impacting schooling. In the past decade, policy reforms have addressed segregation, exclusion, and quality issues. Despite these changes, I argue that the broader socio-political landscape poses challenges beyond the school. My study situates these transformations within a shifting political and economic context, highlighting the interplay between statecraft, local governance, and school-level practices. Using a qualitative case study methodology focused on one school and a multi-scalar approach, I examine the intersection of governance and education at four levels. At the micro-level, I explore the everyday experiences of students, teachers, and administrators, focusing on affective expressions, agency, and the negotiation of structural inequalities. At the meso-level, I analyse how local governance and school administration mediate national education policies, revealing tensions between state-mandated reforms and on-the-ground implementation. The macro-level examines how national policies, rooted in neoliberalism and historical legacies, shape public schooling. Finally, at the global level, I explore the influence of transnational discourses and global education trends in reinforcing or contesting local and national educational practices, as well as the historical and cultural context of Chile as a post-colonial and post-authoritarian nation within the Global South. This layered analysis aims to understand how these interacting scales produce specific subjectivities and social futures within and beyond the school. By examining the tensions, resistances, and survival strategies in this complex landscape, my research seeks to contribute a renewed conceptual framework for analysing social problems through a multi-dimensional lens, offering insights into how power structures operate within marginalised spaces and shape young people’s lives by highlighting connections between global forces, national policies, and local experiences.

ABSTRACT. Discourses in need of the scrutiny of sociological critical analysis are overwhelmingly going multimodal and mediated by sociodigital systems resulting from the intra-actions of heterogeneous dispositifs. Critical discourse analysis itself needs to be integrated by multimodal analytical tools and by close attention to the role verbal and visual languages play in discursive practices in busy, relatively unregulated digital contexts, which provide a space for multiple voices and perspectives to be heard. We propose critical multimodal discourse analysis as a methodological dispositif to explore, within a collected web-ethographic corpus - from Mumsnet and Netmums - the key concepts of fetus, baby, body, gender, normality and disability as used in the process of entangling technoscientific infrastructures (3d and 4D sonographers) and narratives of women’s pregnancies on the web, while performing the social representation of the fetus. Relevant methodological challenges are described as being faced and overcome in all phases of the research process, from the making of the objects of study to data construction, analysis and results' theoretical understanding. The female body, conceived in the field of biomedical diagnostic as the site of control of pregnancy, becomes the site for the construction of the socio-digital fetus, as a result of the embedding of the imaging technologies and communication practices on the Web. At the same time, the dis-embedding of the fetus from the mother’s body becomes a performative result of sociotechnical and sociodigital dispositifs while it enforces the possibility of thinking of the fetus itself as a commodity or as a service-demanding agent in a newborn bio-market.

ABSTRACT. In contemporary cities, socio-economic disparities shape urban spaces, creating areas of persistent social disadvantage. This spatial concentration reinforces cycles of poverty and exclusion, deepening socio-economic inequalities over time. Traditional approaches to analyzing urban inequalities are based on aggregated territorial data, but they often lack the granularity needed to fully capture the spatial heterogeneity of socio-economic advantage and disadvantage at a fine scale. Starting from these considerations, the work presents an original methodological approach to measuring and mapping socio-economic inequalities at a micro-scale within the metropolitan areas of Milan, Rome, and Naples. By integrating diverse data sources and leveraging advanced multivariate and spatial statistical techniques, the analysis follows three key steps: 1) Redistribution of socio-economic data from inconsistent administrative units into a high-resolution hexagonal grid (0.50 km²) using a dasymetric binary interpolation method to ensure spatial uniformity; 2) Construction of a composite index of social advantage/disadvantage by synthesizing selected socio-economic variables through factorial analysis; 3) Spatial autocorrelation analysis to identify statistically significant clusters of index values, using a walking-time-based distance metric to define spatial relationships between hexagonal grid cells. This approach enhances the granularity of urban inequality analysis, enabling more precise regional comparisons and a deeper understanding of spatial patterns of disadvantage. The results provide valuable insights into the intensity and distribution of socio-economic disparities, supporting more effective urban policy interventions. Furthermore, the socio-economic index could be integrated with geolocated user digital content, enhancing the analysis and understanding of social phenomena in urban spaces. The proposed methodology is highly replicable and adaptable, offering a robust framework for studying inequalities across different urban contexts.

ABSTRACT. The analysis of social phenomena is inextricably linked to territory (Bergamaschi, M., & Lomonaco, A., 2022), and the use of user-generated georeferenced data has opened new frontiers in understanding social behaviors in spatial contexts (Niu, H., & Silva, E. A., 2020). However, access to such data is limited by privacy issues and the control exerted by technology platforms, creating significant obstacles for sociological research (Trezza, D., 2023). In response to these restrictions, this study aims to explore alternative sources of georeferenced data that were not originally designed for social research but could offer new opportunities for analyzing social dynamics in spatial contexts. To this end, research will be conducted at the Department of Aerospace and Geodesy of the Technical University of Munich, which focuses on the acquisition, management, and analysis of geospatial data through advanced remote sensing technologies, digital cartography, and geographic information systems. The results of this research will contribute, on the one hand, to assessing the potential of new data sources for analyzing the relationships between territory and social phenomena and, on the other hand, to identifying alternative data sources that meet quality and reliability criteria, allow for the evaluation of their suitability for social analysis, adhere to ethical and legal transparency principles, and offer multidisciplinary potential for use in various research contexts.

ABSTRACT. Social research increasingly recognizes the importance of spatial context in shaping social phenomena. Thus, many surveys ask respondents about neighborhood characteristics and computational approaches choose geospatial data giving context at a specific scale. An open question, however, is the appropriate scale of the spatial context: Is it the immediate neighborhood, the municipality, or the county that mostly influence the subjective perception of people’s environment? Understanding this issue is crucial for accurately capturing individuals' experiences and perceptions of their surroundings. In this study, we investigate the consistency between respondents' subjective perceptions and objective characteristics across these spatial scales. Using data from approximately 30,000 respondents in the recruitment survey of the German Longitudinal Environmental Study (GLEN), a newly launched registered-based panel study, we investigate how individuals assess their place of residence in terms of green spaces, mobility, and healthcare accessibility. We compare these subjective ratings with geospatial and administrative data across various spatial scales, aiming to find the level of highest consistency for each measure. Additionally, we examine if and how the consistency differs between socio-demographic groups, expecting differential effects based on factors such as age, gender, employment status, and urban vs. rural residence. With this approach, our study contributes to the broader discourse on spatial mechanisms in social research. We aim to enhance the understanding of spatial mechanisms in environmental perception by identifying the spatial scale that best aligns with subjective assessments and exploring how social and demographic factors shape these perceptions. Our findings offer practical guidance for researchers and survey practitioners in selecting appropriate spatial context data as auxiliary variables and in designing neighborhood-related survey questions that better capture respondents’ experiences.

ABSTRACT. The increasing availability of geographic data from social media has fostered research approaches that integrate the analysis of online phenomena with real-world events, yielding compelling insights. However, in the post-API era, the growing proprietary restrictions imposed by many platforms have made access to such data increasingly challenging. In 2023, access policies for X (formerly Twitter)—one of the primary sources of geolocated data—also underwent significant changes. Despite these mounting challenges, social media posts continue to contain valuable geographic information that can be extracted through geoparsing algorithms. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of various geoparsing algorithms in extracting geographically relevant data for social research. To this end, samples of posts from multiple platforms will be analyzed, evaluating each algorithm’s ability to extract georeferenced information. Finally, the study will examine the extent to which the extracted geographic data can generate meaningful insights for social research.

ABSTRACT. The integration of geolocated data, both administrative and user-generated (USC), provides innovative tools for analyzing social and territorial inequalities. This research investigates how social practices, inequalities, and access to resources are distributed in space, leveraging digital sources to enhance knowledge on health and well-being. A key focus is obesity, a growing public health concern influenced by socioeconomic and environmental factors such as urban planning and access to nutritious food. By combining health-related data with geospatial analysis, we explore how spatial inequalities impact obesity rates and healthcare access. This study is part of the Cariplo Foundation project, which examines social determinants of health through interdisciplinary research on territorial disparities. The project integrates administrative health records and user-generated spatial data to reveal patterns in healthcare accessibility often overlooked by traditional systems. We adopt a mixed-method approach, merging official datasets (ISTAT, open data) with USC to analyze urban environmental quality, healthcare services distribution, and mobility. This enables a nuanced understanding of territorial disparities and their impact on public health. The research addresses two main questions: how can integrating official and USC data improve the understanding of territorial inequalities, particularly in health? What are the theoretical, methodological, and ethical challenges of this approach? By comparing urban and provincial case studies in Italy, we highlight how geolocated data can reshape territorial and health analysis methodologies. Given the fragmented availability of local spatial data, we emphasize the need for integrative tools to better analyze the social production of space and health disparities.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: This presentation outlines the development of a self-report measure for identifying disability among children aged 10 to 13 years. The measure was developed for use in a regional longitudinal study planned for five data collections until the children reach young adulthood. Our objective was to assess disability through a relational model where disability emerges from the interplay between individual limitations and societal barriers, in line with the CRPD. The identification of both limitations and barriers was essential to the project. Method: Initially, we identified and reviewed several well-validated measures for self-reporting disability. These were subsequently tested in an iterative process. First, we did qualitative data collections involving individual cognitive interviews with pupils aged 10 to 13 in both ordinary and special education settings. Next, we did focus groups with senior high school students aged 17 to 20. Finally, post-survey interviews were conducted with four pupils in a special education setting, aged 12, immediately after their participation in the survey. Results: We developed a contextualised and age-appropriate measure comprising 14 questions. The first questions were derived from the Washington Group’s Short Set on Functioning (2022) and the Child Functioning Module (2020) to measure physical and cognitive limitations, with some adjustments. Based on the results from the qualitative data collection, the initial labelling of the response scale in WG-SS referring to the amount of difficulties was changed into a less abstract meaning content. Furthermore, four questions inspired by Statistics Sweden’s HBSC study (2018) were included to measure how often children perceive hindrances at school and during leisure due to the reported disabilities.

ABSTRACT. Collecting data on hard-to-reach and hard-to-interview populations poses methodological challenges, particularly regarding sample representativeness and measurement accuracy. Centenarians illustrate these complexities: while their frequent residence in institutional settings can facilitate access, participation may be influenced by health limitations, cognitive decline, and gatekeeping by caregivers. These elements may lead to selection bias, as the most vulnerable individuals are often underrepresented. A key approach to mitigating this challenge is the use of proxy respondents. However, the accuracy and reliability of proxy responses remain unresolved particularly in studies on the oldest-old. We use data from the SWISS100 – a multidisciplinary longitudinal study on centenarians living in Switzerland – including dyadic interviews with centenarians and their proxies. Baseline recruitment, based on a random sample of 1717 individuals from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office list, was conducted between 2022 and 2023. The dataset includes 122 dyadic interviews, 30 centenarian-only interviews, and 102 proxy-replaced interviews, conducted when centenarians were unable to participate (e.g., cognitive impairment). We first assess how the exclusion of the most fragile individuals (MMSE < 6) and those in nursing homes would impact key indicators of health, well-being, and social participation by examining differences in their distribution. Then, we analyse proxy reliability by evaluating the agreement between centenarians’ and proxies’ responses across various domains using percentage agreement and Kappa statistics. Preliminary findings suggest that excluding the most vulnerable leads to an overestimation of well-being and number of social relations and an underestimation of health conditions. Agreement between centenarians and proxies varies by domain, with higher consistency for objective indicators (e.g., marital status) than for subjective ones (e.g., depression, loneliness). Our results highlight the need for methodological strategies to improve representativeness in research on the oldest-old. Incorporating proxy respondents and evaluating their reliability can help ensure the inclusion of often underrepresented older individuals.

ABSTRACT. Older adults in institutional care remain underrepresented in population surveys, limiting our understanding of their living conditions and needs. There are few exceptions that offer key insights into the differences between nursing home residents and those living in private households, such as “D80+”, a dedicated cross-sectional study of individuals aged 80 and older in Germany . Building on the insights from this and other studies, we are now expanding longitudinal ageing research in Germany by integrating a sample of nursing home residents into the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) for the first time in 2026. DEAS is an ongoing national study of individuals aged 40 and above, conducted since 1996. To inform preparations for the DEAS 2026, we conducted a pilot study, testing methodological adaptations, including tailored interview formats and recruitment strategies. Our current focus is on refining the core questionnaire, optimizing sampling and recruitment approaches, and ensuring data comparability across residential settings. This presentation will outline the progression from cross-sectional insights to piloting innovative methods and our approach to fully integrating nursing home residents into longitudinal ageing research. Both the D80+ dataset and DEAS data (1996–2023) are already available to researchers, providing valuable resources for studying ageing populations. The first DEAS wave including nursing home residents (2026) will be available from 2027 onward.

ABSTRACT. This communication analyses the survey strategies that were utilised to study the social experience of long COVID among migrants in the ViCovLong survey in France. As early as 2021, several studies underscored the unequal impact of this condition on physical health. In numerous European countries, migrants are disproportionately affected in terms of cases, hospitalisations, deaths and mental health. However, despite their importance for prevention and care, as well as for avoiding the long-term consequences of viral infections in vulnerable populations during future pandemics or epidemics, French and European data on the number of migrants affected by long-term HIV infection have been lacking. To construct its research framework, our research drew on a long-term ethnography conducted in the legal assistance of an activist association. This ethnography offered a valuable opportunity to identify the migrants concerned and to creatively design the survey that would subsequently be conducted. This approach facilitated access to the antecedents of migrants' health and vulnerability status in the context of their asylum claims. Moreover, it enabled us to build on pre-existing relationships of trust and security, thereby ensuring that the migrants approached in the survey did not feel manipulated. This approach demonstrates two key points. Firstly, it showcases the significance of ethnography in non-healthcare settings in reaching this specific population. Secondly, it highlights the intricate relationship between physical and mental health, emphasising the challenges in discerning the long-term consequences of the pandemic among migrants. This research also underscores the disparities and inequities in accessing healthcare and specialized care services.

ABSTRACT. Surveys on sensitive topics, particularly sexuality, pose unique methodological challenges, especially in societies where sexual discourse is dominated by conservative norms and political narratives. In Turkey, young adults navigate their romantic and sexual experiences within a framework of gendered expectations, conservatism, and shifting social dynamics, yet quantitative research on these topics remains limited. Given the increasing reliance on self-administered online surveys for data collection, understanding the barriers to participation and developing strategies for reaching underrepresented groups is crucial for ensuring representative findings.

As part of my master’s thesis, this study investigates university students’ attitudes and behaviors regarding virginity, casual dating, dating app use, and sexual health awareness. It further explores how gender, sexual orientation, and religiosity shape these views. An online survey is being conducted at Boğaziçi University using quota sampling to improve representativeness across faculties and gender identities. Institutional constraints prevented the use of probability sampling, which raises concerns about generalizability and response bias. Anticipated challenges include reluctance to participate due to the topic’s sensitivity and potential underrepresentation of certain groups. By the time of the conference, data collection will be complete, allowing for a discussion of participation trends, difficulties in recruiting students for sexuality research, and measures taken to enhance inclusivity in survey-based studies.

This research contributes to both substantive and methodological debates. Empirically, it provides insight into the evolving sexual norms of young adults in Turkey, a society where the topic of sexuality remains politically and culturally contested. Findings will inform both academic discussions and policy considerations regarding sexual health education and gender equality. Methodologically, it highlights effective approaches for improving survey response rates in social research on sensitive topics.

ABSTRACT. The proliferation of social media platforms has enabled Italian criminal organizations to actively construct criminal imaginaries, aligning themselves with journalists, writers, and screenwriters who have shaped their portrayal and culture for over a century (Ravveduto, 2024). While first-generation platforms like Facebook and Instagram provided initial spaces for self-representation, criminal culture finds new forms of legitimisation in the digital public sphere through the algorithmic logic of second-generation platforms such as TikTok (Gerbaudo, 2024). This study explores how Camorra’s culture is platformized on TikTok, examining how digital affordances influence the construction of criminal imaginaries through the encoding and decoding of vernacular cultural meanings (Burgess, 2006), and how communication goals define the relationship between usage practices and the algorithmic memetic logic. To address these questions, a case study was conducted on Camorra clans active in the city and province of Naples, through digital ethnography focused on 20 TikTok accounts linked to members of these criminal organizations. The accounts were selected using two complementary strategies: opportunistic sampling in collaboration with a key informant and the ‘follow the user’ methodological approach (Caliandro, 2024). Preliminary results highlight how the platformization of Camorra’s criminal culture on TikTok is structured along three main dimensions. The first concerns reputation and social consensus, which are structured through cultural production practices and public performances of violence and conspicuous consumption. The second dimension is economic. Women within these organizations promote the creation of grassroots economic circuits (both legal and illegal) through social commerce strategies, monetizing their criminal symbolic capital. Finally, the platform’s affordances, along with the ephemerality of virality, geolocation, and content modularity, seem to facilitate the dissemination and consolidation of Camorra symbols and narratives through memetic publics (Zulli & Zulli, 2022). These findings suggest that TikTok is not just a channel for representing organized crime but a space of economic intermediation, where Camorra culture takes the form of a digital meta-brand: an ecosystem of meanings and social practices negotiated among users, algorithms, and platform affordances. Moreover, the strategic use of digital grammar reveals how the Camorra on TikTok employs sophisticated adaptation strategies to evade social and algorithmic control, continuously redefining its presence on the platform.

References

Burgess, J. (2006). Hearing ordinary voices: Cultural studies, vernacular creativity and digital storytelling. Continuum, 20(2), 201-214.

Caliandro, A. (2024). Follow the user: Taking advantage of Internet users as methodological resources. Convergence, 1-24

Gerbaudo, P. (2024). TikTok and the algorithmic transformation of social media publics: From social networks to social interest clusters. New Media & Society, 1-18

Ravveduto, M. (2024). L'e-mafia: l'immaginario delle mafie nella rivoluzione digitale. In L. Chiara & R. Merlino (Eds.), Le mafie tra continuità e mutamento. Carocci, pp. 115-124

Zulli, D., & Zulli, D. J. (2022). Extending the Internet meme: Conceptualizing technological mimesis and imitation publics on the TikTok platform. New media & society, 24(8), 1872-1890.

ABSTRACT. The character of Scarface born in 1932 with Howard Hawks' film with Brian De Palma's 1983 reinterpretation takes on a mythical aura destined to permeate the contemporary collective imagination. In this second version, Tony Montana becomes the symbol of an American dream where social ascent passes above all through ambition and violence. Scarface's fascination lies precisely in its ability to offer an immediately usable model of power and wealth: a character who, starting from conditions of marginality, conquers a status of dominance, but at the price of criminal escalation. The diffusion of this imagery can also be found in Matteo Garrone's Gomorra (2008), where two young protagonists, addicted to the myth of Tony Montana, reproduce his iconic gestures and phrases, testifying to how the new generations recognise in Scarface not only a cinematographic reference, but a real ‘lifestyle’ where ‘the violent hero becomes a myth because society no longer knows how to give itself shared models’ (Eco 1979, p. 87). It is in this constant tension between desire for redemption and death drive that the character continues to seduce, promoting a cult of extreme individualism, becoming an example of how pop culture can transform a fictional character into a transgenerational symbol, consecrated by the media power of cinema and the culture industry (Ravveduto, 2019; 2023). His influence persists especially in a platform like TikTok through quotes, gadgets, memes and famous phrases, where young people adopt Scarface's mottos to celebrate an idea of transgressive power. The aim of the contribution is to map the way in which the imagery linked to Tony Montana defines social practices, languages and representations of criminal power, especially through the TikTok platform, by means of comparative and visual analyses, through a targeted netnographic investigation (Addeo et al., 2020).

ABSTRACT. The term "digital crime" encompasses various phenomena unified by the production of social actions that rely on particular technological support systems, which offer unprecedented opportunities for conduct within traditional frameworks of criminal activity or contribute to the creation of criminologically original domains. Given the imperative to examine how technological infrastructure not only transposes pre-existing criminal behaviors into a digital dimension but also enables the realization of peculiar illicit conduct, it is essential to recognize that digital crime can be inherently conceived as "organized" crime. It is therefore necessary to delineate precise boundaries between the broad and heterogeneous definition of digital crime and the classical understanding of organized crime, by considering the differentiation between digital crime scenarios where a multiplicity of subjects and an organizational base are necessarily but generically co-occurring, and those that, instead, fundamentally derive from the pre-existing operation of a criminal organization acting within a digital context. In light of the implicit logistical and authorship-related complexity, a comparative analysis between these forms of crime – technically organized and digitally oriented – and pre-established scientific and legal analytical frameworks is crucial to assess whether innovative, integrative, or at least partially substitutive dynamics can be identified, considering their multi-subjective, multi-offensive, and multi-agent nature. Accordingly, it is necessary to reflect teleologically on the distinct typologies of digital illicit actions, which involves observing whether, within the interplay of real and virtual dimensions, certain behaviors can or cannot be classified as belonging to the paradigmatic category of criminal configurations represented by mafia-style crime. Finally, recognizing that any criminal act comprises both material and imaginary elements, it is essential to analyze how certain digital manifestations of illicit activities contribute, on the one hand, to giving tangible concreteness to illegal structures and, on the other, to implementing a specific cultural substratum within the virtual realm.

ABSTRACT. Collaborative research between people with disabilities and researchers is crucial in terms of democratizing knowledge, integrating practical knowledge, and promoting social change. To this end, it is necessary to reflect the experiences of people with disabilities in research through participatory action research, narrative approaches, and the use of living labs. Furthermore, by building equal relationships, ensuring accessibility, and ensuring ethical considerations, truly meaningful collaborative research can be realized. Through such efforts, the active involvement of persons with disabilities as “co-creators of knowledge” rather than “research subjects” will lead to the realization of a more inclusive and sustainable society. The author of the report is conducting a collaborative research project on digitization of peer support with stroke and incurable disease survivors since 2021. In this panel, I would like to introduce this collaborative research as a case study and discuss with the participants new horizons of research conducted with people with disabilities.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates the participatory approach to studying services for people with disabilities, focusing on inclusion and engagement as both a central theme and methodological framework, starting from research realized in Lombardy Region (Italy) thanks to the collaboration between an association for people with disabilities (Anffas). We explore the various meanings and applications of participation, emphasizing the importance of collecting perspectives from individuals directly experiencing situations, supporting them articulating their own experiences. The research employs participatory action research and practice research, engaging both professionals, families and service users in the research process with the aim of transforming daytime and residential services into an inclusive and participatory model. This allows for a synthesis of scientific knowledge and practical expertise from service coordinators and professionals. Moreover, it fosters self-reflection, surfacing the "tacit knowledge" professionals develop from their direct engagement with service users. Importantly, the research incorporates the perspectives of persons with disabilities, their families, and caregivers, recognizing their experiential knowledge as complementary to scientific understanding. The study began by surveying 52 disability services in Lombardy, investigating personalized planning practices and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in decision-making. The second phase of the research focused on analyzing the design and methods of service delivery, evaluating how well these aligned with participatory, inclusive, and self-determination principles, taking the ecological matrix of quality of life domains as the conceptual framework. In this step, the sample consisted of 12 entities, 5 daytime and 7 residential. The final phase involved interviews and focus groups with persons with disabilities, their families, caregivers, service providers, and public institutions, aimed at understanding the relevance and recognition of participatory practices in improving service delivery. The findings contribute to the development of guidelines and indicators for innovation in disability services, promoting better quality of life and well-being for persons with disabilities.

ABSTRACT. The participation and voice of persons with disabilities in disability research is one of the fundamental principles of Disability Studies and the Human Rights Perspective of understanding disability. However, the topic of accessibility in research has received little attention in the methodological literature. For example, research reports refer to online surveys for people with disabilities that are not digitally accessible. Some groups of people with disabilities (e.g. D/deaf people, people with intellectual disabilities) are rarely directly tested due to communication difficulties. This results in the exclusion of many important perspectives from disability research and takes away the voice of already marginalized groups. The purpose of my presentation is to raise awareness and methodological sensitivity among researchers who conduct research with people with disabilities. The issue of ensuring accessibility in research is crucial and will be considered at the level of axiological assumptions, legal considerations and practical guidance for those conducting research.

ABSTRACT. Populism has become a defining feature of European democracies, sparking scholarly debate over its implications for political processes. This study refines the measurement of populist attitudes in Europe using data from the European Social Survey, employing Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Measurement Invariance tests, and Regression Models to construct and validate scales based on the core dimensions of populism: Anti-Elitism and People Centrism. The findings confirm the conceptual distinction between these subdimensions and establish the cross-national validity and comparability of the proposed measures. Additionally, the study examines the relationship between populist attitudes, socio-demographic characteristics, and political behaviour, demonstrating the criterion validity of the scales. By providing a robust, replicable, and theory-driven methodological framework, this research enhances the reliability of comparative analyses and contributes to addressing the replication crisis in the social sciences. The validated scales offer a valuable tool for studying political polarisation and its broader democratic implications across diverse contexts.

ABSTRACT. The research reports the existence of systematic variations in people's attitudes towards gender and gendered roles in family and society in the European Union countries. The concept of "gender attitudes" has been operationalised through a novel combination of items administered by the European Values Survey in 2008 and 2017. The EVS sampling strategy is statistically representative at different geographical levels, according to the Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS). The proposed measure has been validated by using the Rasch model to test its measurement invariance across countries (NUT-1) and regions (NUT-2), and over time. The inclusion of NUTs-2 was driven by the hypothesis that gender attitudes exhibit significant variability, primarily attributable to the distinct sociocultural milieu people inhabit. The findings from a hierarchical regression analysis substantiated the notion that gender attitudes are socially, culturally, economically, and historically situated, thereby demonstrating that sub-national variability can exceed that observed between European countries. The results challenged the current (and sometimes stereotypical) understanding of gender attitudes in Europe by showing that there are very 'traditional' regions in what are usually considered 'modern' countries, and vice versa. The findings of this study thus carry implications for both research and policy. From a research perspective, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors associated with people's attitudes towards gender and gendered roles in family and society. Furthermore, the European 'case' presented in this research could be considered as an example of what could be observed in other geographical areas, thus generating new research questions and propelling the debate forward. From a policy perspective, the findings suggest that, in order to design appropriate interventions, policies promoting equity should focus on regional variability even more than on variability between countries.

ABSTRACT. In cross-national comparative studies, researchers frequently rely on self-report survey instruments to explore differences among respondent groups, such as citizens of various countries. A key methodological challenge in such studies is ensuring the configural invariance of the measurement instrument. This condition holds when the latent structure exhibits a consistent pattern across groups, ensuring that observed differences reflect actual variations rather than measurement inconsistencies. To address this issue, we adopt an exploratory approach based on graph theory. Specifically, within the context of multi-group comparative analysis, we explore the use of exploratory graph analysis to assess configural invariance in measurement instruments composed of ordered categorical indicators. In this framework, networks serve as representations emphasising the latent constructs, where the covariance between observed indicators is interpreted as a pattern of interactions between the items. Our central hypothesis is that if a measurement instrument functions equivalently across groups, the group-specific correlation-based networks should exhibit similar structural patterns. To test this, we estimate network structures using a Bayesian approach with sparsity-inducing priors and employ network embedding techniques to examine structural similarities. Additionally, mixture models are used to identify subgroups of homogeneous graphs. Through a combination of simulation studies and real-world applications, we demonstrate that this method effectively detects differences in latent structures. Finally, we apply our approach to assess the configural invariance leveraging on European Social Survey, showcasing the utility of graph-based techniques in strengthening cross-group comparisons in social science research.

ABSTRACT. Political competition has become increasingly centered around a cultural cleavage, dividing green, alternative, and libertarian (GAL) positions from traditionalist, authoritarian, and nationalist (TAN) stances. By overtly focusing on the party-level, scholarship so far has treated the set of issues within the GAL-TAN dimension as a cohesive whole, overlooking potential cross-national variation and relying on an implicit assumption of equivalence. Addressing this assumption, this paper investigates how the specific issues that citizens bundle together to form this cleavage diverge across countries. I argue that elite polarization and far-right issue entrepreneurship influence citizens’ incorporation of a particular issue into the cultural cleavage. Looking at two more peripheral issues on the cultural cleavage, LGBTQ rights and climate change, this study uses multilevel structural equation modelling to analyze how elite cues shape citizens’ embedding of these issues into the cultural dimension across 31 European countries. The findings suggest that party polarization strongly affects whether citizens link an issue to core GAL-TAN issues, while far-right issue entrepreneurship does not. In contexts where parties are more polarized along an issue, citizens’ attitudes towards it load more strongly on the latent GAL-TAN dimension. These results challenge the assumption of a uniform cultural cleavage across Europe and highlight how party polarization can act as an elite cue that guides different patterns of issue-bundling among citizens.

ABSTRACT. The question of whether measures of sexism are psychometrically equivalent across countries has been widely debated in social psychology and political science, with scholars such as Glick and Fiske (1996, 2001) emphasising the cultural embeddedness of hostile and benevolent (ambivalent) sexism. However, these works have not adequately addressed the issue of measurement invariance in cross-national survey research, limiting our ability to make meaningful comparisons of sexist attitudes across different social and economic contexts. As a result, comparative studies of sexism have often been discouraged due to concerns about measurement bias. This paper addresses this issue by assessing the measurement invariance of hostile sexism across twenty-four European countries and seven age cohorts using data from the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 11. Specifically, we examine three commonly used indicators of hostile sexism (“women seek power over men”, “women are too easily offended”, and “women exaggerate claims of sexual harassment”) by applying a multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) within a structural equation modelling (SEM) framework. Unlike prior research that has struggled to establish measurement equivalence, we demonstrate strict invariance, ensuring that hostile sexism is measured in a fully comparable way across time and space. This allows for valid cross-national comparisons and robust hypothesis testing on the structural determinants of sexism. We argue that achieving strict measurement invariance in such a large-scale study is a crucial advancement for comparative research on gender attitudes, enabling more reliable assessments of how sociopolitical and economic factors shape sexism across cultures. In conclusion, by rigorously testing and establishing measurement invariance, this project provides new methodological insights and empirical evidence that strengthen the foundation for cross-national studies of sexism, addressing a critical gap in the literature and countering prior claims that such comparisons are not possible.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the cross-national measurement equivalence of moral judgments among 36 European countries from the 2017 wave of the European Values Study (EVS). Using the Morally Debatable Behaviors Scale (MDBS) as conceptualized by Vauclair and Fischer (2011), the study investigates the scale’s ability to measure and compare moral attitudes — from justifications of cheating on taxes to attitudes toward euthanasia — while accounting for both cultural differences and methodological changes. Through principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), preliminary results reveal that the MDBS effectively distinguishes between legal-fair and personal-sexual morality. The legal-fair dimension demonstrates strong validity and cross-cultural comparability, supporting its use in intergroup analysis. In contrast, the personal-sexual dimension exhibits weak measurement invariance, indicating that respondents across countries may interpret these items differently. These findings support the results of previous research, arguing that while legal-fair morality is universal, personal-sexual morality depends on culture. Furthermore, the study uncovers significant differences in reported attitudes based on data collection methods. Specifically, comparisons between traditional face-to-face and web-based interviews reveal that these methodological changes may influence how individuals answer the survey questions. Such variations suggest that observed differences in moral attitudes could arise partly from the context of data collection rather than genuine shifts in values.

ABSTRACT. Research indicates that for vulnerable older people meaning in life (MiL) is a salient issue: they are in their final stage of life and experience a diminishing independency. Simultaneously, measuring MiL in this population is trying due to their greater risk of cognitive and motivational disabilities. This study examines a MiL-scale that seeks to adapt to these challenges by using positive worded items only. While it’s a golden rule to employ a balanced mix of positive and negative items, studies indicate that positive items are easier to process and that alternation of item directionality is burdensome. This study hypothesizes that using positive items only, may enhance data quality in lower educated, vulnerable older people, in comparison to higher educated younger people.

A split-ballot experiment was performed on the MiL-scale, administered to two populations: - lower educated inhabitants of Dutch senior residences (N=405, age m=78). - higher educated, young transgender people (N=224; age m=41). Respondents randomly obtained a balanced scale with positive and negative items, or a scale with positive items only. Data quality was assessed and validated in the two samples.

Analysis largely confirmed the hypothesis and demonstrated higher levels of data quality for the positive-only scale version for the older population. Amongst others construct validity was better, number of item missings was lower and correlated less with age, and the factor structure was more consistent. Most outcomes were especially distinct in the older population and absent or weaker in the younger population.

The study suggests that using ‘positive or negative’ wording in scales interacts with the abilities of the older respondents. Furthermore, it indicates that for specific groups, using positive scale items only may enhance instead of hamper data quality. More research is needed into underlying cognitive and motivational mechanisms as to improve tailored scaling methods.

ABSTRACT. Social constructs across communities remain complex and varied across nations.The takeaways are the major sections of natives and the non natives where power positions dominates the living standards of the natives,which have proved true in global societies .Enduring mass discrimination from the mainstream Societies they have developed unique coping mechanisms at least to counter the challenges thrown at them. The paper studies the socio-economic and gender roles of the marginalized communities in developed societies and the challenges confronted by them in their holistic inclusivity in societal rightdoing

ABSTRACT. Pentecostalism continues to be a religious phenomenon that predominantly grows at the base of the social pyramid, that is, in the peripheries. Although it includes a middle-class contingent, Pentecostal churches recruit most of their followers from among Black, poor, and peripheral people, and they differ based on the great theological, liturgical, aesthetic, organizational, and behavioral plurality. The small churches that establish themselves in slums and social housing complexes have expansionist characteristics and constitute a way to overcome the precariousness of living conditions in the peripheries of the State of Rio de Janeiro. This search is reflected in the creation of faith bonds within the territory, which provide some support in the face of everyday life problems, such as the imposition of a violent order controlled by drug dealers; poverty; informality; unemployment; and instability in family relationships. In a research study conducted in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes in the north of the State of Rio de Janeiro, through interviews and observations of activities in small churches, we focused on forms of communication and engagement for social and religious action, considering common experiences that expose the intersection between race, gender, religion, and territory, emphasizing possibilities and conflicts inherent to the sociability developed in the place.

ABSTRACT. The expert interview as such is an essential qualitative method in sociological research. They provide insights into specific contexts and help to see it through the eyes of the experts. In addition, strategic arguments are also placed in expert interviews and trained narratives are replicated. Furthermore, divergent roles often arise when the expert detaches himself from his function as an expert and talk privately. This holds many potentials but also challenges for the analysis of expert interviews, which we want to elaborate in more detail. The main point of reference so fare in the analysis of expert interviews is the research interest and the associated methodological decision for the expert interviews themselves. Do I interview experts to gain deeper insights into the field? Or am I trying to grasp the power dynamics and positioning in the field? The first approach would probably lead to a qualitative content analysis in the evaluation, whereas the second would favor a critical discourse analysis or frame analysis. However, the specific approach then loses sight of the other. Based on these considerations, we would like to address the existing blind spot in the analysis of expert interviews. So far, there have been few considerations that differ from the analysis of non-expert interviews. The rigid use of specific analytical methods can also be questioned in view of the richness of expert interviews. By using empirical findings from the LetsCare project, we want to present practical research considerations for the analysis of expert interviews. In the EU-Horizon-project, more than 100 expert interviews in the field of long-term care were conducted. We want to focus on the Austrian context and aim to provide an integrative approach to analyzing expert interviews that does justice to the richness of the data collected and strengthens the method as such.

ABSTRACT. Mixed marriages enrich traditional family structures by introducing new family models and testify to the diversity and dynamism of interpersonal relationships at international level. The growing number of such marriages is inevitably linked to demographic changes and calls for a redefinition of migration, integration and family policies that better reflect the realities of modern society and pay attention to the diversity of families. This study analyses the rates of mixed marriages based on statistical data on marriages between citizens of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as "LT") and foreign countries and presents the trends of mixed marriages in Lithuania in the period 2000-2023, focusing on gender and citizenship status. The results of the study show that during the period under study, the share of mixed marriages per year varied between 8-20%. In the period from 2000 to 2021, female citizens of LT were much more likely to marry foreigners than male citizens of LT. The analysis of the data shows that there is a significant difference in the preferences of the partners of female and male citizens in mixed marriages in terms of nationality. Women with citizenship of LT are much more likely to marry partners from EU countries than men, who prefer non-EU women. These trends reflect traditional gender roles, with men potentially seeking partners from countries where traditional male-female roles prevail, perhaps due to perceived economic advantages or cultural preferences, and women preferring socio-economic parity, which may be associated with stability and shared values and greater gender equality. These unequal patterns of marital behaviour in relation to gender illustrate the complexity of contemporary marital behaviour in a globalised context, reflecting not only economic and social exchanges, but also cultural expectations regarding gender roles.

ABSTRACT. This paper interrogates the uncritical adoption of intersectionality in qualitative research, arguing that its premature elevation to “theory” has fostered epistemic deference and methodological complacency. When researchers treat intersectionality as a fixed framework rather than interrogating its explanatory force and application, they risk reducing complex inequalities to additive identity matrices and recentralizing academic authority over community-defined knowledge systems. To counter these tendencies, this paper advocates for an approach that reframes intersectionality as a methodological provocation rather than a settled theory. Following Mari Matsuda’s call to "ask the other question," it emphasizes iterative, collective dialogues that expose power asymmetries at every stage of research. By scrutinizing how research practices reproduce or resist epistemic violence, we can develop solidarity-driven, praxis-based principles that reclaim and expand intersectionality’s radical intent—principles nourished by abolitionist and decolonial knowledge practices.