Robert Evans
Cardiff School of Social Sciences
Robert Evans is a Reader in Sociology at the Cardiff School of Social Sciences. His research interests focus on the nature of expertise and its use in policy decisions. He is particularly interested in the sorts of knowledge needed to make decisions, who possesses it and how it should be acted upon. His work focuses on the ways in which knowledge -- scientific and lay -- is developed, used, combined and contested.
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Research Interests
My research has focussed on both the dynamics of specific controversies and is now linking these different studies into a more general theory of expertise. Previous projects have included a study of economic forecasters advice to the UK government, the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to develop sustainable energy plans for cities, and the emerging politics of medical genetics. My current research is focussed around two main themes:
- Studies of expertise and experience (SEE) with Professor HM Collins. The basis of this work is the typology of expertise set out in the ‘Third Wave of Science Studies’ paper and developed most fully in our new book Rethinking Expertise. Further details of this work can be found on my expertise page or the ALL @ SEE website;
- Innovations in Research Methods. One of the most productive spin-offs of the work on expertise has been the development of the Imitation Game. Originally conceived as a way of investigating interactional expertise, we are now exploring its potential as a comparative method for researching social integration. Further details of this work can be found on my Imitation Game page or the ALL @ SEE website
Previous research that I am still writing and thinking about, mainly in the context of the expertise project, includes:
- deliberative methods and public participation (drawing on based on the ‘Talking Treatments’ project originally carried out as part of QUALITI, the Cardiff node of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods)
- public (non)debate about the single european currency;
- interdisciplinarity and the sustainable city (with Professor Simon Marvin, SURF Centre, Salford)
Main Publications on Studies of Expertise and Experience
Collins, H M and Evans, RJ (2007) Rethinking Expertise, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. For some recent reviews see <http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/evansrj/news25.html> or buy the book on amazon.co.uk
Collins, H M, Evans, R J, Ribeiro, R and Hall, M (2006) ‘Experiments with Interactional Expertise’, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 37 (4): 656-74. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2006.09.005>
Collins, H M and Evans, R J (2002) ‘The Third Wave of Science Studies:
Studies of Expertise and Experience’, Social Studies of Sciences, 32
(2): 235-96. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312702032002003>
Also, reprinted in Evan Selinger and Robert P. Crease (eds) (2006) The
Philosophy of Expertise, New York: Columbia University Press. Pp.
39-110.
Review Articles
Evans, R J (2008) ‘The sociology of expertise: the distribution of social fluency’, Sociology Compass. <http://www.blackwell-compass.com/home_sociology_compass>
Evans, R J and Collins, H M (2007) ‘Expertise: From Attribute to Attribution and Back Again,’ in Edward J Hackett, Olga Amsterdamska, Michael Lynch and Judy Wajcman (eds) Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (3rd edition), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pp. 609-30.
Recent Publications
Evans, Robert and Kotchetkova, Inna (2009) ‘Qualitative Research and Deliberative Methods: Promise or Peril?’ Qualitative Research, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 1-19.< http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468794109343630>
Evans, Robert, Kotchetkova, Inna, and Langer, Susanne (2009) ‘Just Around the Corner: Rhetorics of Progress and Promise in Genetic Research’, Public Understanding of Science, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 43-59. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963662507078016>
Collins, H.M. and Evans, Robert (2008) ‘You Cannot be Serious! Public Understanding of Technology with Special Reference to “Hawk-Eye”’, Public Understanding of Science, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 283–308. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963662508093370>
Kotchetkova, ~Inna, Evans, ~Robert and Langer, ~Susanne (2008) ‘Articulating Contextualized Knowledge: Focus Groups and/as Public Participation?’, Science as Culture, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 71 – 84. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09505430701872897>
Evans, R J (2007) ‘Social Networks and Private Spaces in Economic Forecasting’ in Collins, H M (ed) ‘Case Studies of Expertise and Experience’, special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 38(4): 657-666. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2007.09.011>
Collins, H M, Evans, R J and Gorman, M (2007) ‘Trading Zones and Interactional Expertise’ in Collins, Harry (ed) ‘Case Studies of Expertise and Experience’, special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 38(4): 686-697. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2007.09.003>
Evans, R J and Plows, A (2007) ‘Listening Without Prejudice? Re-Discovering the Value of the Disinterested Citizen’, Social Studies of Science, 37(6): 827-854. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312707076602>
Recent Working Papers
Kotchetkova, Inna and Evans, Robert (2008) Promoting Deliberation Through Research: Qualitative Methods and Public Engagement with Science and Technology, QUALITI Working Paper No. 7, November 2008. (full text pdf)
Evans, Robert and Kotchetkova, Inna (2008) ‘Facilitation or Interpretation?: Qualitative Research and Deliberative Methods’, QUALITI Methods Briefing No. 2, May 2008. (full text pdf)
Kotchetkova, Inna, Evans, Robert and Langer, Susanne (2007) Public opinion as questions not answers: how citizens evaluate the therapeutic potential of stem cell research in the context of T1 diabetes, QUALITI Working Paper, March 2007 (Full text pdf)
Research Grants
I have received grants from the ESRC, EU, European Science Foundation and British Academy. Recent successful grant applications that I have been involved with include:
- ESRC/HEFCW Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD)
- ESRC Qualitative Research Methods Node
- ESRC Centre for the Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics (phase 1);
Last updated on 16 January, 2012