Robert Evans
Cardiff School of Social Sciences
Robert Evans is a Senior Lecturer 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:
- 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. The theoretical work has also led to empirical work, most notably the development of the Imitation Game as a methodology for investigating interactional expertise. Further details of this work can be found on my expertise page or the ALL @ SEE website;
- Innovations in Research Methods. This work applies some of the ideas about expertise to the relationship between qualitative research and policy making. As part of QUALITI, the node of the ESRCs National Centre for Research Methods, that is based in Cardiff, I have been working on the ‘Talking Treatments’ project, which implemented and evaluated a range of methods for soliciting and integrating lay and expert opinions about diabetes treatments.lay and expert participation in public debates about science.
Previous research that I am still writing and thinking about, mainly in the context of the expertise project, includes:
- 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.
Other Publications
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>
Evans, R J and Marvin, S (2006) ‘Researching the Sustainable City: Three Modes of Interdisciplinarity’, Environment and Planning (A), 38(6): 1009-1028. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/a37317>
Evans, R J (2004) ‘Talking about Money: Public Participation and Expert Knowledge in the Euro Referendum,’ British Journal of Sociology, 55(1): 35-53. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2004.00005.x>
Evans R J (1999) Macroeconomic Forecasting: A Sociological Appraisal. Routledge: London. ISBN 0-415-20694-4.
Recent Working Papers
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)
Welsh, Ian, Plows, Alex, and Evans, Robert (2005) Another Science for Another World? Science and Genomics at the London Social Forum Cardiff School of Social Sciences Working Paper 70. (Abstract) (Full text pdf)
Evans, Robert and Plows, Alex (2005) Discriminating Citizens: Making Judgements about Science Cardiff School of Social Sciences Working Paper 69. (Abstract) (Full text pdf)
Evans, Robert and Marvin, Simon (2004) Disciplining the Sustainable City: Moving Beyond Science, Technology or Society? Cardiff School of Social Sciences Working Paper 65. (Abstract) (Full text pdf)
Evans, Robert (2004) Evaluating an Electronic Plagiarism Detection Service: The Importance of Trust and the Difficulty of Proving Students Don’t Cheat. Cardiff School of Social Sciences Working Paper 51. (Abstract) (Full text pdf)
Research Grants
I have received grants from the ESRC, EU, European Science Foundation and British Academy. With colleagues at Cardiff I am currently working on research projects funded by:
Last updated on 28 July, 2008