Prof Anne ByrneSchool of Political Science and Sociology, College of ArtsNational University of Ireland Galway. This In Memoriam is reproduced with the very kind permission of the Irish Journal of Sociology, see https://doi.org/10.1177/07916035211038250. To read Ricca’s words is an exhilarating experience. She brought extraordinary awareness, insight and depth to how sociologists may use language to …
What is Migration and How Does the Media Mirror Populist Opinion?
As part of their third year Research Placement for their BSc (Applied Social Sciences) degree at NUI Galway, Moya Gorman, Aideen Murtagh and Jodie King undertook research into migration and specifically how the popular media, in general, often mirrors populist opinion with regards to the value placed on such migration. Under the supervision of Dr …
How the Anti-Vax Movement Has Used the Internet to Infect the Minds of The Public
Introduction The internet has become a place where people go to seek medical advice. Whether this be WebMD, The Mayo Clinic, or Facebook. Whether we like it or not, the internet and social media are now competing with medical professionals when it comes to giving medical advice (Bradshaw, Shelton et al, 2020). These competing interests …
The Role Technology Plays in Education
Introduction This blog post will examine the role that technology plays in education in our modern society and the impacts digital revolution has and continues to have on the education process. Technology is all around us and it is constantly continuing to expand. Technology is certainly being merged into the education process. Within the education …
Virtual Needs
Introduction Maslow’s theory affirmed the motivation of human needs and arranged a hierarchy of relevance. The bottom of the pyramid are basic needs, biological and physiological – food, water, warmth, and above this level is love and relationships. Next is self-esteem and finally at the top self-actualisation. He stated that once basic needs on the …
The Hidden Cost of Online Shopping
The Effect E-Commerce Is Having On Our Environment ‘Free delivery,’ ‘free returns,’ ‘mega sales.’ We see phrases like these plastered all over the online retail world, enticing us to order, order, order. However, what is the true cost of our online shopping habits? This post will explore the reality of the environmental effects of e-commerce. …
Can Likes Make Me Like Myself?
Introduction In this piece I will discuss how ‘likes’ can trigger feelings of pleasure with it’s addictive properties, leaving the user wanting to go back for more and how the user may feel when ‘likes’ are not obtained. I will also discuss how through the abundance of ‘likes’ some users have over one another, mainly …
The Digital Black Hole
Introduction iPhones, laptops, PlayStations, Smart-Watches – you name it, we have it. We have evolved into a generation that is obsessed with our technological devices, such as our phones for example. A generation that must have the latest technology, gadget or model. A generation that if we were asked too, couldn’t live without many of …
Understanding the Basics of Facial Recognition Technology
Biometric security was first commercially introduced to the digital world with the use of fingerprint technology which was to a large extent, grouped under digital forensics. This technology has thrived but can definitely be improved in many ways. Facial recognition technology takes care of the majority of its drawbacks with its ability for remote verification, …
A Myriad of Ways in which Class intersects Climate Change
This article was originally published in 2019 on Discover Society under the title of Climate Change: The Ultimate Class Conflict An evocation of a class perspective remains absent from climate advocacy and debate. Emission disparities are routinely hidden by headline statistics referring to national emissions. Per capita and historical emissions, often used to reallocate blame …