Development of a platform dedicated to collaboration in the social sciences

Abstract

Although we, as scientists, are used to the reality of a "laboratory," not as many are familiar with the concept of "virtual laboratory," especially in the social sciences, where much of the work is done in the field and often relies on direct human contact. Nevertheless, it is not infrequently the case that experts in specialized domains are separated by thousands of miles, and thereby not able to collaborate fruitfully. In such a context, a virtual laboratory may be a solution. But, questions arise immediately: "What could be the form of collaboration in a virtual laboratory?" "How is it possible to instrument such a laboratory?" "What kind of competencies do the members of a virtual laboratory need?" "What about language barriers?" This paper describes the foundation concepts of an online platform named social-issues.org whose main focus is on collaborative experimentation, testing, and learning in the social sciences.