About

Concepts Hacked

Welcome to my blog. Concepts Hacked is all about simplifying social science without being simplistic. This blog is about making concepts, ideas, terms, and theories easy to understand while retaining their depth and nuance. I summarize the core tenets of numerous concepts from a wide variety of social science disciplines, provide examples, and include caveats so that you are equipped to apply these concepts with clarity and precision in your courses and in your work.

While directed toward college students, this blog could be useful for anyone interested in learning more about social science. As a college professor, I often came across students who are familiar with a term or concept but don’t truly understand it enough to describe it or apply it to their work. Sometimes students are unable to keep up with the pace of the class, sometimes they are embarrassed to ask questions or seek clarification, and sometimes the original articles or books that introduce or explain the concept or theory are too dense to grasp without prior knowledge of other foundational concepts. Students are looking for resources that explain the concept in an “easy to digest”, “bite-sized” format with lots of examples that can cement the concept for them. I want to address this need through this blog.

If you are an academic in the natural or physical sciences, engineering, or medicine and are looking to expand your knowledge of the social sciences, this blog will provide you with a robust orientation to many common social concepts and theories, reducing the language barriers in cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Disciplines covered include: Sociology, Management, Social Ecology, Research Methods, Statistics, Economics, Psychology, Urban Planning, Communications, Interdisciplinary Studies

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About Me: Chitvan Trivedi

Thanks for your interest and for visiting this blog! I am an applied social scientist with a broad set of methodological and conceptual skills applicable to a variety of fields. I am interested in community problem-solving. My research focuses on social entrepreneurship and its relationship to the creation and sustenance of societal change. I am interested in the role of systems thinking and collaborative processes in addressing social problems. I have tried to understand how international and national organizations have addressed complex societal problems and what makes their efforts effective. I do this using a transdisciplinary, social ecological lens that integrates multiple disciplines and links basic theory and research with community-based interventions. I have over ten years of experience in leading qualitative and quantitative research projects.

I have a Ph.D. in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine. Beginning in Fall 2024, I am excited to join Virginia Tech as Collegiate Associate Professor and Interim Associate Director of the Executive Ph.D. program at Pamplin School of Business within the Department of Marketing. Previously, I served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Human and Organization Learning program at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the George Washington University. Prior to starting ConceptsHacked, I was a postdoctoral scholar at UCI and an Assistant Professor at Gettysburg College with the Department of Management. My teaching interests encompass courses in Social Entrepreneurship, Organizations and Society, Research Methods, Strategic Change, and Organization Theory. I hold Masters degrees in Computer Networks and Business Administration.

Expertise

• Identifying the social and ecological determinants of complex socio-environmental problems.
• Conducting multi-method, multi-level, and multi-scalar analysis of complex problems.
• Devising effective strategies and solutions for organizations to transform system-level bottlenecks.
• Knowledge networks and capacity building.
• Creating learning organizations that translate knowledge into organizational routines that promote collective action.
• Leading collaborative research and educational initiatives.
• Leading workshops on social entrepreneurship, systems thinking, social ecological analysis and methodologies, learning organizations, and leadership.
• Quantitative research skills include survey design, testing, implementation, and analysis, scale development (including principal component analysis), questionnaire design, and statistical analysis, including ANOVA, ANCOVA, regression analysis, factor analysis.
• Qualitative research skills include grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Specific methods include participant observations, structured and semi-structured interviews, and focus group interviews.
• Writing and publishing for academic and non-academic audiences.
• Grant writing.
• Mentoring students in research, entrepreneurial, and leadership skills.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book chapters

Trivedi, C., & Ray, S. (2024). Equity, empowerment, and social justice: Social entrepreneurship for formerly incarcerated individuals. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, (Online first), 19394225231223388. https://doi.org/10.1177/19394225231223388

Ray, S. M., Hinshaw, J., Trivedi, C., & Malhotra, G. (2024). Supporting WFN collective social entrepreneurship through social movement learning and critical participatory action research. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, (Online first), 19394225231221119. https://doi.org/10.1177/19394225231221119

Trivedi, C., & Misra, S. (2020). Communicative processes in trans-sector transdisciplinary collaborations. In G. R. Lotrecchiano & S. Misra (Eds.), Communication in transdisciplinary teams (pp. 91-122). Santa Rosa: Informing Science Press. (Free online access to the book)

Trivedi C. & Misra S. (2018). Dialogue and the creation of transformative social change: The case of social enterprises. The International Journal of the Emerging Transdiscipline. 21, 107-132. doi: 10.28945/4012

Misra, S., & Trivedi, C. (2017). Psychological impacts of technological change: An ethnic minority perspective. In A. Blume & A. Czopp (Eds.), Social Issues in living color: Challenges and solutions from the perspective of ethnic minority psychology (pp. 221-241) (Vol. 2nd): Praeger Books.

Trivedi, C. & Misra S. (2015). Relevance of systems thinking and scientific holism to social entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 24(1), 37-62.

Trivedi, C., & Stokols, D. (2011). Social enterprises and corporate enterprises: Fundamental differences and defining features. Journal of Entrepreneurship (Sage Publications), 20(1), 1-32.

Trivedi, C. (2010). Toward a social ecological framework for social entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship (Sage Publications), 19(1), 63-80

Trivedi, C. (2010). A social entrepreneurship bibliography. Journal of Entrepreneurship (Sage Publications), 19(1), 81-85.

Book Reviews

Trivedi, C. (2019). [Review of the book Social Entrepreneurship: An Affirmative Critique] Journal of Entrepreneurship, 28(1), 192-195.

Trivedi, C. (2014). [Review of the book Handbook of research methods on social entrepreneurship] Journal of Entrepreneurship, 23(1), 137-140.

Trivedi, C. (2012). [Review of the book Case studies in social entrepreneurship and sustainability: Volume 2: The Oikos Collection.] Journal of Entrepreneurship, 21(2), 315-321.

Trivedi, C. (2011). [Review of the book Unmasking the entrepreneur.] Journal of Entrepreneurship, 20(2), 273-278.

Trivedi, C. (2011). [Review of the book The next available operator: Managing human resources in Indian business process outsourcing industry.] Journal of Entrepreneurship, 20(1), 152 -158.

Trivedi, C. & Misra, S. (2009). [Review of the book Impact of e-commerce on consumers and small firms]. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 18(1), 122-126.

Conference Papers

Ray, S. M., Hinshaw, J, Malhotra, G., & Trivedi, C (2022). Women, Femme and Non-binary (WFN)
Entrepreneurs, Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Social Entrepreneurship.
Presented at the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education. October 11-14.

Trivedi, C. (June 2017). The integral place of dialogue in social entrepreneurial ventures. Paper presented at the Science of Team Science Conference, Clearwater, FL

Trivedi, C. (with Christoffersen, L., Hickman, A.J., & Sami, M.) (2009, October). A social ecological framework for addressing social issues. Paper presented at the First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, Lincoln, Nebraska.