摘要:

The dismal state of scholarly writing, especially in the social sciences, reflects (1) lack of training in effective communication, (2) lack of sanctions for bad writing, and possibly (3) a rhetorical strategy intended to validate claims to expertise. Good writing can and should be taught; its absence should be remarked, if not penalized; and rhetoric should be recognized for what it is. If sociological work is to be appreciated outside the discipline, good writing is a necessary first step. In addition, however, sociologists should reconsider the case for descriptive, interpretive work. Most sociologists now value such work less highly than hypothetico-deduc- tive social science, but the application of sociological concepts and methods to the understanding of particular cases is a worthwhile undertaking, and one that the general public tends to find more interesting than the search for explanatory theory. There should be room in sociology, as in other disciplines, not just for different research styles, but for different goals.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.1

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.15

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

For the past twenty years the status attainment model of social mobility has included social psychological measures which are used to help explain the levels individuals come to occupy in the stratification system. The early elaborations of the Blau-Duncan “basic model” of status attainment, proposed by Sewell and others, modeled social psychological factors affecting educational attainment. More recently, two kinds of research have evolved which provide a basis for further clarification of the occupational attainment portions of the mobility model. One of these is the “new structuralism” approach to the world of work which has emphasized the importance of sectors of the economy, the structure of firms, vacancy chains, internal labor markets and career lines. The other is the “work and personality” literature which is concerned with the interrelations between the structure of the work setting and the personal qualities of the worker. Suggestions are made for the integration of these approaches with earlier attempts to explain social mobility. Methodological and conceptual issues are discussed, and the need to recognize the interrelated contributions of structural and social psychological perspectives is emphasized. A life course approach to social mobility processes appears to provide the basis for accomplishing the needed integration of the structural and social psychological perspectives.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.17

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

Social psychology is insufficiently sociological: it is too narrowly concerned with the immediately impinging interpersonal environment, too little concerned with larger social structures. The pivotal contribution that sociology can make to social psychology is to explicate the processes by which people's positions in larger social structures affect the conditions of their lives and, thereby, their personalities and behavior.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.26

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

The thesis of this paper is that a major obstacle to progress in self-concept theory and research has been certain dominant or major scientific paradigms that were inhospitable to research on this topic. In psychology it was the behaviorist paradigm; in sociology, the social factist and social behaviorist paradigms; and in psychoanalysis, the Freudian paradigm. Largely because of these paradigms, the self-concept was not considered part of the legitimate subject-matter of this field. The history of self-concept research illustrates haw scientific principle can stand in the way of scientific progress.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.34

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

The existence of modally different social psychologies, one sociological and the other psychological in origin, development and institutional base, has led observers to suggest intellectual costs of the separation and to imply that a sound interdiscipline of social psychology requires institutional integration of the two. Thorough institutional integration would be disastrous because the core message of a sociological social psychology would be lost in the meld. Effective dissemination of that message requires a sociological social psychology with a secure institutional base in sociology as well as ties to its psychological counterpart. That base is at present precarious relative to the past, endangering the optimal development of sociological social psychology.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.45

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

We test for linear and nonlinear effects of the racial composition of a youth's city on his probability of employment. The sample, extracted from 1980 Public Use Census data, consists of black and white male youths, aged 17‐20, residing in central cities. Controlling for a number of individual and city characteristics, we find that the absolute and relative probabilities of employment for young black men are hurt by being in a city with a higher proportion of blacks, up to a tipping point of about 50 percent black. Thereafter, blacks' absolute and relative employment odds are positively associated with the proportion black. This is consistent with the nonlinear version of the competition thesis proposed by Blalock (1957) and Lieberson (1980), and with economists' notion of employment discrimination based on the tastes of customers and coworkers.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.55

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

Broadly speaking, this research addresses the relationship between national symbols and the societies from which they emerge. Specifically, it examines the ways in which varying levels of sociopolitical control influence the structure or design of national anthems. The study utilizes a set of newly devised measures that allow for the quantification of musical structure; these measures approach music as a symbolic code. Such codes range from basic to embellished in design. Findings reveal that during periods of high sociopolitical control, elites create and adopt anthems with basic musical codes. As sociopolitical control becomes comparatively weak, elites create and adopt anthems with embellished codes.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.76

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

This article examines the relationships between multiple dimensions of religiosity, secular forms of social involvement, demographic covariates, and subjective reports of life satisfaction. Nested regression models are used to analyze data from the 1983 NORC General Social Survey. Results indicate that both devotional (private) and participatory (public) aspects of religiosity have relatively small but persistent positive relationships with life satisfaction. Further, affiliation with certain denominations appears positively associated with satisfaction. These associations are both statistically and theoretically significant. They remain despite efforts to control for the effects of both qualitative and quantitative measures of nonreligious social ties. This research indicates that the links between religiosity and psychological well-being in previous studies do not reflect merely the effects of high levels of social participation. Future theoretical and empirical work should consider the relationships between various dimensions of religious involvement and other facets of mental health.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.100

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

This paper examines trends in the effects of children on adults' psychological well- being between 1957 and 1976. Several indicators of well-being are examined, including measures of quality of life (happiness, satisfaction, worries), psychological distress, and perceptions of parenthood. The findings indicate that parenthood was more stressful in the 1970s than it was in the 1950s and that much of the trend among women was due to changes in employment and marital status. Although fathers experienced a similar decline in well-being, our model does not account for the trend among men. The analysis is based on the two “Americans View Their Mental Health Surveys” conducted in 1957 and 1976.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/68.1.124

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1989

数据来源: OUP