摘要:

The Davis-Moore theory of social stratification is examined in light of the economics of wage determination. The theory's explanation of unequal positional rewards in a perfectly competitive market is interpreted as focusing on talent and training as primary supply factors, and on functional contribution to the survival of society as a primary demand factor. Using elasticity of demand and of supply in place of “functional uniqueness” and “talent complementarity,” respectively, the prediction is derived that talent and training have a greater influence on rewards than does functional importance. The theory is shown partially to accommodate apparent deviant cases, but the analysis also demonstrates that Davis and Moore's emphasis on functional importance remains methodologically, empirically, and theoretically questionable.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.543

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

The assumption that income maintenance creates disincentives to work is reviewed in the context of economic, sociological, and cultural perspectives on work among the poor and tested with data from the New Jersey Negative Income Tax Experiment. Contrary to predictions derived from economic theory and culture of poverty speculations, the results show: (1) no such disincentive effects among male heads of households; (2) consistent and significant effects on work activity of prior labor force history and extent of participation, age, health, family structure, education, and welfare status; and (3) even those who exhibit a variety of allegedly detrimental personality traits, as described by the culture of poverty thesis, and those least integrated into the work ethic still show no work reduction as a result of NIT.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.553

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

Bureaucracy as form and bureaucratization as process have long been central to organizational analysis. Yet, there have been few attempts to define degree of bureaucratization in terms that are operational and useful at the societal or cross-national level. In the present research, multiple indicators based on several structural dimensions of bureaucracy are developed for use when societies are the unit of analysis. The relationships among the indicators are empirically examined and shown to be consistent with familiar theoretical formulations. In the process, problems arising from definitional dependencies among complex variables are treated in some detail. Finally, employing conventional techniques of index construction, including factor analysis, a multivariate index of the degree of bureaucratization is derived that appears to be acceptable from the standpoint of reliability and validity criteria.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.563

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

I propose a new rapprochement between sociology and literature, such that literature is used to expand sociological theory and sociology is used to develop a new school of literary criticism. I provide a demonstration through an analysis of power in John Milton'sParadise Lost, from which I derive nine propositions for effective domination by a singular ruler.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.573

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

We tested the Glock-Stark model of the influence of particular Christian beliefs in producing anti-Semitism, using a survey of Protestants in the Atlanta SMSA and Philadelphia SMSA. Our items and indices were almost identical to those of Glock and Stark in their 1963 California study. In table analysis we tested for spuriousness of the relationship between Christian beliefs and anti-Semitism, and we found evidence of it. A path model built from the Glock-Stark variables turned out similar to that constructed by Middleton from nationwide data. A more elaborate model including other religious, social-psychological, and background variables accounted for 28 percent of the variance in anti-Semitism; the most important factors were social-psychological factors—anomie, dogmatism, and status concern. The religious factors alone accounted for about 5 percent of the variance. We agree with Middleton that Glock and Stark overestimated the role of Christian beliefs in producing anti-Semitism and that they overlooked important social-psychological factors.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.581

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

This is a study of the relatively unexplored question of the relationship between religious affiliation and secular achievement among blacks. Examining a sample of urban black adolescents, the research sought Protestant-Catholic differences in attitudes toward achievement and black identity. The results indicate a distinctive secular orientation among black Catholics, combining higher educational and occupational aspirations and an attenuation of black identity. This pattern was absent in the lower class but present in the working and middle classes and was most apparent when the strength of religious identification was high. These findings are interpreted as indicating that Catholicism may be consequential for status maintenance and moderate mobility among blacks. Whether this interplay can be understood as the effect of a “religious factor” forms the broader problem of this inquiry.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.595

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

This paper critically reviews some of the more prominent typologies of religious involvement and finds that there are specific problems of definition and classification with existent schemes. An attempt is made to synthesize the work of others in a new typology of religious involvement. It is suggested that religious involvement can have four general orientations: (1) supernatural (2) communal (3) cultural (4) interpersonal. Each of these orientations can be manifested in a behavioral or ideational manner. Within this framework, nine dimensions and three subdimensions of religious involvement are proposed. A factor analysis of data gathered from a sample of Jewish adults in Chicago, Illinois lent general support for the scheme presented here. Contrary to the emphasis in much of the research on Christianity, behavioral rather than ideational dimensions accounted for most of the total variance in religious involvement.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.606

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

An examination of Karl Marx's and Georg Simmel's theories of conflict is undertaken with an eye toward assessing what they offer contemporary theorizing. The contrasting purposes, metaphysical assumptions, conceptualizations of variables, and propositions of Marx and Simmel are presented and compared. While there is some overlap in their formulations, the complementary differences in their schemes provide the broadest foundation for the sociology of conflict.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.618

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

Although it has not been recognized, Max Weber had a great deal to say about the professions and the relationship between professionalization, bureaucratization and rationalization. His ideas are very contemporary. He recognized that professionalization, like bureaucratization, is an aspect of the rationalization of society. Unlike some contemporary sociologists, Weber saw that professionalization and bureaucratization arenotantithetical. Finally, Weber understood that a profession must be viewed from the structural, processual,andpower perspectives. Weber's rich understanding of the professions is attributed to two factors. First, he saw them as part of the rationalization process. Second, his thinking was not distorted, as was the case with American sociologists, by the aberrant case of the physician in private practice as the prototype of the professions.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.627

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

An evaluation of the impact of29community development programs in Southern Illinois shows that they probably did have an effect on the services available in the target communities, but their effect on participation is only partial. Using a probability sample of29program and32nonprogram communities, this study tests the hypothesis that community development programs have an effect upon “process” and “content” variables at the community level. The process variables used are voting participation and the number of candidates running for local elections. The content variables are four cumulative, unidimensional scales of the institutional structure of the communities. The study is longitudinal, covering approximately twenty years from 1950 to 1970. Scalogram Analysis (Guttman Scaling) is used to create the scales and multiple regression techniques are used to test the hypotheses. The findings indicate that community development programs are correlated with improvements in elite participation and in the scale of rural services, noneconomic services, and health services.

ISSN:0037-7732    

DOI:10.1093/sf/53.4.635

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1975

数据来源: OUP