Showing papers in "American Journal of Sociology in 1969"

The Power and Functions of Boards of Directors: A Theoretical Synthesis'

Abstract: Many social scientists have assumed that the boards of directors (governing boards) of corporate organizations control their organizations in name only. Others, examining the relationship of American social and business elites to the operation of welfare organizations and elite social clubs conclude that they are controlled by their boards. This contradiction is resolved by a theoretical analysis of the external "detachable" resources, personal characteristics, and strategic contingency situations conducive to more or less board power vis-a-visexecutives. Bases of board power include control of resources and knowledge about organizational operation. Personal characteristics affecting board members power are social status and sex. Strategic contingencies are events of organizational life cycles, such as mergers, major program and goal changes, and selection of chief executives, conducive to the exercise of board power.

Making Men Modern: On the Causes and Consequences of Individual Change in Six Developing Countries

Abstract: The Project on the Social and Cultural Aspects of Economic Development at Harvard's Center for International Affairs interviewed 6,000 men from six developing countries to study the impact on the individual of his exposure to and participation in the process of national and economic modernization. To a striking degree, the same syndrome of attitudes, values, and ways of acting-such as openness to new experience, independence from parental authority, and taking an active part in civic affairs-defines the modern man in each of the six countries and in all the occupational groups of cultivator, craftsman, and industrial worker. Education is the most powerful factor in making men modern, but occupational experience in large-scale organizations, and especially in factory work, makes a significant contribution in "schooling" men in modern attitudes and in teaching them to act like modern men. Those who come from very traditional backgrounds and receive little formal schooling can, under the right circumstances,...

Minority Group Status and Fertility

Abstract: Most studies of minority group fertility assume that as assimilation proceeds the fertility of minority and majority populations will coverge. Differences between minority and majority are usually treated as temporary phenomena and often are interpreted in terms of the social, demographic, and economic characteristics of minority group members. Empirical evidence, however, does not fully support the "characteristics" explanation of Negro, Jewish, Japanese-American, or Catholic fertility. An alternative hypothesis is presented with respect to the independent effect of minority group status on fertility. Some parameters of the interrelationship of minority group status and fertility are discussed.

Theory, Deduction, and Rules of Correspondence'

Abstract: Causal models are strictly untestable with a single indicator for each variable, unless one assumes very slight measurement error. With multiple indicators for each variable, incorporated as an extension of the causal model, estimates of the path coefficients may be derived that are subject to sampling variability but are not distorted in the same manner as estimates based on single indicators. Under certain specified conditions, the coefficients thus derived will be inconsistent, thus providing a clue to the existence of nonrandom measurement error of specific kinds. In this paper, procedures for two-indicator and three-indicator models are explored. The requirement that scientific theories include both abstract concepts and concrete implications, and that the two be logically connected, has been treated rather casually by sociologists. Traditionally, sociological theorists have focused on abstractions with loose and ill-defined implications about matters of fact. More recently, some sociological formulations have shifted to the opposite extreme, stating only connections between measures, without any attempt to make more abstract claims. Either of these modes of theory construction is costly, sacrificing either the clarity of empirical implications or the integrating potential of abstract concepts. Although the literature of the philosophy of science has provided us with terms for referring to the gap between abstract conceptions and concrete events-rules of correspondence, epistemic correlations, operational definitions, and indicators of abstract dimensions-these terms do little more than remind us that the gap is there. They do not provide clear guidelines for bridging the gap and suggest no criteria for determining the adequacy of the more or less arbitrarily devised connections between abstract and empirical levels. Clearly, the empirical testing of abstract theories must remain somewhat loose until some strategies for dealing with this problem are devised. To the degree that rules of correspondence are weak and subject to distorting errors, deductions about matters of fact must be regarded as uncertain and possibly misleading. This general problem is explored in the present paper, not as a problem in semantics-which is the common way of treating it-but as a special problem in theory construction. The general strategy to be employed consists of including the rules of correspondence as an auxiliary part of the theory. The auxiliary theory will thus consist of statements connecting ab1 Revised version of paper presented at the meeting of the American Sociological Associa

How to Ransack Social Mobility Tables and Other Kinds of Cross-Classification Tables

Abstract: This article presents (1) methods for examining every part of a social mobility table in search of the various possible relationships between an individual's status category and his father's status category that are congruent with the data in the table; (2) methods for comparing two (or more) social mobility tables by examining the corresponding parts of each of the tables in search of the differences between the corresponding relationships in the tables; and (3) conceptual tools that can be used by the research worker to assist and stimulate him to conceive of a wide variety of possible relationships between an individual's status category and his father's status category, which could then be checked with the data These tools and methods can also be applied to other kinds of cross-classification tables to assist in the conception and analysis of the various possible relationships between the column classification and the row classification of each table, and in studying the differences between the corre

Queue Culture: The Waiting Line as a Social System

Abstract: The long, overnight queue is seen as a miniature social system faced with the problems of every social system, formulating its own set set of informal rules to govern acts of pushing in and place keeping, leaves of absence, and the applications of sanctions. Cultural values of egalitarianism and orderliness are related to respect for the principle of service according to order of arrival which is embodied in the idea of a queue. The importance of time in Western culture is reflected in rules relating to "serving time" to earn one's position in line, and to the regulation of "time-outs." The value of business enterprise is expressed in the activities of professional speculators and queue "counters." Queue jumping is discouraged by a number of contraints, but, if social pressure fails, physical force is seldom used to eject the intruder. Principles of queue etiquette are illustrated with empirical and anecdotal evidence from the study of Australian football queues.

The Factorial Ecology of Calcutta

Abstract: Early traditions in urban ecology and social area analysis have recently converged in the approaches of factorial ecology. Comparison of factorial ecologies undertaken in recent years throughout the world enables a list of the necessary and sufficient conditions for ecological differentiation of urban subpopulation by social rank, stage in life Cycle, and ethnic segregation to be specified. At the same time, a more traditional comparative literature suggests widely different ecologies of pre-industrial, industrial, and post-industrial cities. This study attempts to initiative systematic cross-cultural ecological analysis by means of a structured factorial ecology of Calcutta. The investigation reveals an interpenetration of pre-industrial and industrial ecological components, consistent with notions that city is in some transitional developmental stage. At the same time, the changing significance of caste in ordering Indian society is revealed.

Working Wives and Marriage Happiness

Abstract: A woman's freedom to choose among alternative life styles in an important predictor of happiness in marriage. Both partners are lower in marriage happiness if the wife participates in the labor markert out of economic necessity than if she participates by choice. This finding holds across educational levels, stages in the life cycle, and part-time and full-time employment. Among the less educated, the strain comes from an increase in tensions for husbands and a decline in sociability for wives; while among the better educated, husbands and wives both experience an increase in tensions and a decrease in sociability. A woman's choice of the labor market over the home market strains the marriage only when there are preschool children in the family. At other stages in the life cycle, the choice between the labor market and the home market makes little diffrence in an individual's assessment of his own marriage happiness. However, the labor market choice is generally associated with a higher balance between sa...

Educational Climates of High Schools: Their Effects and Sources.

Abstract: This contextual analysis demonstrates that (1) a number of dimensions of the educationa climates of schools have moderate effects on the mathematics achievement and college plans or students, with relevant individual attributes controlled; (2) several indicators of "intellectual" or "cultural" facilities of the community and measures of school curriculum and facilities do not qualify as sources of variations in climate effects; and (3) the degree of "parental involvement in and commitment to the school" is the ore contextual variable which is a source of climate effects. The educational implications of the results are discussed.

Changing Courtship Patterns in the Popular Song

Abstract: A content analysis of popular lyrics drawn from song magazines and accepted ranking reveals a change in perspective on boy-girl relationship over the past eleven years. The new orientation prizes autonomy in personal relations and is most clearly portrayed in rock and roll lyrics. The career of the affairs is traced from its inception to its final dissolution. Proportionally fewer lyrics deal with boy-girl relationships today than in the mid-1950's. A wider range of concerns are evident and raise questions about the individual's relation to the social order. The questions may reflect the preocupations of a growing number of disaffected young people who constitute the audience for the new lyrics, or the emergence of more democratic controls in songwriting.

Multiple Indicators and the Causal Approach to Measurement Error

Abstract: Since the practical utility of the kind of multiple indicators approach discussed in Costner's paper depends on the ways it can be broadened to include a diversity of causal situations, the purpose of the present paper is to extend the argument in three respects: (1) to show that it holds generally in any recursive system; (2) to note the circumstances under which a single indicator of one or more of the variables can be used; and (3) to point out that the use of multiple indicators can be combined with an instrumental-variables approach that has been discussed in the econometrics literature.

Schools and the Stratification Process.

Abstract: The influence of socioeconomic origins on three outcomes of secondary schooling (academic achievement, course marks, and aspirations) is interpreted using path analysis and covariance analysis for six grade-cohorts of students in the Nashville Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). While we have had some success in constructing recursive interpretations of background influences on educational outcomes, the proposed models do not account for the common content of similarly determined outcomes. Intelligence plays a key role in mediating the influence of social origins on educational outcomes. Further, there is little evidence that teachers discriminate by socioeconomic origin. School differences in educational outcomes are small and may be artifactual consequences of differences in student-body composition. High school quality is less persistent over time than student-body composition, and plays a minor role in the determination of ultimate educational attainment.

Reactions to deviance: a critical assessment.

Abstract: A critical analysis is presented of that recent body of work which focuses attention on social reactions as key determinants of deviant behavior and deviance situations. The themes of process is identified as being central to this orientation. Major criticisms of the approach are considered, and several levels of analysis on which the reactions emphasis is useful are outlined. Brief consideration is given to some of the theoretical antecedents of the reactions orientation-leading to the conclusion that, at its heart, the approach simply develops, applies, and organizes some central themes of general sociological analysis as they relate to deviance and social control. While the approach probably does not constitute a causal theory in the strict sense of the term, its strong grounding in traditional sociological perspectives suggests that it has great promise in advancing theoretical integration in the area of deviance analysis.

Socioeconomic Differentials Among Religious Groups in the United States

Abstract: The availability of hitherto withheld tabulations from the 1957 Current Population Survey, in which a question on religion was asked, provides a unique opportunity to examine a nationwide sample of the U.S. population for the relation between religion and socioeconomic status, as measured by education, occupation, and income. Over-all, without controls, the data show significant differences among the religious groups with respect to socioeconomic status. Judged by median income, median education, and the proportion of white-collar workers, Jews occupied considerably higher status position than did either Protestants or Catholics. Controlling for place of residence by restricting the analysis to the urban population and controlling for education as well examining the occupation data, and for occupation and education separately in controlling for the income data, suggest that, when these controls are introduced, there is a considerable narrowing of the differentials in socioeconomic status among the three r...

Measuring the Permeability of Occupational Structures: An Information-Theoretic Approach

Abstract: Methods deriving from information theory are proposed for the analysis of social mobility matrices. They permit us to give quantitative answers to such questionsas, "Given a man's social origin, how much uncertainty is there about what his own social position will be?" Other methods would undoubtedly be more appropriate whenever social positions are measured on an interval scale, but the assumptions they require are often implausible. The methods herein are designed for the more usual situation where positions are merely grouped in categories which may not even form an ordinal scale: nominal scale data are treated as nominal scale data. These methods are used to re-analyze several intergenerational occupational mobility matrices which appear in the literature and to make comparisons between such matrices.

Income and Religious Affiliation: A Regression Analysis

Abstract: Apparent differences in reported family income among thirteen religious groups can largely be explained by differences in the composition of these groups. This paper reports the results of regression problems in which family income is the dependent variable while education, occupation, religion, race, region, and size of place are the independent or predictor variables. By assignig to all thirteen religious groups the grand means on educational and occupational attainment, plus the national distributions of race, region, and size of place, it was possible to eliminate the effect of these characteristics on the mean family income of the religious groups. The data refer to male, fully employed heads of 7, 518 households in a 1962 national sample survey.

Marital status and suicide in the United States: a special test of the status integration theory.

Abstract: Data on suicide by age, sex, and marital status in the U. S., 1959-61, are employed to test the theory of status integration. On the whole, the findings are consistent with the theory, but more so for males than females.Such differential results are analyzed in terms of four principles that stipulate "ideal" test conditions. These principles are not ad hoc explanations of negative findings, meaning that they can be generalized to all tests of the theory. Data are available for systematic application of three of the four principles, and that opportunity should be realized in future research.

Racial Change in a Stable Community

Abstract: A Chicago community experiencing racial transition is compared with an all-white control area to test the common assumption that transition is necessarily accompanied by a "flight" of whites, with a consequent abnormally high rate of property turnover (i.e., "instability"). It is found, through an inspection of property turnover records and by comparison of numbers of "For Sale" signs in the two areas, that the transition community shows no signs of instability. The assumption of a necessary link between transition and instability is thus rejected; implications for the goal of residential racial integration are discussed.

An Index of Riot Severity and Some Correlates

Abstract: While certain variables do not correlate with the presence or absence of riots in American cities, they do correlate with riot severity. Such variables are more influential in determining the severity of a riot, once it has begun, that they are in determining the outbreak of that riot. The Index--a Guttman-type scale developed from materials describing disorders in 1967--suggests that the events that constitute riots and civil-criminal disorders are not bizarre, non-patterned, or randomly generated. On the contrary, employing the properties of Guttman scales, we may predict the sequence of events for levels of riot severity.

Race Awareness Among American and Hong Kong Chinese Children

Abstract: Research with young children in the United States, New Zealand, and South Africa has indicated that children of subordinate races tend to prefer and identifty with members of dominant races, while children of dominant races tend to prefer and identify with members of thier own race. To test this generalization in a setting which, while multiracial, does not have subordinate-dominant relations, the author measured race awareness in Chinese children in Hong Kong and compared the results with race awareness in American Caucasian and Negro children. The findings gave support to the generalization and also to the normative theory of racial prejudice.

Ethnic and Racial Segregation in the New York Metropolis, 1960.

Abstract: A review of previous research leads to the conclusion that there has been only a minimal decline in interethnic segregation (e.g., Irish from Italian immigrants) in U.S. cities since 1930. Moreover, an analysis of the New York-Northwestern New Jersey Standard Consolidated Area census tract statistics indicates that interethnic segregation remains relatively high into the second generation. This suggests that white resistance to racial integration may but compound the strong separatism of ethnic populations from one another.

The professional self-concept of music students.

Abstract: As a result of their study of a medical school, Becker and his associates suggest that students in professional schools acquire only the selfconcept of "student." In contrast, Merton and his associates, in their studies of medical and law schools, propose that students gradually acquire the self-concept of "professional." The issue is important to the theory of adult socialization. Music conservatories afford an excellent test case because music students engage in professional activities while they are still in school. Multivariate analyses of the effects of professional activity and the effects of the music school suggest that both actual professional activity and the professional school itself contribute to the development of a professional selfconcept. But the variables interact. Students who do not engage in "clinical" activities (professional work) do not generally acquire a high self-concept. Much of the effect of the music conservatories is not through direct social contacts with teachers or studen...

Student Politics and Political Systems: Toward a Typology

Abstract: Prevailing analyses of student politics focus upon noninstitutionalized modes of political behavior and upon the social-psychological attributes of participants.This approach tends to ignore the importance of structural links between political system, university, intitutionalized, and noninstitutionalized student politics. The major forms in which institutionalized student politics appear in different nations are closely linked to the attributes of the political and educational systems of each nation. The major system linkages which determine these forms are government control over university structure and financing, and recruitment to political careers through party sponsorship of university student aspirants. The prevailing form of institutionalized student politics where both of these links are present is factional competition among political party branches. Where both are absent, university student government prevails. Where recruitment is low and government control is strong, national student unions ...

The Redress of Distributive Injustice.

Abstract: Distributive injustice was experimentally induced in a dyad where a stooge claimed a share of credit incommensurate with his contribution to a joint task. Redressive behavior on part of subjects was of two kinds-involving the allocation of rewards in a subsequent work session, and the granting of esteem to the other person. With some exception, the tendency was for beneficiaries of injustice to be more extreme in redress than were its victims. Females, individuals high in Machiavellianism, and those high in Need for Approval did not redress in reward allocation when victimized. Those low in Machiavellianism redressed more when they were victims.

Perceptions and Expectations of the Legislature and Support for It

Abstract: In this study, based on a random household probability sample of 1,001 Iowa adults, the basic hypothesis is that congruence between perceptions and expectations about the legislature leads to high support for the legislature, and incongruence between perceptions and expectations leads to low support for the legislature. Data from the Iowa sample provide tentative confirmation of this hypothesis. Congruent and incongruent groups on each of ten factors were compared on their levels of legislative support. For each factor, the congruent group had a higher mean support score than did the incongruent group, although in only five cases was this difference satistically significant. The results do suggest that support for the political system, or some subsystem of it, is dependent to some extent upon congruencies in the mass public between expectations and perceptions of the system.

Marriage Plans and Educational Aspirations

Abstract: Data from a national sample of 4,000 high school students indicate that aptitude, socioeconomic background, and marital plans each exert an independent influence on the educational aspirations of both males and females. The direct effect of marriage intentions on educational aspirations is shown to be especially marked for girls. Plans for future research employing a longitudinal design to explore the effects of marriage on educational aspirations and on educational attainment are briefly noted.

In Defense of Wirth's "Urbanism as a Way of Life"

Abstract: The criticisms that sociologists have voiced of Wirth's essay "Urbanism as a Way of Life" are examined. It is argued that the evidence on which these criticisms rely contains several inadequacies. To support Wirth's theory, data are presented showing a negative correlation between the size of the locality a person lives in and the intimacy of his friedship ties. The autor concludes that a fresh look at Wirth's theory is needed utilizing research based on adequate measures and adequate design.

Father-to-Son Mobility: Australia in Comparative Perspective

Abstract: This report of findings from the first national survey of social stratification and social mobility conducted in Australia attempts to fill a gap noticed by students interested in the comparative analysis of mobility … The findings of our Australian survey serve as the point of departure for comparisons with recent data for Italy and the United States…

Teacher's Strike: A Study of the Conversion of Predisposition Into Action

Abstract: Five non-teaching statuses (e. g., religion) were found to influence the predisposition of teachers toward a strike.But not all teachers acted in accord with their predispositions. This paper reports research on the social processes influencing the conversion of predisposition into action. Teachers were most likely to act in accord with their predisposition when they received social support from colleagues and were not under cross-pressure.Four different types of cross-pressure led teachers to avoid making a clear decision. Teachers who supported the union but feared sanctions were less likely to picket than those who did not fear sanctions. The social-psychological and structural determinants of fear are examined. Teachers who were negatively predisposed toward the strike but had colleagues as a salient reference group were less likely to cross the picket line than those who did not have colleagues as a reference group. Knowing whether or not colleagues were a reference group enabled us to predict the st...

The Conception and Measurement of Asymmetric Monotonic Relationships in Sociology.

Abstract: Theoretical propositions in sociology are frequently stated in a form such as "the greater the A, the greater the B," which implies only monotonic relationships. Appropriate indexes are seldom used to test this type of propositions since those available are either too stringer (linear correlation, for example) or they ignore monotonicity altogheter (e.g.,x). This paper discusses two types of asymmetric monotonic indexes using a proportional reduction in error logic; one based on and one based on the correlation ratio. Weak, intermediate, and strong forms of the -type indexes are developed (two of which are currently in the literature), a general equation for the three is provided, and criteria for choosing relatively weak or strong measures are discussed. The index based on the correlation ratio agrees closely with the -type indexes (for ordinally treated interval level data) but possesses the advantage of relating directly to analysis of variance significance tests. The form of tests for all indexes is i...