Showing papers in "Review of Sociology in 1995"
TL;DR: The evidence for both a widening SES differential in health status and an increasing racial gap in health between blacks and whites due, in part, to the worsening health status of the African American population is described.
Abstract: This chapter reviews recent studies of socioeconomic status (SES) and racial differences in health. It traces patterns of the social distribution of disease over time and describes the evidence for both a widening SES differential in health status and an increasing racial gap in health between blacks and whites due, in part, to the worsening health status of the African American population. We also describe variations in health status within and between other racial populations. The interactions between SES and race are examined, and we explore the link between health inequalities and socioeconomic ineqality both by examing the nature of the SES gradient and by identifying the determinants of the magnitude of SES disparities over time. We consider the ways in which major social structures and processes such as racism, acculturation, work, migration, and childhood SES produce inequalities in health. We also attend to the ways in which other intervening factors and resources are constrained by social structure. Measurement issues are addressed, and implications for health policy and future research are described.
1,735 citations
TL;DR: A wide variety of work in social science concerns sequences of events or phenomena as mentioned in this paper, and a review of sequence literatures from various areas can be found in the introduction of this paper.
Abstract: A wide variety of work in social science concerns sequences of events or phenomena. This essay reviews concepts of sequence and methods for analyzing sequences. After a brief definitional discussion, I consider sequence literatures from various areas. I then discuss recent methodologies for sequence analysis. I review stepwise approaches like Markovian and event history analysis as well as whole sequence approaches resting on new developments in biology and other fields.
828 citations
TL;DR: Theories and analyses of organizational change seek to explain why organizations change as well as what the consequences are of change as discussed by the authors, but empirical evidence on both questions is fragmentary and occasionally contradictory.
Abstract: Organizational change can be usefully conceptualized in terms of both its process and its content. Process refers to how change occurs. Content describes what actually changes in the organization. Theories and analyses of organizational change seek to explain why organizations change as well as what the consequences are of change. Empirical evidence on both questions is fragmentary and occasionally contradictory. Models that consider both process and content show the greatest potential for resolving this situation. Such models can be used to test social science theories as well as to evaluate programs of organizational change promulgated by consultants and practitioners. Basic organizational theory would be enhanced by greater attention to organizational change.
640 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the career attainments of women and minorities in science are depicted and the meaning and measurement of universalism compared to particularism, and conditions under which particularism is likely to occur.
Abstract: Science is an institution with immense inequality in career attainments. Women and most minorities, as groups, have lower levels of participation, position, productivity, and recognition than do white men. Research in the sociology of science has focused on the degree to which different outcomes have resulted from universalistic and from particularistic processes. In this paper we 1) depict the career attainments of women and minorities in science, 2) consider the meaning and measurement of universalism compared to particularism, 3) analyze the causes of differential attainment with a view to assessing evidence for violations of universalism, 4) propose conditions under which particularism is likely to occur, and 5) consider methodological problems that affect this research.
449 citations
TL;DR: A review of recent research on world-systems can be found in this article, which includes an examination of economic cycles of various lengths as well as their links with broader cycles like the rise and fall of hegemonic core powers.
Abstract: This is a review of recent research on world-systems. We cover studies of the current system and studies that compare the contemporary global system with earlier, smaller intersocietal systems. Research on the cycles and secular trends found in the modern world-system is discussed at length. This includes an examination of economic cycles of various lengths as well as their links with broader cycles like the rise and fall of hegemonic core powers, international financial crises, and the cycle of global war. We also survey recent studies of core-periphery hierarchy.
414 citations
TL;DR: The authors traces the historical development of the sociology of scientific knowledge and its relations with sociology and cultural inquiry as a whole, and identifies dominant "localist" sensibilities in SSK and the consequent problem it now confronts of how scientific knowledge travels.
Abstract: The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is one of the profession’s most marginal specialties, yet its objects of inquiry, its modes of inquiry, and certain of its findings have very substantial bearing upon the nature and scope of the sociological enterprise in general. While traditional sociology of knowledge asked how, and to what extent, “social factors” might influence the products of the mind, SSK sought to show that knowledge was constitutively social, and in so doing, it raised fundamental questions about taken-for-granted divisions between “social versus cognitive, or natural, factors.” This piece traces the historical development of the sociology of scientific knowledge and its relations with sociology and cultural inquiry as a whole. It identifies dominant “localist” sensibilities in SSK and the consequent problem it now confronts of how scientific knowledge travels. Finally, it describes several strands of criticism of SSK that have emerged from among its own practitioners, noting the ways ...
412 citations
TL;DR: A review of the role of institutional arrangements in stratification processes in industrial societies can be found in this paper, where the particular institutional arrangements considered are those of educational and labor force organizations, and the review is organized around the Blau-Duncan basic model of status attainment.
Abstract: This chapter reviews the current state of our knowledge about the role of institutional arrangements in stratification processes in industrial societies. The particular institutional arrangements considered are those of educational and labor force organizations. The review is organized around the Blau-Duncan basic model of status attainment and points to the need for a more elaborated conceptualization. Institutional arrangements structure the connections between social origin and educational attainment, between educational attainment and early labor force placements, and between early and later placements in the labor force. Industrial societies vary widely in the nature of these institutional arrangements, and that variation affects the patterns of movement from origins to destinations in the stratification system. Features of educational institutions considered include separation of students into specialized schools and ability groups (tracking), degree of central control, degree of autonomy, degree of...
392 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review summarizes and evaluates recent empirical studies on intergenerational poverty, including the resources model, correlated disadvantages model, welfare culture model, and Wilson's (1987) underclass model.
Abstract: Early arguments over the “culture of poverty” assumed considerable intergenerational transmission of poverty but differed over whether this was due to cultural inadequacies of the poor or to structural barriers and discrimination faced by the poor. These arguments subsided by the 1970s when quantitative social stratification studies such as Blau & Duncan (1967) found that intergenerational socioeconomic mobility was considerable and that there was little evidence for a “vicious cycle of poverty.” In the 1980s the issue of intergenerational poverty reemerged when research on new longitudinal datasets suggested that both intragenerational and intergenerational poverty were more persistent than analyses based on cross-sectional data had suggested. Four new theoretical perspectives were developed to explain intergenerational poverty: the resources model, the correlated disadvantages model, the welfare culture model, and Wilson’s (1987) underclass model. This review summarizes and evaluates recent empirical re...
349 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines research about current levels and recent changes in ethnic and racial stratification in the United States and discusses patterns of adaptation of new immigrants, including available evidence on the ethnic enclave economy and substitution in the labor market of immigrants for native minorities.
Abstract: This review examines research about current levels and recent changes in ethnic and racial stratification in the United States. Research about ethnic inequality emphasizes that economic stagnation and restructuring are troubling impediments to progress toward equality, and it shows evidence that employers may still use racial and ethnic queues in hiring. A number of issues arise with respect to the incorporation of the new waves of immigrants who have arrived since immigration law reform in 1965. We discuss patterns of adaptation of new immigrants, including available evidence on the ethnic enclave economy and substitution in the labor market of immigrants for native minorities. We summarize new theories and hypotheses about the fate of the children of recent immigrants, and we point to topics in this area needing further research.
244 citations
TL;DR: A review of the comparative literature suggests that there is no evidence of convergence across societies toward a single form of governance, and that this is mainly a function of three factors: the timing of entry into industrialization and the institutionalization of that process, the role of states in regulating property fights and rules of cooperation and competition between firms, and the social organization of national elites as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The study of corporate governance has expanded both its theoretical and its empirical scope. We define governance broadly to include the social organization of firms and their relations to their suppliers, customers, competitors,and states. This review examines both economic and sociological theories to evaluate their efficacy at accounting for the comparative data on firms. Our review of the comparative literature suggests that there is no evidence of convergence across societies toward a single form of governance, and that this is mainly a function of three factors: the timing of entry into industrialization and the institutionalization of that process, the role of states in regulating property fights and rules of cooperation and competition between firms, and the social organization of national elites. The theories that function best are those that consider political, institutional, and evolutionary factors as causal. This is a cautious conclusion as many of the theories have not been evaluated because...
218 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conclude that despite the absence of a clear consensus in the field, theories asserting a universal process of class dealignment are not supported, and they suggest that these arguments reflect a misreading of the empirical evidence and/or exaggerate the significance of these developments.
Abstract: Over the last two decades, many social scientists have argued that the stable class politics of industrial capitalism is giving way to newer types of social and attitudinal cleavages. Some scholars have gone further to associate what they see as significant declines in the anchorings provided by class with the rise of new political movements, parties, and even politicians standing for office completely outside traditional party systems. Advances in class theory and statistical methods coupled with the availability of high quality data have led others to reexamine the issue. They have suggested that these arguments reflect a misreading of the empirical evidence and/or exaggerate the significance of these developments. We conclude that despite the absence of a clear consensus in the field, theories asserting a universal process of class dealignment are not supported.
TL;DR: There are powerful push and pull factors that create and sustain the volume of unauthorized migration, and there is little evidence that undocumented migrants have negative labor market consequences despite what the general public thinks.
Abstract: This paper surveys research on the size of the undocumented immigrant population in the United States, the causes and consequences of illegal migrant flows, public attitudes toward unauthorized migrants, and the history of attempts to control the volume of undocumented migration. It concludes that there are powerful push and pull factors that create and sustain the volume of unauthorized migration, that there is little evidence that undocumented migrants have negative labor market consequences despite what the general public thinks, that US policy has been largely powerless to make a permanent dent in undocumented immigration, and that the current level of clandestine US immigration may not be far from what society might view as socially optimal.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine leading contributions to network exchange theory and evolutionary models of collective action and assess how these and related developments may shape the future of rational choice theory and its place within sociology.
Abstract: There is increasing sociological interest in formal models of action driven by a calculus of expected utility. We believe these efforts to extend microeconomic models to extraeconomic exchange can benefit from specification of societal constraints on individual choice. One type of constraint locates the actor in an evolving network of social ties that limit opportunities for exchange. Another approach assumes that choices are influenced by unintended outcomes that operate behind the backs of the actors. Considerable progress has been made in the past two years incorporating social structure and unintended consequences into formal models based on individual choice optimization. We critically examine leading contributions to network exchange theory (part 1) and evolutionary models of collective action (part 2), and assess how these and related developments may shape the future of rational choice theory and its place within sociology.
TL;DR: This review emphasizes both the contingent nature of the Easterlin effect and the way in which conditions have changed in recent decades to reduce the salience of cohort size for social and demographic behavior.
Abstract: "The Easterlin effect posits cyclical changes in demographic and social behavior as the result of fluctuations in birth rates and cohort size during the post-World War II period.... The Easterlin effect has generated a large literature in the several decades since it was first proposed. Our review of the empirical studies notes the diversity of support across behaviors, time periods, and nations.... Our review emphasizes both the contingent nature of the Easterlin effect and the way in which conditions have changed in recent decades to reduce the salience of cohort size for social and demographic behavior."
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that there is now a large enough body of work seeking fundamentally to reorient the field of social attainment studies that it is useful to identify commonalities as well as distinctive features.
Abstract: Reviews of recent research on the transmission of socioeconomic advantage have decried the increasing “narrowness” of the field. This chapter focuses on an alternative proposition, namely, that there is now a large enough body of work seeking fundamentally to reorient the field of social attainment studies that it is useful to identify commonalities as well as distinctive features. Conceptualization and operationalization of “social structure” in recent stratification research is the point of departure. Special attention is given to contemporary efforts to formulate a new phenomenology of attainment. In light of the many connections that are illuminated when these diverse strands are brought together, it is worthwhile to review them within the same scope and to discuss the prospect that they will form into a single specialty area within sociology.
TL;DR: This article reviewed recent examples of sociological research that has sought to ground consciousness in cultural practices, in collective action, and in forms of social organization, drawing upon historical, ethnographic, and participant observation techniques.
Abstract: For much of the post war period in the United States, sociological research on class consciousness has tended to be limited to and by survey methods, with the result that class consciousness has been viewed as a static, individuated phenomenon, abstracted from social action and the context of class practices. However, in recent years a body of work has developed, often based upon the concept of class formation rather than the ideationally bound concept of class consciousness, that holds more promise. By drawing upon historical, ethnographic, and participant observation techniques, this work challenges conventional approaches and points toward promising new directions for future research. This article reviews recent examples of sociological research that has sought to ground consciousness in cultural practices, in collective action, and in forms of social organization.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the fortuitous incidents involved in their coming to this country and becoming a sociologist, which led to a book on exchange theory and a research program on bureaucracy, specifically of quantitative studies of various types of formal organizations.
Abstract: I introduce this memoir about my academic career by describing the fortuitous incidents involved in my coming to this country and becoming a sociologist. In graduate school my sociological orientation changed under the influence of Merton and Lazarsfeld from grand theories to systematic theory grounded in research. My dissertation was a field study of bureaucracy in terms of Weber’s theory, which led to a book on exchange theory. Next I collaborated with Duncan on a nationwide study of occupational achievement and mobility, for which I learned regression analysis, reluctantly at first, but later becoming converted to it. During the next decade I conducted a research program on bureaucracy, specifically of quantitative studies of various types of formal organizations, from which I developed a limited organizational theory. The limitations of this theory prompted me to construct a formal macrostructural theory of population structure’s influences on intergroup relations, which was subsequently tested in emp...
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TL;DR: In this article, Luhmann's concept of Medium/Form-relationship and the concept of pragmatics are combined with the notion of medium/form relationships to construct a semiology in terms of a series of relationships.
Abstract: Semiology and Speech Act Theory belong to different theoretical traditions. However, in order to understand human beings who can use language, both types of theories are required. In other words, both theories must be unified into a “theory of communication”.To solve this problem, the anther: (1)examines Luhmann's concept of Medium/Form-relationship, and (2)reconstructs semiology in terms of a series of these relationships.In the conclusion, the anther (3) combines these considerations with the conception of pragmatics.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A remarkable and sustained record of scholarly contributions, which can be divided into five interrelated periods differentiated by a combination of substantive emphases, methodological approaches, and time periods, is described in this article.
Abstract: Judith Blake was born and raised primarily in New York City; she received her BS degree magna cum laude from Columbia University in 1951 and her PhD in 1961. She had a remarkable and sustained record of scholarly contributions, which can be divided into five interrelated periods differentiated by a combination of substantive emphases, methodological approaches, and time periods. Blake was the founding Chair of the Group in Demography at the University of California, Berkeley, which became the first demography department in the United States. She subsequently was the first incumbent of the Fred N. Bixby Chair in Population Policy at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, with a joint appointment in sociology. Blake served on numerous university and professional committees and boards and was elected President of the Population Association of America in 1981, the association’s fiftieth anniversary. At the time of her death (1993), Blake was Editor of the Annual Review of So...