Showing papers in "Review of Sociology in 2004"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define the knowledge economy as production and services based on knowledge intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolescence, and assess the distributional consequences of a knowledge-based economy with respect to growing inequality in wages and high-quality jobs.
Abstract: We define the knowledge economy as production and services based on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolescence. The key component of a knowledge economy is a greater reliance on intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources. We provide evidence drawn from patent data to document an upsurge in knowledge production and show that this expansion is driven by the emergence of new industries. We then review the contentious literature that assesses whether recent technological advances have raised productivity. We examine the debate over whether new forms of work that embody technological change have generated more worker autonomy or greater managerial control. Finally, we assess the distributional consequences of a knowledge-based economy with respect to growing inequality in wages and high-quality jobs.
1,603 citations
TL;DR: In recent years, the analysis and modeling of networks, and also networked dynamical systems, have been the subject of considerable interdisciplinary interest, yielding several hundred papers in physics, mathematics, computer science, biology, economics, and sociology journals as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In recent years, the analysis and modeling of networks, and also networked dynamical systems, have been the subject of considerable interdisciplinary interest, yielding several hundred papers in physics, mathematics, computer science, biology, economics, and sociology journals (Newman 2003c), as well as a number of books (Barabasi 2002, Buchanan 2002, Watts 2003). Here I review the major findings of this emerging field and discuss briefly their relationship with previous work in the social and mathematical sciences.
1,151 citations
TL;DR: The concept of values has been extensively studied in sociological work as discussed by the authors, with a focus on linking values with culture, social structure, and individual behavior, and identifying important research findings and suggest areas for future inquiry.
Abstract: Over the past decades, the concept of values has gone in and out of fashion within sociology. Relatively recent advances in both the conceptualization and measurement of values offer the potential for a reincorporation of values into sociological work. Sociologists often employ cursory understandings of values, imbuing values with too much determinism or viewing them as too individually subjective. The concept is employed sporadically in sociological subdisciplines. This review maps out the contours of the various approaches to linking values with culture, social structure, and individual behavior. We discuss theoretical and empirical approaches to values, organizing the broad literature to address three questions: (a) What are values? (b) Where do values come from? and (c) What do values do? We identify important research findings and suggest areas for future inquiry.
922 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a selection of panel studies appearing in the American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology between 1990 and 2003 shows that sociologists have been slow to capitalize on the advantages of panel data for controlling unobservables that threaten causal inference in observational studies.
Abstract: A selection of panel studies appearing in the American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology between 1990 and 2003 shows that sociologists have been slow to capitalize on the advantages of panel data for controlling unobservables that threaten causal inference in observational studies. This review emphasizes regression methods that capitalize on the strengths of panel data for consistently estimating causal parameters in models for metric outcomes when measured explanatory variables are correlated with unit-specific unobservables. Both static and dynamic models are treated. Among the major subjects are fixed versus random effects methods, Hausman tests, Hausman-Taylor models, and instrumental variables methods, including Arrelano-Bond and Anderson-Hsaio estimation for models with lagged endogenous variables.
885 citations
TL;DR: The production of culture perspective focuses on how the symbolic elements of culture are shaped by the systems within which they are created, distributed, evaluated, taught, and preserved as mentioned in this paper, and has been used in a wide range of research.
Abstract: The production of culture perspective focuses on how the symbolic elements of culture are shaped by the systems within which they are created, distributed, evaluated, taught, and preserved. After tracing the consolidation of the perspective in the late 1970s, we introduce six facets of production (technology, law and regulation, industry structure, organization structure, occupational careers, and market) and use them to theorize within the production perspective a wide range of research. Third, we show the utility of the facet model in coherently theorizing a research study based in a quite different perspective. Fourth, we explore the recent application of the production perspective in organizational research. Fifth, we outline the recent extension of the production perspective to autoproduction, the study of identity formation, and meaning in informal relations. Finally, we discuss criticisms of the perspective and suggest opportunities for research.
614 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the extant theories and recent findings concerning immigration, intermarriage, and multiracial identification, and consider the possibility that increased racial and ethnic diversity brought about by new immigration, rising intermarriage and patterns of multi-acial identification may be moving the nation far beyond the traditional and relatively persistent black/white color line.
Abstract: Over the past four decades, immigration has increased the racial and ethnic diversity in the United States. Once a mainly biracial society with a large white majority and relatively small black minority—and an impenetrable color line dividing these groups—the United States is now a society composed of multiple racial and ethnic groups. Along with increased immigration are rises in the rates of racial/ethnic intermarriage, which in turn have led to a sizeable and growing multiracial population. Currently, 1 in 40 persons identifies himself or herself as multiracial, and this figure could soar to 1 in 5 by the year 2050. Increased racial and ethnic diversity brought about by the new immigration, rising intermarriage, and patterns of multiracial identification may be moving the nation far beyond the traditional and relatively persistent black/white color line. In this chapter, we review the extant theories and recent findings concerning immigration, intermarriage, and multiracial identification, and consider...
503 citations
TL;DR: For the past half-century, the study of organizations has been an active area within sociology as mentioned in this paper, and the recent trends are changes in our conceptions of organization boundaries, strategies, and controls, and the beginning of a shift from an entity-based to a process-based view of organization.
Abstract: For the past half-century, the study of organizations has been an active area within sociology. I provide an overview of the emergence of this specialty during the second half of the twentieth century, its relation to the larger field of organization studies, and the important theoretical advances associated with the adoption of an open system framework during the 1960s. Among the recent trends I describe are changes in our conceptions of organization boundaries, strategies, and controls, and the beginning of a shift from an entity-based to a process-based view of organization. Evidence of success—the number of sociologists now employed in professional schools—simultaneously raises concerns about the source of future organizational sociologists.
422 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the nature of narrative explanations is explored as an alternative to the better established variable-centered explanations, where narratives are conceived as di-graphs where the nodes are states of the world and the arcs are actions (causes).
Abstract: The nature of narrative explanations is explored as an alternative to the better established variable-centered explanations. Narratives are conceived as di-graphs where the nodes are states of the world and the arcs are actions (causes). Comparative narratives are understood as mappings between di-graphs. Ethnographic and historical explanations, where the number of cases is small and causality complex, may depend upon a narrative depiction.
251 citations
TL;DR: The last decade has seen the emergence of a significant and growing literature concerning comparative-historical methods as discussed by the authors, which offers methodological tools for causal and descriptive inference that go beyond the techniques currently available in mainstream statistical analysis.
Abstract: The last decade featured the emergence of a significant and growing literature concerning comparative-historical methods. This literature offers methodological tools for causal and descriptive inference that go beyond the techniques currently available in mainstream statistical analysis. In terms of causal inference, new procedures exist for testing hypotheses about necessary and sufficient causes, and these procedures address the skepticism that mainstream methodologists may hold about necessary and sufficient causation. Likewise, new techniques are available for analyzing hypotheses that refer to complex temporal processes, including path-dependent sequences. In the area of descriptive inference, the comparative-historical literature offers important tools for concept analysis and for achieving measurement validity. Given these contributions, comparative-historical methods merit a central place within the general field of social science methodology.
249 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, three trends in the recent sociology of sexuality have been identified: the influence of globalization studies and the contributions of sociologists to understanding the role of sexuality in global processes.
Abstract: We identify three trends in the recent sociology of sexuality. First, we examine how queer theory has influenced many sociologists whose empirical work observes sexuality in areas generally thought to be asexual. These sociologists also elaborate queer theory's challenge to sexual dichotomizing and trace the workings of power through sexual categories. Second, we look at how sociologists bring sexuality into conversation with the black feminist notion of “intersectionality” by examining the nature and effects of sexuality among multiple and intersecting systems of identity and oppression. A third trend in the sociology of sexuality has been to explore the relationships between sexuality and political economy in light of recent market transformations. In examining these trends, we observe the influence of globalization studies and the contributions of sociologists to understanding the role of sexuality in global processes. We conclude with the contributions sociologists of sexuality make toward understandi...
210 citations
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TL;DR: The authors reviewed recent literature on low-income fathers, including the transition to fatherhood for young unmarried fathers and levels of father involvement among married, cohabiting, and nonresident low income fathers.
Abstract: This article reviews recent literature on low-income fathers, including the transition to fatherhood for young unmarried fathers and levels of father involvement among married, cohabiting, and nonresident low-income fathers. I discuss predictors of father involvement as well as available evidence concerning their effects on children's well-being. Although mounting qualitative evidence argues that unmarried low-income men may be more favorably disposed to fatherhood than previously recognized and that such intentions may greatly influence subsequent fathering behavior, studies of fertility intention remain largely separate from those of father involvement. I propose that subsequent research should also pay greater attention to the effects of fatherhood on low-income men.
TL;DR: The authors examine three distinct approaches: a post-hermeneutic approach devoted not to the question of cultural interpretation but to the issue of subjects' manipulation of culture in the quest for meaning; a semiotic approach focused on the mechanics of symbol systems; and an ecological approach that emphasizes the role of competition and niche density in explaining both cultural stasis and change.
Abstract: This paper examines recent work in the sociology of culture devoted to providing endogenous explanations of cultural phenomena. The focus is on works that provide cultural explanations of cultural processes, as opposed to the social structural and “production of culture” explanations otherwise predominant in the literature. I examine three distinct approaches: a “post-hermeneutic” approach devoted not to the question of cultural interpretation but to the issue of subjects' manipulation of culture in the quest for meaning; a semiotic approach focused on the mechanics of symbol systems; and an ecological approach that emphasizes the role of competition and niche density in explaining both cultural stasis and change. The three approaches have in common a general lack of interest in traditional conceptions of meaning (verstehen), choosing instead to focus on issues related to the internal structure and dynamics of cultural expression. This marks a new opportunity for synthesis and exploration in a field tradi...
TL;DR: This paper reviewed three distinct literatures that take the relationship between labor markets and geographic space as a central concern, in particular: (a) the research on race and spatial mismatch; (b) the literature on gender, space, and labor markets; and (c) the work on the spatial agglomeration of employers and its relationship to workers' careers and economic growth.
Abstract: A common claim in the economic, geographic, and sociological literatures on labor markets is that space “matters” for labor market outcomes. We review three distinct literatures that take the relationship between labor markets and geographic space as a central concern, in particular: (a) the research on race and spatial mismatch; (b) the literature on gender, space, and labor markets; and (c) the research on the spatial agglomeration of employers and its relationship to workers' careers and economic growth. Our goal in this review is to shed light on the key mechanisms by which spatial factors might work in the context of the labor market. Despite taking contrasting positions—for some of these discussions, the emphasis is on space as a constraining factor, whereas for others space is primarily a facilitator of labor market transactions—the issue of social networks emerges as an important theoretical thread across all these literatures. We conclude by considering the implications of this mechanism and sugg...
TL;DR: In this article, five dimensions of property are discussed: the objects of property (what can be owned), the subjects of property, who can own, the uses of property and the enforcement of rights (how property rules are maintained).
Abstract: Property rights matter for their effects on economic inequality and economic performance, and they unfold at the intersection of law, the state, politics, and the economy. Five dimensions of property are discussed: the objects of property (what can be owned), the subjects of property (who can own), the uses of property (what can be done with it), the enforcement of rights (how property rules are maintained), and the transfer of property (how property moves between different owners). We offer examples of how property rights systems vary along these dimensions and how they change over time. We illustrate the arguments with two contemporary empirical cases: the transition economies of Eastern and Central Europe, Russia, and China, and the transformation of intellectual property rights.
TL;DR: A review and critical evaluation of the literature that examines factors influencing criminalization can be found in this paper, where the authors examine three streams of inquiry and theorizing: (a) classic work that has shaped decades of scholarship on criminalization by focusing on the relationship between demographic changes, material and symbolic politics, and the emergence of criminal law; (b) contemporary work that unpacks the nature of the relationships between organizational, social movement, and state-related factors that structure and mediate the outcome of definitional and political processes involved in efforts to criminalize elements of social life
Abstract: Organizing scholarship both chronologically and thematically, this article provides a review and critical evaluation of the literature that examines factors influencing criminalization. The first part of the paper examines three streams of inquiry and theorizing: (a) classic work that has shaped decades of scholarship on criminalization by focusing on the relationship between demographic changes, material and symbolic politics, and the emergence of criminal law; (b) contemporary work that unpacks the nature of the relationship between organizational, social movement, and state-related factors that structure and mediate the outcome of definitional and political processes involved in efforts to criminalize elements of social life; and (c) more recent work that envisions criminalization as a social process intimately connected to, and indeed arguably derivative of, larger processes of institutionalization, globalization, and modernization. The discussion and conclusion section summarizes the consequences of ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the changing social institution of employers-ponsored pensions within the framework of the sociology of risk and discuss the implications of these changes for future research on life course and retirement.
Abstract: This paper considers the changing social institution of employersponsored pensions within the framework of the sociology of risk. Employer-sponsored pensions are elements of a variable and changing occupational welfare system in which the risk and responsibilities for retirement income security have shifted from employer to worker through the expanding role of third-party vendors (insurers). Risk processes can be identified at the employer, insurer, family, and individual levels. This system can be conceptualized as a hierarchy of risk that begins at the organizational level with employer sponsorship of alternative pension plans and extends to the allocation of workers across pension jobs, to worker decisions regarding pension participation and investment of funds, and to final pension balances. Embedded in this multi-level risk system are gender differences that further stratify the aging workforce. We discuss the implications of these changes for future research on life course and retirement and recomme...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the importance of social networks based on trust and loyalty for the economic and social survival of the middle class in Chile and compare it to the informal economy in the former Soviet Union and, finally, drawing from literature on post-socialist societies, they discuss the role of trust-based networks in the transition to a market economy.
Abstract: In this study we will attempt to show that trust is a cultural concept that should be ethnographically described, as its meaning varies according to the culture of each society and in every particular situation. Trust is a central component of social solidarity and the cement used to produce cohesion within the social networks composing the structure of society. Social networks based on trust might allow individuals to cope with the imperfections of a given socioeconomic system (state or market dominated), but they might also serve to erode the institutional framework of states by facilitating less desirable transactions (corruption). Hence, social networks may have positive connotations for those who benefit from having social networks or negative consequences both for individuals that lack such networks and for the formal institutions of society. To understand the complex variations in the construction and political impact of these social networks we analyze its role in the informal economy of three different socioeconomic systems. Following our previous studies, (Lomnitz 1971; 1988) we will discuss the importance of social networks based on trust and loyalty for the economic and social survival of the middle class in Chile. We will compare it to the informal economy in the former Soviet Union and, finally, drawing from literature on post-socialist societies, we will discuss the role of social networks in the transition to a market economy. In Latin America social networks have become the means on which informal activities take place allowing the poor to survive physically and the middle and upper classes to maintain their social status and privileges. In communism, the use of personal connections (social networks) has been recognized as a central strategy to satisfy shortages derived from the inefficiencies of the system, and as an important legacy with tremendous consequences for the post-socialist regimes that followed. In this article, we attempt to show the universality and persistence of trust-based networks as well as its socio-cultural embeddedness and the ambivalent consequences they have on state and society.
TL;DR: In this paper, a review concludes that the Durkheimian theory of the social origin of mind has little empirical support and suggests that the sociology of mental life needs to be radically retheorized.
Abstract: Durkheim hypothesized that basic categories of thought are based on society as their model, and that these mental representations arise from participation in society's totemic rites. This proposition is evaluated in light of recent research on the cognitive architecture of newborns and infants. The evidence suggests that presocialized infants possess mental representations of not only the physical world but also the minds of others and even the sui generis quality of collectivities. This review concludes that the Durkheimian theory of the social origin of mind has little empirical support and suggests that the sociology of mental life needs to be radically retheorized.
TL;DR: The authors empirically tested the proposition that because of the unequal social distribution of politically relevant resources, some groups of citizens may be less successful in expressing their specifically political preferences in the vote than others.
Abstract: The paper empirically tests the proposition that because of the unequal social distribution of politically relevant resources, some groups of citizens may be less successful in expressing their specifically political preferences in the vote than others. Hence, the electoral arena may give different people different degrees of political influence even when the formal equality of all citizens before the law is rigorously upheld in the electoral process. The first part of the paper (published in the previous issue of this journal) explored the assumptions behind the proposition itself and the further assumptions that need to be made in order to test it empirically. The second part of the paper offers an empirical test. Survey data on voting behavior in 18 democratic party systems from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and Larry Bartels's (1996) simulation procedure - now extended to the analysis of multiparty-systems, turnout effects and non-linear information effects on the vote - are utilized to e...
TL;DR: It is found that using the Internet does not reduce the level of individuals' social skills, and among users and non-users hailing from the same social background the users time and time again have higher sociability indices, that rise in line with their time spent on the net.
Abstract: While there is a common vision and fear of the Internet being the uniting medium of millions of isolated users, many studies reveal that Internet has a growing role in interpersonal communication, spending spare-time, performing work and utilizing various services. All this raises, with good reason, the question of how the Internet affects social contacts and social capital. We have analyzed the data originating from the Hungarian panel-research (TARKI-ITTK) of the second year of the World Internet Project, and have foundthat using the Internet does not reduce the level of individuals' social skills. On the contrary, we have concluded that among users and non-users hailing from the same social background (age, gender and status) the users time and time again have higher sociability indices, that, in addition, rise in line with their time spent on the net. Results are encouraging in respect of users with low social capital, as the Internet seems to enable them to increase their social networks and social capital .However, to explain these findings, we still do have to research for the right answers.
TL;DR: In this paper, an alternative model of change with multiple pathways is proposed that utilizes optimal matching analysis of sequences to identify typical firm ownership careers, which provides the opportunity to reinterpret the concept of transition, and opens the opportunity for asking new research questions.
Abstract: Post-socialism is typically framed as a transition, and represented by an a-temporal, unilinear and teleological model of social change. This paper evaluates transition models using firm level event data of ownership changes. I argue that the temporal structure of transition models is insufficiently simple and has a very limited explanatory power when contrasted with event data. The poor fit of transition models is due to the depiction of changes as a single process, answering the question of "what has happened" by constructing a giant transition event. An alternative model of change with multiple pathways is proposed that utilizes optimal matching analysis of sequences to identify typical firm ownership careers. I also argue that a multiple process model is not only fitting better to the data but it provides the opportunity to reinterpret the concept of transition, and opens the opportunity to ask new research questions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the digital divide concerning computer literacy in Hungary and examined the differences of computer literacy of people with different social-demographic characteristics (gender, settlement type, education, labor market presence and income).
Abstract: The study investigates the digital divide concerning computer literacy in Hungary. It examines the differences of computer literacy of people with different social-demographic characteristics (gender, settlement type, education, labor market presence and income). It also investigates the intentions to learn computer skills. In this respect, smaller differences have been found then in the case of actual knowledge, which predicts the narrowing down of digital divide in the future. An attempt has been made to identify the institutional, technical and primordial conditions in everyday life that may influence both computer literacy and inclination to master the computer, and hence may function as “bridges” over the digital divide. Four of these factors have been studied: access to computers at the workplace, public internet access at the settlement, communication via cellular phone and effect of the family members' ITC knowledge. Statistical analysis and in-depth interviews were used as methods of examination....
TL;DR: Social sensitivity is the most important merit of the social elite, the leading stratum as mentioned in this paper, and it is common judgment that social sensitivity is not manifest in relation to the society as a whole, but towards individuals who have got into a disadvantageous position in the distribution of social opportunities, who had got to the bottom, or at least below us in the specific cases, who are "in poverty", "in need", who are poor, of "lowly position" first and foremost.
Abstract: 1. It is common judgment that social sensitivity is the most important merit of the social elite, the leading stratum. It is particularly heard in the form suggesting that the new generation, the future elite, the prospective leaders are to be educated to have more social sensitivity than the quantity the old leading stratum used to possess. In general what is meant is that it is the greater social sensitivity of the leading stratum that is the precondition of, as well as suitable instrument for the proper and successful solution of social problems and crises. The thesis sounds so simple and taken for granted that its truth can hardly be challenged at first sight. If those people are understood under the term ‘elite’ in whom the aims of the community are consciously shaped, and social sensitivity stands for the proper sense of the life and interests of the community, then it can hardly be doubted that social sensitivity is truly the most important merit of the elite. It is, however, not only the proper meaning of a common judgment that is of great significance, but its mistaken one as well. Therefore it is worth studying what society rightly or wrongly understands under the statement, when it is heard or voiced. When the public understanding of the elite’s social tasks is studied it should be noted at first sight that neither the elite, nor social sensitivity refers to the same notions called elite and social sensitivity in the above brief, but theoretically well-considered wording. Common understanding, when it refers to the social sensitivity of the elite, does not consider the elite as a collection of the most valuable members of the society, but simply those who obviously belong to the leading stratum of the society as a result of their social position in the given social order. The same common understanding does not mean a sensitivity towards the order, life and interests of the community, an ability to properly coordinate social action, to recognize phenomena violating social order, harmony and justice, an inclination towards setting an example for the community, making sacrifices and taking up roles, in brief and simply: not sociability, but a far narrower phenomenon. According to this common understanding social sensibility is not manifest in relation to the society as a whole, but towards individuals who have got into a disadvantageous position in the distribution of social opportunities, who have got to the bottom, or at least below us in the specific cases, who are ‘in poverty’, ‘in need’, who are ‘poor’, of ‘lowly position’ first and foremost.
TL;DR: Erdei's seminal work as mentioned in this paper was published in 1942 and is considered a classic work on the Hungarian peasantry, on the peasant population of Central Eastern Europe, unknown in international literature a classical one.
Abstract: The monograph, an excerpt of which is hereby translated, was published in 1942. The Hungarian history of sociology considers this work on the peasantry, on the peasant population of Central Eastern Europe, unknown in international literature a classical one and rightly so in our view. The destiny of the work is explained by not accidental events: the career of the author is an irregular one, just as the circumstances of the writing of the work were also irregular. In a brief introduction one can only indicate some factors constituting the basis of our statement. As a consequence of belated social development and modernization the institutionalization of sociology was also belated in Hungary, and speeded up only in the 60s of the twentieth century. Ferenc Erdei could not prepare himself for the role of a social scientist in institutionalized academic workshops and is socialization also took place along patterns that had been left behind in the developed bourgeois societies. He studied at the Faculty of Law of the Szeged University of Sciences (1930-1934), where his friendship with Istvan Bibo developed, and though their paths separated later, they exercised a strong influence on each other. During his studies he periodically worked in his market gardener father's farm producing onions at the nearby Mako, a town of dynamical bourgeois development. The location of his summer recreation and also one of his fieldworks was the native village of his mother, Kiralyhegyes, "constituting a closed world" and cultivating along conservative patterns. The difference between the two settlements was conspicuous, and justly served as the subject of his early works (Kiralyhegyes muvelodesi-gazdasagi es tarsadalmi rajza (Description of the Culture, Economy and Society of Kiralyhegyes), 1931); (Makoi parasztsag tarsadalomrajza (The Social Image of the Mako Peasantry), 1934). The problem he faced, and that is the topic of the work, or its excerpt as well, was the belatedness of the development of the Hungarian peasantry. Erdei, using his own expression, sensed the metamorphosis of peasantry, and experienced this transformation as the crisis of peasant communities and values, while he was in quest of the ways of renewal for these communities. His study tour to the West and his more profound study of literature on social science made him realize that the processes were irreversible: overcoming belatedness could be ensured only by the bourgeois transformation, and urbanization of the forms of economic activity and of settlements of the nature of estates. At first he utilized the set of instruments of social description (sociography), but it was precisely the complexity of the processes thus described (Futohomok (Quicksand), 1936) convinced him that the colorful set of problems branching off in many directions could not be represented without clear-cut concepts and a proper foundation by social theory. For there have been no pure types: the forms of settlement and economic activity of a conservative nature of the
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that what is lacking and what is needed is some clear notion of the relation between studying the activities of participants and the study of social problems as such.
Abstract: In 1977, Malcom Spector and John I. Kitsuse proposed for the study of the social problems focus on the activities of participants, which is well-known as “claims-making activities”. They also contended that social problems are to be conceived of as a topic for the sociological study in themselves. Although the focus on the activities is a significant proposal, with respect of the latter point, however, their proposal taken literally tends to deflecting attention from social problems as such. My contention is that what is lacking and what is needed is some clear notion of the relation between studying the activities of participants and the study of social problems as such. In addition, I tentatively sketch one possible notion of such relations.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a model of the eLearner in the first decade of the new millennium is presented, which is similar to, and at the same time, very different from those we encounter in the classrooms of today.
Abstract: The topic of my talk is to envisage a model of the eLearner in the first decade of the new millennium. This “digital student” is similar to, and, at the same time, very different from those we encounter in the classrooms of today. In order to share my vision with you, it must be clarified whom we will teach, what we should teach, how we may teach and in what way policy makers can pave the way for the eLearners, young and old, towards digital literacy.
TL;DR: The SPSS program package has become the most frequently used tool of multivariate statistical analysis in social science research, in experimental psychology, in market, media and public opinion polls, and even in the field of medical analyses.
Abstract: Multivariate statistical analysis is a relatively new branch of science, the bulk of its theoretical apparatus was elaborated about two generations ago. By now it has been revealed that there is no use speaking separately about the methods of sociometry, psychometry, quantitative market research, biometry and technometry, for whichever method has proved to be good in one area can be used in another one, whereas whichever method proved to be a fad at the implementation in one field, would presumably be useless in the others as well. A universal auxiliary science has evolved and its spread has been greatly promoted by computer technology: while 15 to 20 years ago even leading researchers could have access with difficulty to analytical software running mostly on big computers, by now surveys by questionnaire, extending to over even tens of thousands of respondents, can be analyzed on a multitude of computers of universities, research establishments and of students even in Hungary. During the past one and half decades the SPSS program package has overcome its competitors in Hungary, and it has become the most frequently used tool of multivariate statistical analysis in social science research, in experimental psychology, in market, media and public opinion polls, and even in the field of medical analyses. It is not only the answers of individuals or households that are recorded in the SPSS files. Economic research is also often based on questioning of thousands of companies, and political science draws from surveys covering hundreds of local governments, and currently most people use this software. Though in the workshops processing empirical surveys and experimental data generally specific internal professional jargons have developed and it frequently separates otherwise nearby areas from each other. Under these conditions the methods standardized by the SPSS and the SPSS files sent to each other function as interpreters between the various educational, research, and counseling institutions. Success was enhanced by the early recognition of the makers of the software that even the earlier versions had applied a far wider set of analytical tools and had offered many more statistical services than an average researcher would need. Therefore the subsequent versions of the past years have primarily, though not exclusively moved ahead in the direction of making their use increasingly user-friendly and their handling Windows-compatible.
TL;DR: The sociological research of the Information Age is based on log-ins of individuals, which provides unlimited opportunities to store and retrieve data in datawarehouses as mentioned in this paper, as a consequence examination and analysis of real time data of real populations becomes possible.
Abstract: Two paradigms of sociological research are compared. Based on classic methods of data collection such as observation, representative sample taking and experimentation sociological research preceding the Information Age was to identify laws of society and sociologists were keen to serve emancipatory interests. Social researchers were driven by the faith in "good society". Sociological research of the Information Age are based on log-ins of individuals which provides unlimited opportunities to store and retrieve data in datawarehouses. As a consequence examination and analysis of real time data of real populations becomes possible. Due to a direct contact with real social processes profound change in the nature of sociological research and theory building is predicted. Two applications of the new type of sociological research are presented in the article.
TL;DR: In this article, a new approach to explicate the relation between interaction and its setting, especially for classroom studies, is proposed. But, it is not clear how to apply this approach in the real world.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to suggest a new approach to explicate the relation between interaction and its setting, especially for classroom studies. First, we introduce H. Mehan's studies about classroom organization as a typical argument and a comprehensive policy about approach for ‘institutional settings’. Second, we outline how J. Heap sees the perspective of Mehan's studies as a defective one, and show that the arguments have a point in common with S. Hester & D. Francis' criticism of the comprehensive policy. Third, we show how Heap develops the perspective of Mehan, and suggest the development as a ‘new approach’ that overcomes these defects. Then, we can recognize the significance of the ‘new approach’ for explicating classroom.