Showing papers in "Review of Sociology in 2016"
TL;DR: A survey of some of the most exciting computational approaches to text analysis, highlighting both supervised methods that extend old theories to new data and unsupervised techniques that discover hidden regularities worth theorizing.
Abstract: More of the social world lives within electronic text than ever before, from collective activity on the web, social media, and instant messaging to online transactions, government intelligence, and digitized libraries. This supply of text has elicited demand for natural language processing and machine learning tools to filter, search, and translate text into valuable data. We survey some of the most exciting computational approaches to text analysis, highlighting both supervised methods that extend old theories to new data and unsupervised techniques that discover hidden regularities worth theorizing. We then review recent research that uses these tools to develop social insight by exploring (a) collective attention and reasoning through the content of communication; (b) social relationships through the process of communication; and (c) social states, roles, and moves identified through heterogeneous signals within communication. We highlight social questions for which these advances could offer powerful ...
181 citations
TL;DR: The authors demonstrate that meanings attached to the nation vary within and across populations as well as over time, with important implications for microinteraction and for political beliefs and behavior, including support for exclusionary policies and authoritarian politics.
Abstract: Due to a preoccupation with periods of large-scale social change, nationalism research had long neglected everyday nationhood in contemporary democracies. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to shift the focus of this scholarly field toward the study of nationalism not only as a political project but also as a cognitive, affective, and discursive category deployed in daily practice. Integrating insights from work on banal and everyday nationalism, collective rituals, national identity, and commemorative struggles with survey-based findings from political psychology, I demonstrate that meanings attached to the nation vary within and across populations as well as over time, with important implications for microinteraction and for political beliefs and behavior, including support for exclusionary policies and authoritarian politics. I conclude by suggesting how new developments in methods of data collection and analysis can inform future research on this topic.
175 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviewed trends in the practice and study of research collaboration, focusing on journal publications in academic science and highlighted the increasing body of research that focuses instead on the possible costs of collaboration.
Abstract: This article reviews trends in the practice and study of research collaboration, focusing on journal publications in academic science. I briefly describe the different styles and types of collaboration and then focus on the drivers of the trend toward increased collaboration and on its consequences for both individual researchers and science more generally. Scholarship on collaboration seems partial to delineating its benefits; this review highlights the increasing body of research that focuses instead on the possible costs of collaboration. The synthesis reveals several topics that are ripe for investigation, including the impact of collaboration on the contributing authors and their work, the use of multiple methods and measures, and research integrity. I applaud a few recent efforts to overcome the perennial file-drawer problem by gaining access to collaborations that do not result in publication and thus are typically removed from public review and the research analyst's eye.
144 citations
TL;DR: The authors identified factors relating to students, families, schools, and educational systems that affect participation in supplementary education and discussed implications of this trend for educational stratification as well as challenges it creates for families and formal educational systems.
Abstract: Academically-focused learning activities beyond formal schooling are expanding in myriad forms throughout the world. This diverse realm of learning activities includes private supplementary education purchased by families such as private tutoring, online courses, cram schools, and learning center franchises. Some public schools also provide academically oriented after-school programs beyond their formal curricula. This review identifies factors relating to students, families, schools, and educational systems that affect participation in supplementary education. Macro forces are also related to the proliferation of learning activities outside of formal schooling. We discuss implications of this trend for educational stratification as well as challenges it creates for families and formal educational systems. Finally, we suggest promising new avenues for data collection and empirical research.
139 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors provide background on China's household registration system (hukou), which has been in existence since the late 1950s and continues to affect the life chances of Chinese people, and discuss research that has examined its causes, migration trends, the adaptation/assimilation of migrants in urban China, the well-being of migrant children, and migration's impact on rural China.
Abstract: During the last three decades, China has experienced the largest migration in human history. China's great migration has had transformative social, economic, and demographic consequences for China and the world. In this review, first I provide background on China's household registration system (hukou), which has been in existence since the late 1950s and continues to affect the life chances of Chinese people. Then I focus on the great migration by discussing research that has examined its causes, migration trends, the adaptation/assimilation of migrants in urban China, the well-being of migrant children, and migration's impact on rural China. Finally, I identify key areas for future research and argue that China's great migration holds major promise to contribute to the literature on migration studies.
95 citations
TL;DR: This article provided a review of recent research on socioeconomic attainment and intermarriage among Asian Americans as well as an overview of research on less studied but increasingly important indicators: residential outcomes, political participation, and mental health.
Abstract: Because of the generally high socioeconomic attainments and high intermarriage rates of Asian Americans, it has been suggested that Asian Americans are reaching parity with whites and are assimilating to mainstream American society. However, other research shows the continued significance of race for Asian Americans regardless of their socioeconomic status and levels of acculturation. This article provides a review of recent research on socioeconomic attainment and intermarriage among Asian Americans as well as an overview of research on less studied but increasingly important indicators: residential outcomes, political participation, and mental health. We argue that Asian Americans are assimilating but in ways that differ from their European predecessors. In this process, racial/ethnic boundaries between Asians and whites may be solidified rather than dissolved, thus maintaining the significance of race for Asian Americans. We suggest that a racialized assimilation framework may best characterize the exp...
84 citations
TL;DR: A comparative perspective and more expansive conceptualization of housing status is advocated as a means to build theory and evidence regarding the conditions under which housing exerts effects.
Abstract: Few sociologists treat housing as a key independent variable, despite the emergence of disparate bodies of research analyzing how housing affects outcomes that traditionally interest sociologists. Scholars across the social sciences have proposed and tested mechanisms whereby housing could shape subjective well-being, socioeconomic status, demography, and politics. We review the evidence for causal effects across these domains. Next, we make recommendations for research designs to advance this literature. Most studies only test effects of homeownership, and most are focused on the United States and Western Europe. The evidence for causation is often weak, although studies increasingly employ complex techniques for identifying effects. Throughout, we emphasize studies beyond the United States, and we conclude by discussing distinctive insights yielded by comparative research. We advocate for a comparative perspective and more expansive conceptualization of housing status as a means to build theory and evid...
74 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review adopts a historical approach, surveying findings on three protest cycles: gay liberation and lesbian feminism, queer activism, and marriage equality, highlighting the turning points that led to shifts in protest cycles and tracing the consequences for movement outcomes.
Abstract: Research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements has accelerated in recent years. We take stock of this literature with a focus on the United States. Our review adopts a historical approach, surveying findings on three protest cycles: gay liberation and lesbian feminism, queer activism, and marriage equality. Existing scholarship focuses primarily on oscillations of the movement's collective identity between emphasizing similarities to the heterosexual mainstream and celebrating differences. We contrast earlier movement cycles mobilized around difference with efforts to legalize same-sex marriage. Our review highlights the turning points that led to shifts in protest cycles, and we trace the consequences for movement outcomes. Scholarship will advance if researchers recognize the path-dependent nature of social movements and that sameness and difference are not oppositional, static, or discrete choices. We conclude by recommending directions for future research.
67 citations
TL;DR: This review examines current knowledge about inequality and bias in the health care system, including the epidemiology of such patterns and their underlying mechanisms, and frames the discussion within a modified social ecological model.
Abstract: It is widely assumed that the use of medical care will lead to improvements in health, yet questions remain about the medical system's contributions to health disparities. In this review, we examine these issues with a specific focus on how health care systems may actually generate or exacerbate health disparities. We review current knowledge about inequality and bias in the health care system, including the epidemiology of such patterns and their underlying mechanisms. Over the past three decades, we observe growth in our knowledge about provider cognitive and psychological processing, including the development of precision measuring tools to analyze provider bias, racial and otherwise. In the same timeframe we observe decreased emphasis on social, interactional, organizational, and structural factors that shape variation in medical treatment. We frame our discussion within a modified social ecological model and discuss tools for moving forward and reinvigorating sociological presence in this important r...
64 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that neither the sociology of religion nor political sociology adequately considers the role that inequality (especially race and class but also gender) play in religious affiliation (and nonaffiliation) and the context in which it matters and does not matter, and how this has changed over time.
Abstract: Sociologists have long acknowledged the importance of religion for American politics, especially for two groups of people: (a) (white) conservative Protestants, who are increasingly affiliated with the religious right, and (b) progressives, who are more and more disaffiliated from organized religion. However, a comprehensive statement of the ways in which religion matters for politics, the context in which it matters and does not matter, and how this has changed over time is lacking. Recent reviews acknowledge that at best, the relationship between religion and politics in the United States is “not straightforward” (Grzymala-Busse 2012, p. 427). We contend that this is primarily a result of the fact that neither the sociology of religion nor political sociology adequately considers the role that inequality (especially race and class but also gender) play in religious affiliation (and nonaffiliation). As a result, both fields have neglected to systematically examine the ways in which class and race may sha...
55 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review suggests that cross-border migration both constitutes a path to upward social mobility for migrants and tends to reinforce durable inequalities on a deeper level, and conversely, how the outcomes of migration affect social inequalities in global patterns of distribution and in life chances in the countries of emigration and of immigration.
Abstract: Cross-border migration is a visible reflection of global inequalities. Much literature deals with the link between migration and inequalities indirectly, often through topics such as migration and development or the integration of migrants. Surprisingly, little research addresses directly the role of social inequalities. This gap raises at least two major questions: First, how do social inequalities affect opportunities for cross-border migration for different socioeconomic groups? Second, conversely, how do the outcomes of migration affect social inequalities in global patterns of distribution and in life chances in the countries of emigration and of immigration? Of ultimate interest is whether migration buttresses the dominant forms of social stratification or transforms the distribution of valued goods in a fundamental way. Overall, this review suggests that cross-border migration both constitutes a path to upward social mobility for migrants and tends to reinforce durable inequalities on a deeper level.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the emerging scholarship that assesses Obama's impact on social and political life in the United States and suggest that the toxic political climate surrounding Obama is just another installment of a saga in which rapid social change is met with anxiety and anger by whites who perceive their way of life as being under threat.
Abstract: Race has rarely mattered more in US politics than it does now. The election of President Obama has laid bare the racial divisions that continue to fracture the United States. In this review, I explore the emerging scholarship that assesses Obama's impact on social and political life in the United States. I first examine the symbolic meaning of Obama's election to black and white citizens. Second, I analyze how racism has influenced whites' political behavior and policy preferences. Next, I examine how President Obama has influenced public policy. Then, I suggest that the toxic political climate surrounding Obama is just another installment of a saga in which rapid social change is met with anxiety and anger by some whites who perceive their way of life as being under threat. Finally, I illustrate how the “Obama effect” combines with the perceived “Latino threat” to affect whites' political behavior.
TL;DR: This article argues for a broader integration of genomic data into social inquiry through gene-by-environment research that deploys polygenic measures of genotype as a prism through which to refract and detect heterogenous treatment effects of plausibly exogenous environmental influences.
Abstract: Recent advances in molecular genetics have provided social scientists with new tools with which to explore human behavior. By deploying genomic analysis, we can now explore long-term patterns of human migration and mating, explore the biological aspects of important sociological outcomes such as educational attainment, and, most importantly, model gene-by-environment interaction effects. The intuition motivating much socio-genomic research is that to have a more complete understanding of social life, scholars must take into consideration both nature and nurture as well as their interplay. Most promising is gene-by-environment research that deploys polygenic measures of genotype as a prism through which to refract and detect heterogenous treatment effects of plausibly exogenous environmental influences. This article reviews much recent work in this vein and argues for a broader integration of genomic data into social inquiry.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show how higher education has been central to projects of nation building and social provision throughout the course of American political development and integrate recent scholarship by framing a political and historical sociology of the sector.
Abstract: US higher education has enjoyed growing attention from social scientists and historians. We integrate recent scholarship by framing a political and historical sociology of the sector. We show how higher education has been central to projects of nation building and social provision throughout the course of American political development. US higher education has three institutional configurations: an associational one, defined by voluntary intermural organizations; a national service one, defined by massive government patronage; and a market one, defined by competition for students, patrons, and prestige. Continuity and change over time may be understood with the theoretical tools of historical sociology: path dependence, coalescence, and robust action. Our review substantiates assertions of deep turbulence in US higher education at present and calls for a closer integration of scholarship on state building and social stratification to inform the future. [Erratum]
TL;DR: In this paper, an autobiographical review of the published research that I did over five decades of my academic life, from 1965 to 2015, highlights the common thread that brings together my intellectual project through a great diversity of topics: the quest for a grounded theory of power.
Abstract: This is an autobiographical review of the published research that I did over five decades of my academic life, from 1965 to 2015. It highlights the common thread that brings together my intellectual project through a great diversity of topics: the quest for a grounded theory of power. The review presents the gradual emergence of this theory without disguising the difficulties and contradictions in its development. I consider power relationships to be the foundational relationships of society in all domains. Here, I show how my research used this approach to study urban structure and spatial dynamics; the uses and consequences of information technologies; the process of globalization; the formation of a new social structure, the network society; and the interaction between communication and power in a digital environment. Finally, I propose a network theory of power in the network society, the society we are in.
TL;DR: A review of recent contributions to religious research in Latin America can be found in this paper, where the authors highlight the importance of the presence of indigenous and African religious beliefs in the region.
Abstract: This article critically reviews recent contributions to religious research in Latin America. Social scientists have long considered religion to be a structuring feature of culture and local society. Owing to the centrality of Catholicism in Latin America, early studies privileged the political influences of the Catholic Church with respect to the state and society at large. The “otherness” of native folk religions received less attention, with scholars undervaluing the presence of indigenous and African religiosities. In Latin America, religions are currently experiencing a diversification and reconfiguration, owing in part to the growing influence of different Christian denominations, particularly Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. Religious change is also occurring at the margins of institutional churches through New Age, neo-pagan, neo-Indian, neo-esoteric, and self-styled religiosities, as well as through popular religious syncretisms, indicating new experiments with what is considered sacred. This...
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the existing sociological research on a range of alternative family forms, focusing on older-parent, adoptive, same-sex, and multiracial families, and discussed the utility of an approach that views family characteristics in social context.
Abstract: This paper explores what it means to do a sociology of families, that is, one that acknowledges and considers a wider array of family forms than typically has been explored. We begin by reviewing the existing sociological research on a range of alternative family forms, ultimately focusing on older-parent, adoptive, same-sex, and multiracial families. We describe and critically assess four theoretical approaches to examining family forms—family structure, evolutionary, characteristics, and context—and their implications for children, and we discuss the utility of an approach that views family characteristics in social context. We also recommend that instead of using alternative family forms primarily or solely as counterfactuals to the so-called traditional family, researchers should compare alternative family forms to each other, noting theoretical implications for commonalities and differences found among these groups. We call for additional research on alternative families, noting its importance for so...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on three emerging trends affecting the nation's suburbs disproportionately: the suburbanization of poverty, the settlement of post-1965 immigrants in the suburbs, and the impact of reverse migration to the South on black suburbanization.
Abstract: The majority of Americans live and work in suburbs, but the social problems arising in these communities are rarely studied by sociologists. Far more scholarly attention is devoted to understanding the distinctive character of urban communities. This review directs attention to three emerging trends affecting the nation's suburbs disproportionately: the suburbanization of poverty, the settlement of post-1965 immigrants in the suburbs, and the impact of reverse migration to the South on black suburbanization. The review provides a critical discussion of the valuable contributions demographers have made to our general understanding of these trends, then it engages the work of ethnographers to assess the processes underlying these outcomes. These emerging trends constitute the basis for a robust research agenda rooted in the sociology of suburbs.
TL;DR: This article revisited and examined sociological research on urban Black Americans from the late nineteenth century to the present, focusing on the approaches, frameworks and sociological insights that emerged over this period, and examined this scholarship within two broad frames: the deficit frame and the asset frame.
Abstract: Beginning with W.E.B. Du Bois's The Philadelphia Negro and Ida B. Wells's Southern Horrors, this review revisits and examines sociological research on urban Black Americans from the late nineteenth century to the present. Focusing on the approaches, frameworks, and sociological insights that emerged over this period, we examine this scholarship within two broad frames: the deficit frame and the asset frame. The deficit frame includes scholarship emphasizing both the structures that negatively affect Black urban life (e.g., disappearance of work, residential segregation, poor education, urban poverty) and the cultural “deficits” that either are adaptations to those structural realities or (as some deficit scholars argue) are the cause of urban Black hardships. The asset frame includes scholarship focusing on the agency and cultural contributions of urban Black Americans. Detailing the historical origins and contemporary use of these frames, we demonstrate how the sociology of urban Black America remains a ...
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the main distributional effects of the Great Recession and the ways in which those effects have been organized into narratives, and pointed to opportunities for sociologists to better understand how the economy may be changing the economy as well as our narratives about its problems and dysfunct...
Abstract: We review the main distributional effects of the Great Recession and the ways in which those effects have been organized into narratives. The Great Recession may affect poverty, inequality, and other economic and noneconomic outcomes by changing individual-level behavior, encouraging the rise of new social movements or reviving older ones, motivating new economic policy and associated institutional change, or affecting the ideologies and frames through which labor markets and the key forces for economic change are viewed. The amount of sociological research within each of these areas is relatively small (compared with the amount contributed by other disciplines) and has focused disproportionately on monitoring trends or uncovering the causal effects of the Great Recession on individual-level behavior. We review this existing research and point to opportunities for sociologists to better understand how the Great Recession may be changing the economy as well as our narratives about its problems and dysfunct...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that more focused and disaggregated research focusing on different forms and contexts, rather than focusing on specific forms of corruption, is needed to understand the causal mechanisms involved.
Abstract: Corruption, in both the developing and the developed world, has been studied in many disciplines, especially economics and politics, but there is considerable scope for a sociological contribution. There has been a large body of cross-national research using indices of perceived corruption, but the clandestine nature of corruption makes it difficult to validate these indices. More fruitful are recent surveys, similar to crime victimization surveys, of respondents' experiences of being asked for a bribe. This research has found many regularities, but understanding of the causal mechanisms involved remains sketchy. Sociological concepts derived from exchange theory, and sociological variables such as Protestantism, generalized and particularistic trust, and educational level appear to be important predictors of national rates of corruption in the developed world, but the mechanisms are not well understood. We argue that more focused and disaggregated research focusing on different forms and contexts, rather...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe how the nature and extent of this power has changed over time in the United States: from the corporate titans of the early twentieth century to the bureaucratic organization men of the mid-twentieth century, to a new generation of dynamic, charismatic corporate leaders today.
Abstract: Corporate chief executive officers (CEOs) have occupied important positions of power in developed societies since the nineteenth century. In this article, we describe how the nature and extent of this power has changed over time in the United States: from the corporate titans of the early twentieth century, to the bureaucratic organization men of the mid-twentieth century, to a new generation of dynamic, charismatic corporate leaders today. We discuss how the shareholder value movement in the 1980s transformed the role of the CEO and how, paradoxically, as the CEOs' compensation increased, their autonomy declined, potentially reducing their ability to focus on the long-term concerns of their firms or the larger society. We review the literature on CEO compensation, tenure, and discretionary actions, including philanthropic contributions, research and development expenditures, and political action. We conclude with a discussion of the social responsibility of contemporary corporate leaders, while pointing ...
TL;DR: The authors presenta una revision critica de las contribuciones recientes de la investigación sobre religion en America Latina, e.g., a re...
Abstract: Este articulo presenta una revision critica de las contribuciones recientes de la investigacion sobre religion en America Latina. Por mucho tiempo, los cientistas sociales han considerado que la re...
TL;DR: In this paper, the Scanlon Foundation surveys have been conducted since 2007 to examine the extent of ethnic diversity in Australia and their effect on social cohesion, sense of belonging and social justice, attitudes to immigration and asylum seekers, levels of intolerance and multiculturalism.
Abstract: Overview This paper begins with a discussion of Australia’s immigration context and the extent of ethnic diversity in the country. Following a brief discussion of public opinion surveying in Australia it considers five main issues, based in large part on the findings of the Scanlon Foundation surveys, fifteen of which have been conducted since 2007, These issues are: social cohesion; sense of belonging and social justice; attitudes to immigration and asylum seekers; levels of intolerance; and multiculturalism.
TL;DR: This article examined coalition strategies and outcomes through a case study of an NGO network organization for advocacy over the Convention on Biological Diversity and found that "inclusive strategies", designed to promote various members' participation, lead to increased political influence but also limit the coalition's ability to systematize its work or focus effectively on specific activities.
Abstract: This paper examines coalition strategies and outcomes through a case study of an NGO network organization for advocacy over the Convention on Biological Diversity. Prior studies have not fully articulated the outcomes of coalitions and the roles of environmental advocacy movements. By analyzing the collective outcomes of a coalition’s diverse membership, this study finds that “inclusive strategies”, designed to promote various members’ participation, lead to increased political influence but also limit the coalition’s ability to systematize its work or focus effectively on specific activities. This reduced ability to focus and empower grass-roots members is consistent with existing concerns about the effectiveness of environmental advocacy movements.