Showing papers in "Social Science Information in 1970"

The Berber house or the world reversed

Abstract: rooms. Upon the dividing wall are kept, at one end, the small clay jars or esparto-grass baskets in which provisions awaiting immediate consumption, such as figs, flour and leguminous plants, are conserved, at the other end, near the door, the water-jars. Above the stable there is a loft where, next to all kinds of tools and implements, quantities of straw and hay to be used as animal-fodder are piled up; it is here that the women and children usually sleep, particularly in winter 1. Against the gable wall, known as the wall (or, more exactly, the &dquo;side&dquo;) of the upper part or of the kanun, there is set a brick-work construction in the recesses and holes of which are kept the kitchen utensils (ladle, cooking-pot, dish used to cook the bannock, and other earthenware objects blackened by the fire) and at each end of which

Competitive and aggressive behavior

Abstract: The current popularity of animal behaviorists comes in good part from the comfort and assurance their discoveries offer to humanity. It is, after all, comforting to think that our sins are only animal sins (original sin if you wish) and that we are no more than naked apes momentarily disoriented by our jerry-built civilization. We want to believe that the beastliness in human nature is beastliness in the primordial sense and not some dark angelic flaw, to trust that we have not escaped so far from our ancestral genes to be due for an early extinction. Perhaps all that is needed, the popular exponents of ethology seem to be saying, is to understand the adaptedness of our behavior and to learn to operate within its constraints. These writers Robert Ardrey (1961), Konrad Lorenz (1966), Desmond Morris (1967), Anthony Storr (1968), and others speak of territorial and aggressive instincts which long ago originated as stereotyped, strictly inherited behavioral repertories in our primate ancestors. The instincts are said to survive today in man in slightly abated and more diffuse form, hedged in by social conventions that tend to minimize their overt effects. Of course nothing so starkly Darwinian could go unchallenged for very long. The contrary view has been argued by those of liberal humanist persuasion, such as Edmund Leach (1968) and Ashley Montagu (1965), and also by animal behaviorists with experience in the raw source material, including S. A. Barnett (1967) and Peter Klopfer (1968). These critics declare that there are no such things as unitary instincts, or drives, that persist through phylogenetic lineages as do vertebrae and eardrums. They point out that territorial behavior and aggression are not universal in lower animals and that when such traits do occur they are expressed in myriad ways, performing functions that shift subtly from species to species. They condemn as facile

Spacing mechanisms in social behavior

Abstract: Social relations and spatial arrangement of animals are connected in many ways. Societies, for example, use space as the safest technique of regulating social interactions. Incompatible individuals can live tolerably at a great distance from each other. On the other hand, evolution makes individuals incompatible when a great distance between them is desirable for other than social reasons. Ecological pressures thus can realize certain advantageous spatial arrangements in a population by means of social afhnities and antagonisms (Wynne-Edwards, 1962). In general, social affinity and spatial proximity are so highly correlated that the distribution of animals in space can be used as a first reading of their social structure. An ideal aerial photograph of a population would show whether its members adhere to a solitary life, whether they live in pairs, or in large groups. Even within the group, afhnities are revealed by spatial arrangements (Carpenter, 1964; McBride, James and Shoffner, 1963; Kummer, 1968). Social life uses space for its own purposes, but it has not the only claim

Environmental disruption: General issues and methodological problems:

Abstract: Since the task of presenting the opening statement to this international symposium has been assigned to me, I should like to preface my paper by one or two introductory observations. I consider it as particularly appropriate that this first international symposium on the disruption and possible destruction of man’s environment takes place in a country that had to endure the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Moreover, Japan today has one of the most rapid rates of industrialization and of economic development with all its disruptive consequences on the environment. This is another reason which makes the choice of Tokyo as the geographical site for this international discussion of a world-wide problem highly appropriate. ’

Carriere scientifique, morale scientifique et vulgarisation:

Abstract: aux mois de janvier et fdvrier 1967 a portd sur un dchantillon de 200 scientifiques, 103 physiciens et 97 biologistes appartenant a la recherche et A 1’enseignement sup6ricur a Paris et dans la region parisienne; il s’agissait essentiellement de scientifiques attach6s A des laboratoires du secteur public dependant des Facult6s des Sciences de Paris et d’Orsay ou des organismes suivants : Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Coll~ge de France, Ecole Normale Supdrieure, École Polytechnique, Institut Pasteur, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, etc. Cet echantillon a dt6 obtenu par tirage au hasard a partir de la liste des ilecteurs du Comitd National de la Recherche Scientifique (publiée dans le Bulletin officiel de 1’Education Nationale de novembre 1966) qui regroupe tous les enseignants de facult6s et

Sources of cooperation in animals and man

Abstract: The current public and academic fascination with the implications of animal behavior research for an understanding of human society is in part a consequence of an extraordinary neglect of man’s biological roots by social scientists. After vigorously establishing the autonomy of social anthropology, sociology, and other related disciplines the practitioners of these subjects are at last considering the impact of Darwin’s thought on humanity as a whole.

The cultural animal

Abstract: Primitive mythologies testify to the enduring fascination of man with the problem of his own relationship to the natural world. For Homo is burdened with being sapiens, and one thing this sapientia drives him to is a ceaseless and almost passionate enquiry about his status what T. H. Huxley aptly called An enquiry iiito’ma-n&dquo;s place in nature. And like Darwin and Huxley, the primitive seeks an answer to the eternal paradox: We are obviously part of nature, and in particular we are part of the animal world, and yet we are set apart from nature by the very fact of knowing that we are part of it. Not only does no other animal know it is going to die, but no other animal knows it is alive in any sense in which we would normally use the word &dquo;know&dquo;.

A strategy for research and social change in industry: A report on the Industrial Democracy Project in Norway

Abstract: This section which we opened ill tlre February issue features articles which, through their use of concepts and data, enhance our knowledge of the workings of the social sciences irt different socia-economic and political contexts and at different stages of development. Our purpose is to help in the shaping of the scientific perspectives at present lacking in this new field. Priority is given to contributions based on fresh enipirical data and to comparative studies. In addition to articles, the section includes bibliograplries, notes on ojz. going and projected research and review symposia. Readers are invit. ed to submit articles or provide ir formation about ii’ork in the field. La section que 1101lS avons ollverte dalls le 11uméro de fbrier est consacrie à des articles qui, par 1’emploi des concepts et [’utilisation des données permettellt d’approfondir notre conllaissance des Yiijcanisnies effoizetions propres aux sciences sociales dans divers contextes socio-éc0110-

Developments in data analysis systems for the social sciences

Abstract: program packages, collections, or systems (not to mention hundreds of individual programs) have emerged by now and are in use by social scientists at universities and research centers all across the country. It is probably safe to say that the bulk of these systems and programs represent the individual efforts of a small group working at one institution, often operating under a relatively restricted set of research and computing assumptions. This parochial tendency has left students and researchers with the often bewildering and always time-consuming problem of learning new procedures for processing their data each time they change institutions (or each time the institution changes computers). ’ ’

An emergent professional community: French and English sociologists and anthropologists in Canada:

Abstract: In addition to articles, the section includes bibliographies, notes on ongoing and projected research and review symposia. Readers are invited to submit articles or provide information about work in the field. La section que nous arons ouverte dans le numiro de février est coiisacrie à des articles qui, par 1’eniploi des concepts et l’utilisation des données, permettent d’approfondir notre connaissance des micanisnies et fonctions propres aux sciences sociales dans divers contextes socio-econonriques et politiques, et dans difJérentes phases de développement. Notre but est de contribuer à la difinition des perspec°

Innovative supply: A weak point in economic development theory

Abstract: Research on the Tliird World over the past twenty years provides us with numerous examples of failures. On the one hand, of failures in analysis due to indiscriminate transfer of methods and research techniques and of attempts to squeeze new phenomena into the strait jacket of theories, elaborated in other socioeconorrtic and historical contexts. On the other hand, hasty attempts to be different at all costs have often led to an overera:phasis of the specificity of Third World problenas. Under such circumstances it would prove useful to inquire to what extent research on developing countries has fostered methodological and theoretical progress in different fields of the social sciences. Articles on the subject have. been requested from specialists in various disciplines, who have had particular experience in the field, or have a special interest in it. We continue tlre discussion, opened in the June 1969 issue. LS. La recherclre des VÎ11gt dernières annies sur le Tiers Monde oJj&dquo;re de l10mhreux exeniples d’ichecs. Des

Neurological aspects of social behavior

Abstract: man since he has obtained his present bodily form, which is a period of about 100 000 years. Observing the evolution of the human lineage since it diverged from that of the apes (perhaps about 10 million years) would require ten months. The evolutionary course of such families as those of the cat, dog, and horse (35 to 55 million years) would take 3I/2 to 5 % years, whereas almost a lifetime would be necessary to follow a documentation of the entire fossil record, which represents a history of about 600 million years. Seeing the entire course of evolution on the screen would take us 250 to 400 years (Stebbins, 1966). More than 500 million years ago the first vertebrates appeared, about 300 million years ago the reptiles evolved, and for the first mammals to emerge required another 100 million years. The enormous structural changes in the nervous systems which were necessary for each of these steps in evolution to occur from the early reptilian to the mammalian brain are striking. Even more impressive changes over

Modeling opinion responsiveness to daily news: The public and Lyndon Johnson 1965-1968

Abstract: a long period of time 1. While the overall time trend indicates a responsiveness to the developing situation, we have little understanding of the factors behind the short term changes from which the overall time trend emerges. By looking at the news events preceding each poll we have attempted to explore alternative models of American opinion responsiveness during this period. Inasmuch as the opinion polls show a .70 to .90 negative correlation with time, it may seem curious that we have attempted to examine the data in more detail. Given that we so rarely account for this much of the variance in the social sciences, we perhaps should not push our good fortune further. There is no shortage of variables that can relate to the overall time trends during this period. Milstein (1969) has demonstrated how a number of Viet Nam War indices show similar time trends. Regarding the small responses, however, we. lack a theory of exactly how the public is attuned to the events during the period. Here we report the explorations made toward . developing such a theory. To facilitate such explorations, our procedures have utilized a time-shared

Urban typologies and political outputs : Causal models using discrete variables and orthogonal factors, or precise distortion versus model muddling:

Abstract: One of the classic debates in the history of science turns around the proper role of typologies in the development of theory. While in principle it may be apparent that the very existence of a reasoned typology ought to imply a set of interrelated propositions, and the associated conditions under which they hold that is, a theory not a few observers have been convinced that in practice typological construction often distracts attention from the formulation of more explicit, more powerful, and more precise propositions. Concern for such issues as the relationships between typologies and propositions, it hardly need be mentioned, has also been more acute in the social sciences and parts of the biological sciences than in the physical sciences. Correspondingly, the social scientist has often been more concerned with explicit consideration of alternate paths to theory construction than his colleagues in the physical sciences with the result that social scientists may. take pride in their refinement in rather philosophical issues, even while lamenting the relative underdevelopment of their systematic theories 1. Thus, there may well be more than one social scientist who asks, why a volume

Development planning and environment: The case of the countries of the Third World

Abstract: on Environmental Disruption of the International Social Science Council. See: The Tokyo resolution, the report on the symposium by Samy Friedman and the contributions by Allen V. Kneese and K. William Kapp published in the August issue, 9 (4), 1970. A volume of conference papers has now appeared under the title Proceedings of Illterna. tianal Symposium on Environmental Disruption. A challenge to social scientists, S. Tsuru (ed.). The book is not distributed commercially but can be obtained at cost from the International Social Science Council.

Theoretical and methodological problems of medical care research: Some consequences for secondary analysis

Abstract: was held at the Zentralarchiv fur Empirische Sozialforschung, from May 26 to 31,1969. It is the second of a series of research reports based on the Rochester Child Health Surveys, which are supported by Children’s Bureau Grant 148 and by Public Health Services Grant CH 00433. ’ There is consensus among social scientists working in medical care research that their field needs a unifying theoretical approach or conceptual framework. Responding to a review article, &dquo;Health and human behavior&dquo; (Polgar, 1962), J. Cassel (1962) stated that one of the major conclusions of the review was that &dquo;the knowledge gained from the various studies is not additive&dquo;. The reason for this, in his view, is &dquo;the lack of any generalized conceptual scheme categorizing the relevant social and cultural processes&dquo;. In some areas, he argued, the lack is more evident and crucial than in others. It

Some cultural anthropological responses to technical assistance experience

Abstract: numerous examples of failures. On the one hand, of failures in analysis due to indiscriminate transfer of methods and research techniques and of attempts to squeeze new phenomena into the strait jacket of theories elaborated in other socioecorrornic and historical contexts. On the other hand, hasty attempts to be different at all costs have often led to an over-emphasis of the specificity of Third World problems. Under such circumstances it would prove useful

The descent of meaning

Abstract: Research on the Third World over the past twenty years provides us with ntrrrrerous examples of failures. On the one hand, of failures in analysis due to indiscriminate transfer of methods and research techniques and of attempts to squeeze new plrenomena into the strait jacket of theories, elaborated in other socioeconomic and historical contexts. On the other hand, hasty attempts to be different at all costs lrave often led to an overemphasis of the specificity of Third World problems. Under such circumstances it would prove useful to inquire to what extent research on developing countries has fostered rnetlrodological and theoretical progress in differehtfields of the social sciences. Articles on tlze subject lrave been requested from specialists in various disciplines, who have had particular experience in the field, or have a special interest in it. ’

The interrelations between social and economic development

Abstract: was conceived as an essentially economic process measured by increase of the per capita national product or income l. &dquo;Development planning&dquo; was aiming at the increase of the national product. The growth of a nation was conceived on the model of the growth of an economic enterprise, and macroproduction functions were sought which would tell how much input or investment would be required to achieve a given growth of the national product

The social sciences and government: Do the natural sciences show the prescribed path?

Abstract: During recent years there have been numerous attempts, chiefly from within the social science community, to draw attention to the state of neglect into which the social science disciplines are in danger of falling. Usually framed in the form of official reports, these efforts to increase the visibility of the social sciences bear striking similarities. They call for institutional change, for increased fiscal aid and for a re-orientation of’values within the general social structure 1. Some have been partially successful in achieving their

Notes on an experience with secondary analysis of survey data as a teaching device

Abstract: For a long time it has been the aim and desire of teachers in advanced social science seminars to go beyond critical reviews of research literature and beyond attempts to produce hypotheses without the possibility of testing them. Until recently an immediate confrontation of students’ reasoning with suitable data rarely existed. It is the access to data archives that provides the necessary means for such a confrontation and allows the use of secondary analysis

Social theories of education in contemporary Britain

Abstract: are developed by educationists, economists, philosophers, political theorists, literary critics, and others. They vary considerably in the explicitness of their assumptions, the logical forms which they take, the concepts which they employ, and in their normative stance. They are not usually &dquo;theories&dquo; in the scientific sense, but tend to approximate to what has been termed metaphysical theories: