Showing papers in "Social Science Information in 1973"

A general systems theory approach to a theory of violence between family members.

Abstract: between its members. Yet the empirical data and relevant theory leave no doubt that violence between family members is so common as to be almost universal. This paper makes use of general systems theory to formulate a theory accounting for the presence of violence as a continuing element in the social interaction of the nuclear family. This theory views continuing violence as a systemic product rather than a product of individual behavior pathology. It specifies the &dquo;positive feedback&dquo; processes which produce an upward spiral of violence, the &dquo;negative feedback&dquo;

Structuralism and ecology

Abstract: Fifty years ago, in 1922, Bronislaw Malinowski ended his classic study of the Kula ri,ig, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, with these words : &dquo;The study of ethnology so often mistaken by its very votaries foran idle hunting after cwios, for a ramble among the savage and fantastic shapes of ’barbarous customs and crude superstitions’ might become one of the most deeply philosophic, enlightening and elevating disciplines of scientific research. Alas! the time is short for ethnology, and will this truth of its real meaning and importance dawn before it is too late ?&dquo; More than any antlrropologist of his time, Profes-

Dominance hierarchies in young children

Abstract: This study uses the ethological approach of seeking species characteristics and phylogenetic continuities in an investigation of human behavior. Among primates a striking consistency is the presence of some form of dominance hierarchy in many species. The particular type of social organization formed may be due to a variety of factors : genetic, societal and environmental (Crook, 1970), but a hierarchical organization within this structure is a common feature. The present study examines peer group dominance hierarchies

Production, ecology and economic anthropology : Notes toward an integrated frame of reference:

Abstract: to encounter some critics who express skepticism about the entire enterprise and others who are energetically searching for viable alternative approaches. Andrew Vayda, for example, has expressed frustration with his own and others’ attempts to define the &dquo;economy&dquo; for purposes of exposition and analysis. It seems that each time he examines an ethnographic case to find and study the &dquo;economy&dquo; the latter invariably dissolves into a mix of other human activities and structures. This has led him to conclude that the eco-

Social identity : Perspectives and prospects:

Abstract: If somebody asked you: &dquo;Who are you?&dquo;, you would probably begin by giving your name, specify your position in society: &dquo;I am a student&dquo;, mention your nationality: &dquo;I am American&dquo;. Then thinking further about yourself, a number of personal characteristics would come to mind: intelligent, kind, considerate, undecided, etc. Your answers, explicit or implicit, would constitute what psychologists call the self-concept or identity. A person’s identity (or self-concept) refers to all the characteristics he may attribute to himself. At the onset it can be grasped, even intuitively, that a person’s perception includes both social and personal elements. The social elements of identity usually refer to social categories: e.g. to be a man or a woman, of a given nationality, religion, ethnic group, political affiliation; whereas attributes expressing personality traits, behavior characteristics, interests and values, represent personal identity elements. It is not difficult, therefore, to understand why it has been a basic assumption in the social sciences that the inner nature of the individual, including the perception he has of himself, is related to the particular place he occupies in society. The individual is first and foremost a &dquo;social subject&dquo;, and it is

Art as the Communication of Competence

Abstract: The present paper will focus on the nature of the processes by ~hich artist.ic products (objects, events, performances) are created and appreciated. I will also maintain that, in fact, the process of artistic creation itself presupposes and arises out of the process of appreciation. Artistic communication is a form of culturally determined symbolic behavior in which an artist creates or arranges object(s) and/or events, purposefully, so as to imply meaning(s) and emotion(s) according to the conventions of a symbolic code, and these object/events elicit meaningful inferences in the artist himself and/or in others who possess at least minimal competence in the same cultural mode (ef. Gross, 1973). For artistic communication to occur it is not necessary for the artist and the audience to co-exist in either time or space. However, according to this definition, it is necessary that, to a significant extent, they share a common symbolic code. The processes of aesthetic creation and appreciation bring to our attention many sensory-perceptual characteristics of objects, events and performances which we normally do not attend to. It is for this reason that these processes are often described as being fundamentally opposite to what is called practical or utilitarian perception. This distinction usually implies that only when we are treating an object or event as irrelevant to any practical, utilitarian purpose are we perceiving it as an artistic entity (cf. Collingwood,

Career contingencies and the fate of sociological research

Abstract: During the past three hundred years the journal article has become the main institutionalized form of formal scholarly communication. Potential contributions to a discipline acquire credibility because they have been published in a reputable journal (Zuckerman and Merton, 1971). Who published what and where therefore becomes a central question in the understanding of scholarly, and in particular scientific, disciplines. There have recently been

Attention and advertence in human groups

Abstract: This study is the outcome of collaboration between two disciplines concerned with the study of human behaviour, namely social anthropology and ethology. Reasons for collaboration between these two disciplines in research into human behaviour have been set out by Callan (1970), and the specific subject for study was chosen as a result of arguments set out by Chance (1967) and Chance and Jolly (1970) on the existence of a structure of attention within all social

Community autonomy in the national system : Federalism, localism and decentralization

Abstract: scientific perspective. Social scientific analyses have tended to emphasize social bases of political cleavage, party organization, power and informal decision-making patterns, and the local sources of public policy variation. They have not dealt with national-local relations so directly as has research conducted under the rubrics of public law and public administration, the history of governmental institutions, and public finance. The first set of themes has been emphasized by social scientists, especially those oriented toward North America ; the second set has been more salient for legal scholars, historians, and institutional economists, more frequently working in European universities. But this dichotomy, only partially valid for the past, seems to be breaking down even more at present. This is clearly the case outside the US. It is increasingly true for studies of American communities 1. The vast scale of

Review articles / Essais critiques : Erving Goffman et le temps du soupçon A propos de la publication en frangais de La représentation de soi dans la vie quotidienne *

Abstract: aucun emplacement ne lui est r6serv6 dans 1’espace des taxinomies communes ou dans celui des traditions savantes. L’objet meme en est inhabituel et echappe aux divisions ofhcielles de la sociologie: ni population concrete (&dquo;les ouvriers&dquo;, &dquo;les hommes de lois&dquo;, etc.); ni opinions ou conduites statistiquement distribuables ; ni a proprement parler, technique, m6thode ou réflexion 6pist6mologique ; rien que des rencontres (encounters) fortuites, innombrables et apparemment disparates; des actions et des reactions, des strat6gies furtives qui s’echangent A un rythme si rapide, en des occasions si banales qu’elles ne parviennent pas meme a la conscience de ceux qui en sont les promoteurs, les spectateurs ou les victimes. Ni la reference aux 6crits de G.H. Mead et de C.H. Cooley que, par la m6diation de E.C. Hughes son maitre a l’Universit6 de Chicago

Functional approaches to analogical comparison between species

Abstract: The repeated controversies concerning the possibility and scientific validity of inferences from animal to human behavior ultimately revolve around the issue of &dquo;analogies&dquo; between animal species. It is generally admitted that where true &dquo;homologies&dquo; exist, inference can be made from the causal relationships underlying similar behaviors or structures in a related species. But for many, such homologies are virtually the only legitimate generalizations which can be made concerning common features of animal and human life (cf. Montagu, 1968). In order to clarify this hotly debated issue, it is useful to begin by placing behavior and bodily structure in the perspective of general biology: all phenotypical traits must lie within the genetically programmed &dquo;reaction range&dquo;, with the specific phenotype representing the product of the genotypical possibilities interacting with the environment throughout the organism’s develop-

Towards a new approach for scientific and technological planning

Abstract: and theoretical concepts related to this planning approach are also discussed in other papers (Sagasti, 1971 a; 1971 b). In short, the work of Ackoff (1966; 1968; 1970; 1971), Emery (1967), Ozbekhan (1969; 1971), Beer (1966), Emery and Trist (1965), Friend and Jessop (1969), and also that of Friedmann (1967), Harris (1970), and Vickers (1965), provided the elements for organizing the theoretical basis of my approach to planning. This background on planning theory, combined with the critique of current methods for scientific and technological planning (Sagasti, 1970b), with the conceptual model of the nation as a system (Sagasti, 1970a) and the analysis of the Latin America situation (Sagasti, 1972) led to the framework and the methods for scientific and technological planning which will be discussed in the following sections. 3. Principles for scientific and technological planning in underdeveloped countries Five principles for scientific and technological planning in underdeveloped countries have been identified. Each will be listed and discussed in turn. These principles are derived primarily from the work of Ackoff (1971), and Waldo (1969), and they have been examined in the light of the empirical context of the Latin American situation in science and technology. 1) Planning for the development of science and technology should be continuous Planning is a process consisting of decisions made in a set of interrelated and anticipated choice situations. The anticipatory decisions should be modified in the light of new information regarding changes in the system and its environment. In consequence, planning has no natural beginning or end-point and the preparation of documents containing the &dquo;plan&dquo; becomes a by-product of the planning activity, rather than the main justification for it. This implies that all types of anticipatory decisions will be continuously in the making, conditioning each other and interacting in a continuous fashion. It is not possible to stipulate that one type of planning activity precedes the others in a rigid sequential way, they should all take place simultaneously with anticipatory decisions made in one area feeding information into the others. 2) Planning for scientific and technological development should be participative Effective planning cannot be done for a system or organization, it has to be carried out with it. This principle suggests that the involvement of the scient-

The study of motivation.

Abstract: When a young baby falls asleep soon after she is put to the breast, we say: &dquo;She is so tired she won’t suck&dquo;. When she later wakes up in the night, we say: &dquo;She is so hungry she can’t sleep&dquo;. We explain the infant’s behaviour in terms of an internal state which impels her to one sort of behaviour rather than another. Such explanations help us in the first place because they bring the behaviour into a category we are familiar with we know what we feel

Reflections on criticisms

Abstract: Whatever other shortcomings systems analysis may have, as a theoretical approach to the understanding of political systems it has not proved deficient in animating its critics. In the normal course of my writings I have on occasion taken the opportunity to deal with some of the criticisms. But to do justice to them it does appear to me that they merit somewhat more systematic treatment than is afforded in the context of writings devoted to other matters. I propose here to deal with some selected kinds of criticisms. I shall

Darwinism and the Sexual Politics of Primates.

Abstract: nor disability on the other&dquo;. His challenging and psychologically acute analysis was scarcely received with enthusiasm by his fellow males and was for the most part casually dismissed as mischievous, nay incredible, moral and social anarchy. But the Woman’s Movement, especially in America, welcomed it as a vital source of inspiration. Four years later, Charles Darwin, deep in the argument of &dquo;The descent of man&dquo; found himself facing the problem of the evolution of the differences between the human sexes. After coping with animals with rich magnificence the text pales and the master of persuasion is clearly hesitant. Yet, with a brief dismissal of Mill in a footnote, he forges ahead with a treatment of human secondary sex difierences in morphology and behaviour that owes almost everything to nature and very little to cultural conditioning. He emphasises the supposedly tender, less selfish aspect of women and the ambitious competitiveness of men, he points out the meagre list of women’s attainments in arts and sciences and explains such contrasts primarily as a consequence of sexual selection. He goes so far as to argue &dquo;it is indeed fortunate that the law of the equal transmission of characters to both sexes has commonly prevailed throughout the whole class of mammals, otherwise it is probable

Some aspects of mathematization in psychology

Abstract: The attempts to apply mathematics to psychology began less than a century ago. They are generally considered as having begun with the creation of psychophysic research by G.T. Fechner. But Fechner had borrowed his well-known logarithmic function from the solution proposed by D. Bernouilli a century before, relating what Bernouilli had called fortune morale (which is called &dquo;utility&dquo; by modern economists) to fortune physique (‘ ‘capital&dquo;). Fechner had also borrowed, from Laplace’s Error theory, the idea of probabilities distribution for the probable value of thresholds. It is thus possible

Longitudinal surveys and the study of social mobility

Abstract: distributed over time. This can only be satisfactorily obtained through the continued study of a cohort. As home background, early education and ability have a high relevance to social mobility, information going back to early childhood is required. Owing to the scarcity of longitudinal studies and to their small size and largely clinical orientation, the data used in past analyses of social mobility have been predominantly retrospective though data from a few short term longitudinal studies are available. In spite of convincing evidence~that retrospectively reported information is both inaccurate and bias-

Sociological theory and the family : The problem of fit between form and content:

Abstract: The generic and perhaps insoluble issue in theorizing is the &dquo;problem of fit&dquo; between man’s symbols, i.e. forms, and the empirical content which he confronts with his manipulative and mensurative instruments of knowing, whether these be his own senses or artifacts such as rulers, scales or descriptive schemas. The problem of fit has recurred recently in many guises : grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967, p. 261, discussing their disagreement with Merton) : mirroring and isomorphism (Coleman, 1964); fallacy of fit between method and model (Riley, 1964); problem of levels of abstraction and the gap between the language of theory and that of measurement (Blalock, 1969; Costner, 1969); and conflict over paradigms (Kuhn, 1970). Philosophers long ago noted that the correspondence between man’s symbols or concepts and reality is the key epistemological issue. The present paper discusses the problem of fit for the theoretical elements of concepts, propositions, deductive inferential forms, and models. This is done by presenting alternative approaches to theory and noting the implications of some of the assumptions involved in each approach. The generic problem of fit is specifically reflected in traditional questions which have arisen concerning each element of theory. In the simplest act of the measurement of a concept or variable, it is the problem of validity, i.e. is the investigator observing and measuring that which he &dquo;intends&dquo; to mea-

Anthropologie physique et "races humaines" Leçon inaugurale au Collège de France

Abstract: Monsieur 1’Administrateur, mes chers Collegues, Mesdames, Messieurs, En m’appelant parmi vous, vous m’avez, mes chers collegues, fait un grand honneur, mais aussi conne une lourde charge : celle d’introduire pour la premi~re fois au College de France, I ’anthropologie physique. Bien que d6j~ ancienne, puisqu’elle est n6e dans notre pays, il y a plus d’un siecle, I’anthropologie physique se pr6sente aujourd’hui comme une discipline en pleine evolution et profond6ment remaniee par tous les acquis de la biologie moderne. C’est la science qui 6tudle 1’homme, en tant qu’espece zoologique. Elle s’ecarte par ses methodes et ses buts de 1’anthropologie social qui 6tudle 1’homme en tant que membre d’une societe et de I’anthropologi culturelle qui analyse le resultat de la connaissance et de I’activit6 psychiqu de Fetre humain. Pendant longtemps, ces differents aspects de I’anthropologie sont demeur6s etroitement lies. Personne n’aurait envisage d’etudier la biologie d’un groupe sans tenir compte de sa culture et de sa structure sociale. C’est dans cet esprit que le Docteur Rivet crea le Musde de I’Homme. Chez les anglo-saxons et singulierement aux Etats-Unis, l’anthropologie est rest6e une science unique,

A note about the stratification aspects of a comparative survey in four Nordic countries

Abstract: present writer’s part in the project is to study the general level of living conditions and their dispersion, which implies the study of social stratification. The analysis of the survey data collected in the spring of 1972 will begin presently. In each country about one thousand interviews were made. The respondents were selected on the basis of national stratified sampling representing the adult populations aged 15 to 64. The field work was carried out by leading opinion research institutes in each country in collaboration with the research group. Coding and data processing are being done by the research group in Helsinki. The analysis and reporting will also be done by members of the Finnish research group although scholars from the other countries are to be frequently consulted. This research note will mainly describe the survey, although the results are not yet in. The small size of the sample and the limitations it puts upon the analysis should be kept in mind in the following discussion.

Environmental quality and politics : Some notes on political development in "developed" countries

Abstract: When an issue or a problem is labeled &dquo;social&dquo;, it is usually seen as requiring social or political decision for its ultimate solution. Large segments of the population have come to be concerned about a specific problem, and they have recognized that it cannot be resolved by individual choice or individual action. In a broad sense, such social issues are also political ones, since politics is the prime means of making decisions that are conceived as authoritative for society as a whole. To become &dquo;political&dquo; in a narrower sense, however, the problem has to be placed on the agenda of the politicians. This will be achieved when the number of people viewing the issue as &dquo;social&dquo; has become large enough not to be neglected if the politicians wish to remain in office (see Caldwell, 1970, p. 27). By the end of the 1960’s, a new problem had become &dquo;social&dquo; in almost every industrial country in the world that of environmental disruption. Although the impairment of man’s physical environment has a history as long as that of man himself, for most of that time it has been far down on the priority lists of politicians. During the 1960’s, however, the plagues of environmental disruption had multiplied to such an extent that many scientists recognized the problem as an imminent threat to the quality of human life, and even to the survival of mankind i. In an ever growing number of conferences on the status of the environment, scientists from almost every discipline warned the politicians not to postpone practical action any further. The Japanese experience is a striking example of this swift development. In 1955, the Japanese dictionary did not even mention the work kogai (meaning disamenities inflicted on the public). But in the latter part of the 1960’s kogai

The brain drain and UNITAR's multinational research project on the subject

Abstract: The movement of scientists and scholars across national boundaries is a longestablished tradition and has long been considered important to the general progress of the world of scholarship 1. Since the end of the Second World War, this situation has changed dramatically. On one hand, the migration of talented and trained personnel has reached an unprecedented number; and on the other hand, it has now become widely recognized that, to a great extent, the realization of national socioeconomic developmental goals depends on the supply and successful utilization of these very men who move to lands of greater promise. Therefore, the recent increase in the number of migrating scientists and other highly qualified manpower from developing to developed countries, or the so-called &dquo;brain drain&dquo;, is considered a threat to the prospect of development of the developing countries. The movement which once engaged only the interests of demographers and labour economists has therefore become a political issue and a &dquo;challenge to world statesmanship&dquo;. The term &dquo;brain drain&dquo; was established as referring to a major international issue by the early 1960s; by the mid-1960s, it was an issue on which politicians, economists, educators, journalists, and others expressed concern and had opinions regarding its origin, its volume, its trends, its causes and its conse-

Social science without social scientists : A future trend ?

Abstract: Public support for scientific research in the UK is going through one of those periodic convulsions in which perennial questions are reformulated, and in which scientists have to justify their activity. How much money should be spent on research ? What kinds of research should be supported from public funds, and to what extent? Who should take the decisions? Are these decisions about research too important to be left to scientists? Should research be harnessed to a greater extent than it is now to the &dquo;needs&dquo; of society? How should these needs be interpreted? There are no permanent, absolute answers to questions of this kind. Each generation of scientists has to work out its own set of answers in the light of the prevailing political and social conditions. However, what is noticeable in the current debate is the increasing scepticism about the &dquo;value&dquo; of much scientific research. This scepticism is not confined to non-scientists. Many scientists no longer see scientific research as a self-justifying activity. There have been attempts to quantify the economic benefits of scientific research 1, but these have not been notably successful at the macro-economic level. Recent emphasis on the social (as distinct from the economic) benefits of scientific research has proved to be something of a double-edged weapon. It is of course incontestable that there are substantial social benefits from scientific research, but there is increasing awareness of the disbenefits. Any attempt to draw up a general balance sheet of the social benefits and disbenefits of scientific research is bound to fail, because so many of the consequences of scientific activity are unquantifiable. Balked of any general (as distinct from specific) justification for scientific research in terms of its economic and social consequences, scientists are forced back to the position of defending the more fundamental aspects of scientific