Showing papers in "Sociology in 1997"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess inter-rater reliability, whereby data are independently coded and the codings compared for agreements, is a recognised process in quantitative research, however, its applicability to qual...
Abstract: Assessing inter-rater reliability, whereby data are independently coded and the codings compared for agreements, is a recognised process in quantitative research. However, its applicability to qual...
888 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A review of the last ten years' research on illness narratives is given in this paper, where four aspects of illness narratives are discussed: 1. the social context of telling and its influence on the narrative.
Abstract: The article gives a review of the last ten years' of research on illness narratives, and organises this research around certain central themes. Four aspects of illness narratives are discussed: 1. a proposed typology giving three different kinds of illness narratives - illness as narrative, narrative about illness, and narrative as illness; 2. considerations of what can be accomplished with the help of illness narratives; 3. problems connected with how illness narratives are organised; and 4. the social context of telling and its influence on the narrative. It is argued that as social scientists we can use illness narratives as a means of studying not only the world of biomedical reality, but also the illness experience and its social and cultural underpinnings.
732 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that such issues should be of concern to social scientists generally as well as to linguists, and suggest one way of beginning to address these problematics: an opening of discussion on an analytical level with those who are often seen as mere technicians, translators and interpreters.
Abstract: Considering the large amount of research being undertaken in Eastern Europe and elsewhere involving the use of more than one language, there has been a remarkable silence in sociological debate about the status of this research. In this article I argue that such issues should be of concern to social scientists generally as well as to linguists. Using my own research with British-Polish communities, I raise some concerns surrounding the translation of concepts. I suggest one way of beginning to address these problematics: an opening of discussion on an analytical level with those who are often seen as mere technicians, translators and interpreters.
280 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use three concepts -the hedging of risk, the transfer of risk and recommodification -to examine recent changes in the distribution of market risk.
Abstract: In this paper I use three concepts - the hedging of risk, the transfer of risk and recommodification - to examine recent changes in the distribution of market risk. Mechanisms that formerly hedged risk - such as the welfare state and the nuclear family - have declined in effectiveness and popularity and the result has been the recommodification of individuals and their life chances. These themes are illustrated by an examination of change in the nature of employment relationships and its likely impact on the service class. The future of the service class remains linked to the informational asymmetry problem that underlies the service relationship, and this limits the degree to which employers can claim an option over the labour supply of service class workers. The paper ends by discussing some more general issues in the relationship between risk, stratification and recommodification.
241 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop a critique of what they term the ''normalisation thesis'' and argue that this thesis exaggerates the extent of drug use by young people, simplifies the choices that young people make, and pays inadequate attention to the meaning that drug use has for them.
Abstract: Increasing numbers of social scientists, policy makers and other social commentators suggest that drug use has become a relatively common form of behaviour among young people who accept it as a `normal' part of their lives. Although there is quite strong empirical evidence that the proportion of young people using drugs at some point in their lives is growing, there is little evidence to support the contention that it is so widely accepted as to be normal. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, we develop a critique of what we term the `normalisation thesis'. In doing so we argue that this thesis exaggerates the extent of drug use by young people, simplifies the choices that young people make, and pays inadequate attention to the meaning that drug use has for them. Crucially, we argue that in their reliance on large-scale survey data the main proponents of the normalisation thesis pay insufficient attention to the normative context within which drug use occurs.
218 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a relational understanding of emotions is proposed, which overcomes many of the dualisms in previous sociological attempts to understand this realm of social life, and also sug
Abstract: In this article I propose a relational understanding of emotions which I believe overcomes many of the dualisms in previous sociological attempts to understand this realm of social life I also sug
191 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine both the possibilities of the archiving of qualitative data and its use and the limits to the contribution it can make to the development of sociological research.
Abstract: The archiving of qualitative data seems likely to become much more common in the future. It promises to make an important contribution to the development of sociological research. This contribution relates to at least two main areas. It should facilitate assessment of the validity of particular studies; and it ought to increase the scope for secondary analysis. At the same time, the archiving of qualitative data and its use are not without problems. This paper examines both the possibilities it opens up and the limits to the contribution it can make.
179 citations
TL;DR: This paper studied the time spent by women and men in different domestic tasks and found that women spent more than twice as much time in domestic tasks as men in various domestic tasks compared to men.
Abstract: Quite a lot is already known from the existing sociological literature about the overall time spent by women and men in different domestic tasks, but there is much less information available on mor...
154 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the intergenerational social mobility of young adults in Britain, from a secondary analysis of the National Child Development Study (NCDS), and showed that by examining the relationship b...
Abstract: This paper examines the intergenerational social mobility of young adults in Britain, from a secondary analysis of the National Child Development Study. We show that by examining the relationship b...
148 citations
TL;DR: The 1990s have seen the rapid transformation in the consumption of football with the development, in particular, of all-seater stadiums as discussed by the authors, and the responses of a particular type of...
Abstract: The 1990s have seen the rapid transformation in the consumption of football with the development, in particular, of all-seater stadiums. This article analyses the responses of a particular type of ...
134 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed that ability is an important factor influencing social mobility chances, and through a series of logistic regression and multiple regression models, it demonstrates that meritocratic factors (individual effort and ability) outweigh social advantage/disadvantage factors in predicting the occupational class achieved by over 6,000 men and women by age 33.
Abstract: Existing data on social mobility in Britain demonstrate a disparity of up to 4:1 in the relative chances of children from different social class backgrounds ending up at the top or bottom of the occupational class system. In an earlier paper, it was argued that such disparities should not necessarily be seen as the result of social advantages or disadvantages associated with different class origins, for they are also consistent with a model of meritocracy in which class differentials in average levels of ability are reflected in the class destinations achieved by people from different social backgrounds. That paper has been criticised, both analytically and empirically, and this paper addresses some of these criticisms through an analysis of data from the National Child Development Study. The analysis shows that ability is an important factor influencing social mobility chances, and through a series of logistic regression and multiple regression models, it demonstrates that meritocratic factors (individual effort and ability) outweigh social advantage/disadvantage factors in predicting the occupational class achieved by over 6,000 men and women by age 33. The paper ends by answering the analytical criticisms made against the earlier paper.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors treat a sociological approach as if it were a client presenting itself for psychoanalysis, and argue that using Melanie Klein's developmental theory the approach can be seen as a manic psychosis - a defence against entering the depressive position.
Abstract: The paper is written with a degree of irony: it treats a sociological approach as if it were a client presenting itself for psychoanalysis, and argues that using Melanie Klein's developmental theory the approach can be seen as a manic psychosis - a defence against entering the depressive position. It is suggested that sociologists find it difficult to recognise the limitations of their discipline - the depressive position - one reason being that we do not actually exercise power over anybody; social constructionism enables us to convince ourselves that the opposite is true, that we know everything about how people become what they are, that we do not have to take account of other disciplines or sciences, but we can explain everything. The paper ends by suggesting that its own argument can be treated as a psychoanalytic version of a manic psychosis and that a non-psychotic theory is one which knows its own limitations.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that while structuration theory and analytical dualism focus on the creative powers of human reflexivity, as part of their rejection of the oversocialised agent, the theoretical weight they place on consciousness neglects the socially shaped somatic bases of action and structure, and results in an undersocialised view of the embodied agent.
Abstract: Sociological reconceptualisations of the structure/agency divide have motivated important theoretical advances in the discipline, and the development of `structuration theories' and `analytical dualism' has promoted fresh thought about dominant views of the human agent. These approaches have sought to release sociology from any residual reliance on the oversocialised conception of the individual that formed part of the legacy of Parsonian sociology. It is the argument of this paper, however, that while structuration theory and analytical dualism focus on the creative powers of human reflexivity, as part of their rejection of the `oversocialised agent', the theoretical weight they place on consciousness neglects the socially shaped somatic bases of action and structure, and results in an undersocialised view of the embodied agent.If the relationship between socialisation and agency needs analysing in terms of embodiment as much as in terms of the cognitive internalisation of norms and values, however, ther...
TL;DR: The authors examines three accounts of citizenship in the rapidly changing social, economic, and political conditions of late modernity, and concludes that there is little agreement about the meaning of citizenship and there is no agreement about what it means to be a citizen.
Abstract: There is little agreement about the meaning of citizenship in the rapidly changing social, economic and political conditions of late modernity. This article examines three accounts of citizenship -...
TL;DR: The authors argue that a hermeneutic conception of the self as constructed through narrative provides a resolution to the disjuncture between structure and agency and the problem of what constitutes ''good'' work.
Abstract: Two central unresolved problems in labour process theory are the disjuncture between structure and agency and the problem of what constitutes `good' work. This paper argues that a hermeneutic conception of the self as constructed through narrative provides a resolution to these two issues. Hermeneutics conceptualises the self as neither a solitary entity impervious to the influence of others, nor as a mere reflection of objective structures or `discourses of power'. Rather, in the process of self-interpretation a person uses socially learnt cultural discourses to construct and reconstruct a coherent sense of narrative-identity. Substantive illustrations are drawn from labour process theory, recent developments in management theory, and some more general studies of the meaning of working.
TL;DR: The different ways in which Lockwood, Habermas, and Giddens conceptualized the social/system integration distinction are examined in this article, and it is argued that (with some modification) Lockwood's conceptualis...
Abstract: The different ways in which Lockwood, Habermas, and Giddens conceptualise the social-/system-integration distinction are examined. It is argued that (with some modification) Lockwood's conceptualis...
TL;DR: Sociological theories of race and ethnicity have been dominated by the metaphor of the social construct, which suggests that they are ideological categories concealing ''real' principles of social s... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Sociological theories of race and ethnicity have been dominated by the metaphor of the social construct, which suggests that they are ideological categories concealing `real' principles of social s...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that whilst computer searches of newspapers are often appropriate, there are problems with the current technology and that the relationships between graphics, the spatial location of stories and the accompanying text are not discernible from online output.
Abstract: Online technology now provides the press-focused social science researcher with an accessible and fast means of selecting newspaper articles for analysis. Taking examples from their experiences of using both hard copy newspapers and online output, the authors argue that whilst computer searches of newspapers are often appropriate, there are problems with the current technology. In particular, the relationships between graphics, the spatial location of stories and the accompanying text are not discernible from online output. This is problematic for research using newspapers as a data source where such relationships may be central.
TL;DR: This article draws a parallel between the technological management and regulation of birth and the technological regulation of death in Intensive Care and illustrates the use of high-technology medicine as part of a (technological) rite of passage.
Abstract: The technological management and regulation of birth is well documented (see, for example, Arms 1975; Oakley 1980; Arney 1982; Arney and Neil 1982; Rothman 1982; DeVries 1985). Following DeVries (1981) in juxtaposing the analysis of birth alongside death, this article draws a parallel between the technological management and regulation of birth and the technological regulation of death in Intensive Care. The analysis builds on the literature concerning the social organisation of death (Sudnow 1967; Glaser and Strauss 1965, 1968). It considers the strategic practice of withdrawing technological support from the dying patient in stages, in order to `mimic' the more gradual decline of `natural' death. This is associated with two ends: it allows time for the emotional adaptation of the patient's relatives and health care professionals to the patient's imminent death; and it also allows death to be presented as a less dramatic disjuncture. If death appeared too abrupt or professionally induced this might becom...
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that a more adequate conceptualisation would involve a move away from rigidly defined class categories towards a recognition of the hierarchical structure of occupational groups, rather than focusing on how much mobility occurs.
Abstract: Ideological assumptions of equality and economic individualism have permeated the traditional analysis of social mobility. This is shown most clearly in the use of perfect mobility as the theoretical model that underlies most of the empirical analyses. A major consequence is that these analyses have offered a poor conceptualisation of the nature of the structure within which movement occurs, and have tended to ignore the question of relative distances between the objects, typically conceived as social classes, making up that structure. A further consequence is that they have concentrated on the issue of how much mobility, rather than on why it does, or does not, occur. It is argued that a more adequate conceptualisation would involve a move away from rigidly defined class categories towards a recognition of the hierarchical structure of occupational groups.
TL;DR: In the area of family law, recent policy changes have promoted changes in the organisation of the post-divorce family as discussed by the authors, placing emphasis on consensual joint parenting after divorce and emp...
Abstract: Recent policy changes in the area of family law have promoted changes in the organisation of the post-divorce family. These shifts place emphasis on consensual joint parenting after divorce and emp...
TL;DR: The authors integrate theoretical and substantive analyses of social movements in the context of the ''two women's movements'' in the United States and Britain which have had the family as a key focus for mobilisation: one conventionally associated with feminism, the other a mass movement of women mobilised to challenge feminism's claim to speak on their behalf.
Abstract: British research on social movements, with a few exceptions, has been criticised for making little reference to social movement theory, such that the term, social movement is often used as an unproblematic descriptor. This failure leaves intact assumptions about the relationship between the aims, organisation and activity of social movements and the `interests' that underlie them. This paper attempts to integrate theoretical and substantive analyses of social movements in the context of the `two women's movements' in the United States and Britain which have had the family as a key focus for mobilisation: one conventionally associated with feminism, the other a mass movement of women mobilised to challenge feminism's claim to speak on their behalf. The analysis reveals the limitations of both mainstream and radical/Marxist explanations of social movements on account of their shared reductionist orientation. It suggests that a more fruitful account is provided by resource mobilisation and post-Marxist theor...
TL;DR: The increasing scale of transnational migration is sociologically one of the most interesting features of contemporary life, not least because of the analytical challenges posed by the complexity of the complexity as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The increasing scale of transnational migration is sociologically one of the most interesting features of contemporary life, not least because of the analytical challenges posed by the complexity o...
TL;DR: In this article, primary ethnographic research is drawn on to examine the nature of supervisory systems in two manufacturing organizations which have both, to varying degrees, implemented ''new'' manufacturing techniques such as just-in-time and total quality management and have organized around ''teams''.
Abstract: Primary ethnographic research is drawn on in this paper so as to examine the nature of supervisory systems in two manufacturing organisations which have both, to varying degrees, implemented `new' manufacturing techniques such as just-in-time and total quality management and have organised around `teams' Debates in industrial sociology and the labour process have understandably concentrated on the implications of such developments for workers; the important and problematic role of supervisors in realising managerial objectives has been largely neglected This paper analyses the nature of supervision and the role of supervisors/first-line managers within contemporary manufacturing In contrast to previous studies, which have sought to explain supervisory roles in terms of their link with structural factors such as technology, organisational size and formalisation (Perrow 1970; Woodward 1965), this paper highlights the importance of supervisors as social actors The analysis demonstrates the dynamic and co
TL;DR: Based on a recent ethnographic study of professional crime (Hobbs 1995), the authors is concerned with juxtaposing the contemporary enacted environment of serious crime with the most potent device used by criminals.
Abstract: Based on a recent ethnographic study of professional crime (Hobbs 1995), this paper is concerned with juxtaposing the contemporary enacted environment of serious crime with the most potent device t...
TL;DR: The subject of corruption in British public life has been neglected as an area of sociological research as mentioned in this paper and the object of this paper is to begin to develop a theorisation of corruption by examining so...
Abstract: The subject of corruption in British public life has been neglected as an area of sociological research. The object of this paper is to begin to develop a theorisation of corruption by examining so...
TL;DR: This paper argued that the Consumers Association's gesellschaftlich character, mass-market orientation, reverence for the ideal of professionalism, faith in regulation, and Fordist research methodology limit its capacity both to mount an effective evaluation of personal financial products and services and to create an informed public.
Abstract: The UK's expanding personal financial services sector has been the site of allegations of widespread professional malpractice. In response, the Consumers' Association has begun to scrutinise financial products and services more closely. The personal financial sector is a promotional culture, in which information and persuasion are inextricably linked. It appears, therefore, to be a prime target for the Consumers' Association, whose mission is to supply consumers with objective information uncontaminated by commercial self-interest. The argument in this article is that key features of the Consumers' Association - its gesellschaftlich character, mass-market orientation, reverence for the ideal of professionalism, faith in regulation, and Fordist research methodology - limit its capacity both to mount an effective evaluation of personal financial products and services and to create an informed public.
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the nature of the Goldthorpe class schema's construction means that real validation is logically unlikely and, according to Evans's own evidence, in practice not possible, and the same logic points in a very different direction from the one that he takes.
Abstract: Evans's (1996) claim in the May issue, like his earlier one (Evans, 1992), is to have provided a validation of the Goldthorpe class schema, here in relation to women as well as to men. His thoughtful discussion of these issues is welcome, but it has, nevertheless to be treated with considerable scepticism. In this note we shall demonstrate, first, that he misunderstands what the validation of such a schema entails; second, that the nature of the schema's construction means that real validation is logically unlikely and, according to Evans's own evidence, in practice not possible; and third, that the same logic points in a very different direction from the one that he takes. Evans makes much of the distinction between construct and criterion-
TL;DR: In this paper, a distinction between social exchange and instrumental exchange is made, where social exchange is motivated by a desire to promote or maintain a positive attitude from other group members, while instrumental exchange was a means of obtaining behaviour from others which promotes the self-interest of the actor.
Abstract: Hechter's (1987) theory of group solidarity points to the need for clarification of the meaning of social solidarity and the related concept of social exchange. In order to clarify these conceptual issues, a distinction between social exchange and instrumental exchange is developed. Social exchange is motivated by a desire to promote or maintain a positive attitude from other group members, while instrumental exchange is a means of obtaining behaviour from others which promotes the self-interest of the actor. Social solidarity, in contrast, is characterised by the motive of promoting group goals in their own right, provided the actor perceives positive attitudes from others towards himself. A related distinction is then made between instrumental exchange and co-ordination. This yields a fourfold typology which shows an interesting correspondence with Parsons's AGIL scheme and sheds light on Habermas's distinction between social integration and system integration.
TL;DR: In this paper, a typology of three categories of gay male Christian couples is presented, i.e., expectationally and behaviourally exclusive, expectationally exclusive and non-exclusive.
Abstract: This paper argues that, in the case of gay male couples, the issue of sexual exclusivity should be examined in terms of expectation and behaviour Using this approach, a typology of three categories of gay male Christian couples is presented Couples who were expectationally and behaviourally exclusive considered sexual exclusivity a symbol of total commitment, complete mutual satisfaction and adherence to the conventional Christian ethic of sexual monogamy Couples who were expectationally exclusive but behaviourally non-exclusive developed various regulatory mechanisms to manage the disjunction between expectation and behaviour The majority of couples were expectationally and behaviourally non-exclusive They justified this lifestyle on the ground of sexual variety, prevention of possessiveness and the promotion of freedom and egalitarianism They embraced the theology of friendship which emphasises inclusiveness rather than monogamy Couples in all the three categories did not demonstrate significant