Showing papers in "Sociology in 2008"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the possibilities and problems of four new technologies (online questionnaires, digital video, social networking websites, and blogs) and their potential impacts on the research relationship and conclude that a balanced combination of physical and digital ethnography not only gives researchers a larger and more exciting array of methods, but also enables them to demarginalize the voice of respondents.
Abstract: The rise of digital technologies has the potential to open new directions in ethnography. Despite the ubiquity of these technologies, their infiltration into popular sociological research methods is still limited compared to the insatiable uptake of online scholarly research portals. This article argues that social researchers cannot afford to continue this trend. Building upon pioneering work in 'digital ethnography', I critically examine the possibilities and problems of four new technologies — online questionnaires, digital video, social networking websites, and blogs — and their potential impacts on the research relationship. The article concludes that a balanced combination of physical and digital ethnography not only gives researchers a larger and more exciting array of methods, but also enables them to demarginalize the voice of respondents. However, access to these technologies remains stratified by class, race, and gender of both researchers and respondents.
701 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of migrants' social networks as sources of social capital is discussed and the importance of social networks in migration networks is highlighted, however, insufficient attention has been paid to them.
Abstract: There is growing interest in the role of migrants' social networks as sources of social capital. Networks are, however, often conceptualized rather loosely and insufficient attention has been paid ...
609 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate cosmopolitan theory by exploring how parents perceive cosmopolitanism and find that parents view cosmopolitanness as a form of cultural and social capital, rather than feelings of global connectedness or curiosity in the other.
Abstract: This article evaluates cosmopolitan theory by exploring how parents perceive cosmopolitanism Interviews with parents whose children attend an internationalized form of education revealed that parents viewed cosmopolitanism as a form of cultural and social capital, rather than feelings of global connectedness or curiosity in the Other Dedicated cosmopolitan parents were distinguished from pragmatic cosmopolitansThe former taught their children to explore the world and to take a global perspective on their course of life, while the latter thought that globalizing processes required cosmopolitan competencies Analyses of survey data showed that parents' inclination to provide children with cosmopolitan capital was related to their own cosmopolitan capital and their level of ambitions, but not to their social class position The article concludes that cosmopolitanism should be viewed as an expression of agency, which is acted out when people are forced to deal with processes of globalization
367 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how researchers understand and account for research fatigue and over-researching and identify several precursors of research fatigue, such as lack of perceptible change attributable to engagement, increasing apathy and indifference toward engagement, and practical causes such as cost, time, and organization.
Abstract: Despite a number of references to research fatigue and over-researching in the literature, the concepts have yet to be empirically investigated within qualitative contexts. This article, therefore, seeks to explore how researchers understand and account for research fatigue and over-researching. Using the results generated from a grounded analysis, a number of precursors are identified and discussed. These include lack of perceptible change attributable to engagement, increasing apathy and indifference toward engagement, and practical causes such as cost, time, and organization. It is suggested that marked levels of research fatigue are likely to occur where the mechanisms that challenge research engagement increase and the supporting mechanisms decrease. Furthermore, claims of over-researching are likely to be reported in contexts where repeated engagements do not lead to any experience of change or where the engagement comes into conflict with the primary aims and interests of the research group.
289 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that by focusing on the functioning of documents instead of content, sociology can embrace a much wider range of approaches to both data collection and analysis, which encourages researchers to see documents as active agents in the world, and to view documentation as a key component of dynamic networks rather than as a set of static and immutable ''things''.
Abstract: In matters of social research sociologists and other social scientists have tended to view documents primarily as sources of evidence and as receptacles of inert content.The key strategies for data exploration have consequently been associated with various styles of content or thematic analysis. Even when discourse analysis has been recommended, there has been a marked tendency to deal with records, files, and the like, primarily as containers — things to be read, understood, and categorized. In this article, however, the author seeks to demonstrate that by focussing on the functioning of documents instead of content, sociology can embrace a much wider range of approaches to both data collection and analysis. Indeed, the adoption of such a programme encourages researchers to see documents as active agents in the world, and to view documentation as a key component of dynamic networks rather than as a set of static and immutable `things'.
265 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the main purpose of mobile phone calls is to maintain continuing connections with family and friends, rather than being primarily a tool of work extension, or even a tool that facilitates greater work-family balance.
Abstract: This article examines the widespread proposition that the mobile phone dissolves the boundaries that separate work and home, extending the reach of work. It analyses data derived from a purpose-designed survey to study social practices surrounding mobile phone use.The key components of the survey investigated here are a questionnaire and a log of phone calls retrieved from respondents' handsets. Rather than being primarily a tool of work extension, or even a tool that facilitates greater work-family balance, we show that the main purpose of mobile phone calls is to maintain continuing connections with family and friends. Our findings suggest that individuals exert control over the extent to which calls invade their personal time, actively encouraging deeper contacts with intimates.
253 citations
TL;DR: This article conducted a qualitative study based on interviewing multiple family members from three ethno-cultural groups in Canada and found that women, men and children employed similar rationales for why women did most of the foodwork.
Abstract: While women continue to do the lion's share of foodwork and other housework, they and their families appear to perceive this division of labour as fair. Much of the research in this area has focused on families of European origin, and on the perceptions of women. Here we report findings of a qualitative study based on interviewing multiple family members from three ethno-cultural groups in Canada. Women, men and children employed similar rationales for why women did most of the foodwork, though explanations differed somewhat by ethno-cultural group. Explicitly naming foodwork as women's work was uncommon, except in one ethno-cultural group.Yet more individualized, apparently gender-neutral rationales such as time availability, schedules, concern for family health, foodwork standards, and the desire to reduce family conflict were grounded in unspoken assumptions about gender roles. Such implicit gender assumptions may be more difficult to challenge.
210 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, empirical qualitative data on men who buy sexual services from women who work as escorts and in massage parlours was examined, and it was found that men give to sexual experience, their des...
Abstract: This article examines empirical qualitative data on men who buy sexual services from women who work as escorts and in massage parlours. It investigates that men give to sexual experience, their des...
183 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined how women present a moral self in relation to public norms that constitute ''good' motherhood'' and examined the consequences of using written life stories rather than face-to-face interviews as data in a study of the moral tales that individuals tell.
Abstract: This article examines how women present a moral self in relation to public norms that constitute`good' motherhood.Thefocus of this article is on two types of written life story: first, those written by mothers who express a past or current wish to divorce and, second, those written by lone mothers.The life stories offer insights into how individuals account for their actions in situations where they face the moral dilemma of clashing ethical norms — care for self and care for children — and how individuals with a `spoiled identity' manage a moral presentation of self. The article concludes by critically examining the consequences of using written life stories rather than face-to-face interviews as data in a study of the moral tales that individuals tell.
178 citations
TL;DR: Using data drawn from the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion study, the authors examined the relationship between social class membership and cultural participation and taste in the areas of music, reading, television and film, visual arts, leisure, and eating out.
Abstract: Using data drawn from the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion study, we examine the relationship between social class membership and cultural participation and taste in the areas of music, reading, television and film, visual arts, leisure, and eating out Using Geometric Data Analysis, we examine the nature of the two most important axes which distinguish `the space of lifestyles' By superimposing socio-demographic variables on this cultural map, we show that the first, most important, axis is indeed strongly associated with class We inductively assess which kind of class boundaries can most effectively differentiate individuals within this `space of lifestyles'The most effective model distinguishes a relatively small professional class (24%) from an intermediate class of lower managerial workers, supervisors, the self-employed, senior technicians and white collar workers (32%) and a relatively large working class which includes lower supervisors and technicians (44%)
172 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the ethical dimensions of covert fieldwork with reference to a six-month covert ethnography of 'bouncers', in Manchester, and highlighted the case for covert research in the face of much conventional opposition.
Abstract: This article discusses the covert research relationship. Specifically, it explores the ethical dimensions of fieldwork with reference to a six-month covert ethnography of `bouncers', in Manchester. Drawing from sociological literatures, the article wishes to raise for scrutiny the management of situated ethics in covert fieldwork which, despite having some increased recognition via debates about risk and danger in fieldwork, remains glossed over. The standard discourse on ethics is abstracted from the actual doing, which is a mediated and contingent set of practices. Traditionally, professional ethics has been centralized around the doctrine of informed consent with covert methodology being frowned upon and effectively marginalized as a type of `last resort methodology'.What I highlight here is the case for covert research in the face of much conventional opposition. I hope the article will open debate and dialogue about its potential role and possible creative future in the social science community.
TL;DR: This article examined the role of the late modern reflexive father and argued that fatherhood is increasingly a response to personal biography and circumstances rather than being modelled on traditional ideal types of what it means to be a father.
Abstract: This article examines fatherhood as a contemporary sociological phenomenon. Drawing on interviews with 40 fathers, it considers perceptions and experiences of how the concept and practice of fatherhood are undergoing important changes. Specifically, it argues that fatherhood is affected by (after Giddens) a process of detraditionalization, whereby fathering is increasingly a response to personal biography and circumstances rather than being modelled on traditional ideal types of what it means to be a father.Theoretically, the discussion uses some of the ideas developed in debates on reflexive modernization to suggest that fatherhood is becoming progressively individualized. It uses these theoretical interpretations as a tool in understanding the way that societal change in all its complexity impacts on the role of the late modern reflexive father.
TL;DR: This paper used qualitative data from a study of young adults aged 20-34 in Bristol to explore the labour market transitions considered typical of contemporary advanced economies and found that they were surprisingly undismayed by these labour market vicissitudes: many of them displayed a ''structure of feeling' we refer to as ''internalized flexibility''.
Abstract: This article uses qualitative data from a study of young adults aged 20—34 in Bristol to explore the labour market transitions considered typical of contemporary advanced economies.The main objective of the article is to develop a typology of labour market pathways that illuminates the complexity and variability of lengthened youth transitions. In addition to this typology we explore the economic consequences of these pathways for young adults, showing that they are vulnerable to job change, unemployment and low pay. Finally, we explore the attitudes of young adults to their situation.We found that they were surprisingly undismayed by these labour market vicissitudes: many of them displayed a `structure of feeling' we refer to as `internalized flexibility', which helps them to maintain optimism and anticipate change in a challenging economic environment.
TL;DR: This article proposed a conceptual framework for understanding what is distinctive and fascinating about kinship, based on four dimensions of affinity, i.e., fixed affinities, negotiated and creative affinity, ethereal affinity, and sensory affinity, where kinship is engaged with, defined, known and expressed.
Abstract: This article uses the examples of the `kinship consequences'of assisted conception, the contemporary enthusiasm for tracing family histories, and a more general interest in family resemblances to argue that there is a contemporary fascination with kinship which existing sociological and anthropological theory do not entirely explain. It proposes a conceptual framework for understanding what is both distinctive and fascinating about kinship, based on four dimensions of affinity: fixed affinities, negotiated and creative affinities, ethereal affinities and sensory affinities. These are dimensions where kinship is engaged with, defined, known and expressed. Collectively, these are referred to as`tangible'affinities, not because they are all literally tangible but because of their resonance in lived experience and their vivid and palpable (or almost palpable) character.
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that emotional harm is more prevalent than physical harm and may be particularly associated with reflexivity and the important influence of feminist research methods, and that the particular concern of feminist researchers with reflexive, with research relationships and with the interests of research participants may make them especially vulnerable to emotional harm.
Abstract: Drawing on analysis of relevant literature, focus groups, and web-based discussion board postings, assembled as part of an inquiry into risks to the well-being of qualitative researchers, it is argued that emotional harm is more prevalent than physical harm and may be particularly associated with reflexivity and the important influence of feminist research methods. The particular concern of feminist researchers with reflexivity, with research relationships and with the interests of research participants may make them especially vulnerable to emotional harm.
TL;DR: In this article, the relative importance of different providers of elder care in four European countries was analyzed in order to highlight the relationship and interactions between paid and unpaid modes of care work.
Abstract: The activity of work takes place in a variety of socio-economic relations, shifting over time across the boundaries between different sectors of employment (public, private, not-for-profit or voluntary) and forms of unpaid work (domestic, community, voluntary).Taking the social care work of older people as a research probe, this article explores linkages between paid and unpaid work across key forms of provision (public sector, market, family/household and voluntary sector). We analyse the relative importance of the different providers of elder care in four European countries in order to highlight the relationship and interactions between paid and unpaid modes of care work. As well as revealing contrasting national configurations, our findings show clear interconnections between work undertaken in differing socio-economic modes, such that what goes on in one sector impacts upon what goes on in another. Building on a `total social organization of labour' framework, this analysis of a specific field develop...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an exploratory analysis of the significance of personal names in contemporary Western societies, the UK in particular, and the way in which names and naming are used within the family context sheds light upon contemporary kinship, with its enduring and variable dimensions.
Abstract: The article presents an exploratory analysis of the significance of personal names in contemporary Western societies, the UK in particular. Names are seen as having the dual character of denoting the individuality of the person, and also marking social connections.The focus is particularly on kinship, and the ways in which names can be, and are, used to map family connections as well as to identify unique individuals.The author argues that both surnames and forenames can serve to ground the individual within family relationships, though the extent to which this is used actively can vary. In turn the way in which names and naming are used within the family context sheds light upon contemporary kinship, with its enduring and variable dimensions. Additional empirical exploration of names and naming could further illuminate its characteristics.
TL;DR: The authors have identified a need for reflexive research and noted the importance of emotion in the researcher's relationship to the object of research and examined the relationship between emotion and the research object.
Abstract: Recent debates within sociology and feminist theory have identified a need for reflexive research and noted the importance of emotion in the researcher's relationship to the object of research and ...
TL;DR: The authors argue that a theoretical commitment to a postfoundational epistemology demands that we translate this into concrete research practices that rely on concerted team-based relations rather than divisions of labour, and a reflexive research practice that strives to involve all team members in all aspects of knowledge construction processes.
Abstract: This article critically examines team and collaborative research as an `academic mode of production'. Our main argument is that while theoretically qualitative social science research is rooted within a postfoundational epistemological paradigm, normative team-based research practices embody foundational principles. Team research relies on a division of labour that creates divisions and hierarchies of knowledge, particularly between researchers who gather embodied and contextual knowledge `in the field' and those who produce textual knowledge `in the office'. We argue that a theoretical commitment to a postfoundational epistemology demands that we translate this into concrete research practices that rely on concerted team-based relations rather than divisions of labour, and a reflexive research practice that strives to involve all team members in all aspects of knowledge construction processes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the fit between Fairtrade consumption and conceptualizations of the reflexive project of selfhood and argue that a particular and partial reflexivity is invoked and mobilized.
Abstract: This article critically considers the `fit' between FairTrade consumption and conceptualizations of the reflexive project of selfhood. By outlining the ways in which FairTrade products are marketed, we argue that a particular and partial reflexivity is invoked and mobilized. Following from recent class debates which apply a Bourdieusian analysis to explore the operations of everyday class distinctions, we explore what such an analysis can offer to the project of critically mapping out the dynamics of this particular reflexivity and ethical consumption. However, FairTrade's emphasis on `just' consumption and invocation of a deserving farmer/worker allows some scope for problematization here too. By turning to an emerging literature on the `moral economy' we reach past the homogenizing tendency in some `new' class analyses to suggest possibilities both for a psychosocial imagining of ethical consumption and for fleshing out the conceptualization of a `situated reflexivity' demanded by recent social theory.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider how structures of community feeling and ways of belonging are produced, maintained and recreated in local rural environments, and they argue that rural social organizations, which...
Abstract: This article considers how structures of community feeling and ways of belonging are produced, maintained and recreated in local rural environments. It argues that rural social organizations, which...
TL;DR: This paper used ethnographic data from a study of UK RECs to examine how these bodies assess applications from social scientists, particularly those proposing qualitative research, which opponents claim is given an especially hard time by such committees.
Abstract: For years, sociologists working in other countries or UK-based medical sociologists have complained about the effects of having to seek approval from a research ethics committee (REC) or its equivalent before starting work. With the arrival of the ESRC's Research Ethics Framework, concern about ethics review has expanded to sociologists working on a wider range of topics. This article uses ethnographic data from a study of UK RECs to examine how these bodies assess applications from social scientists, particularly those proposing qualitative research (which opponents claim is given an especially hard time by such committees). These data challenge the idea that RECs are somehow ideologically biased against qualitative research and that they cannot give an adequate assessment of applications from sociologists and other social scientists. The article concludes by suggesting sociologists' time would be better spent studying the institutional nature of the university RECs stimulated by the ESRC.
TL;DR: This paper conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 63 white middle-class families whose children attend inner London comprehensives, and found that the white middle classes, as they are inscribed in policy...
Abstract: This article draws on qualitative in-depth interviews with 63 white middle-class families whose children attend inner London comprehensives.The white middle classes, as they are inscribed in policy...
TL;DR: The death taboo has been depicted as modernity's burial of the question of human mortality, and death is prejudged as a ''pornographic' event that should be veiled as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The death taboo has been depicted as modernity's burial of the question of human mortality. Death is prejudged as a `pornographic' event that should be veiled. Critics argue that this taboo has bee...
TL;DR: This paper found that a considerable proportion of Europeans see themselves as what could be called cosmopolitan, however, socially stratified and do not necessarily go hand in hand with open-mindedness.
Abstract: Theoretical concepts of cosmopolitanism suggest new forms of societal and political organization.Yet these notions are overwhelmingly normative and hardly specify the ways in which cosmopolitanism is constructed from`below'.To what extent are people cosmopolitan and who are they? In following the debate on cosmopolitanization we offer a case study of Europe in which we provide grounding for `global' forms of identification. Using the recent Eurobarometer 64.2 (European Commission, 2005),`global belonging' is juxtaposed with attitudes and perceptions of the European Union, describing theoretically claimed openness and recognition of difference.We find that a considerable proportion of Europeans see themselves as what could be called cosmopolitan.These views are, however, socially stratified and do not necessarily go hand in hand with open-mindedness. To conclude, the social reality of cosmopolitanism is ambiguous: substantive European cosmopolitanism exists next to more banal forms, but forms of non-cosmop...
TL;DR: The authors argue that this literature could be very important for sociology but that much of the sociological content and purchase of this literature is irrelevant to sociology, and they argue that it could be used for sociology.
Abstract: This article engages with the current literature on `small world networks'. I argue that this literature could be very important for sociology but that much of the sociological content and purchase...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a typology of future orientations which demonstrates the salience of employment to young adults' identities and reveal a propensity towards detailed employment-centred life plans amongst young adults in Bristol, which contrasts with the desire to take life a ''day at a time'' in Gothenburg.
Abstract: This article challenges existing contentions regarding the weakening of work identities amongst young adults and the proposition that labour market uncertainty inhibits life planning. It draws on analysis of 48 in-depth young adult interviews carried out in two globalizing, post-industrial cities, Bristol and Gothenburg, and presents a typology of future orientations which demonstrates the salience of employment to young adult identities. Since young adult life narratives are often about what they want to become, rather than what they are, analysis of aspirations is crucial for understanding the place of employment in their lives. The findings reveal a propensity towards detailed employment-centred life plans amongst young adults in Bristol, which contrasts with the desire to take life a `day at a time' in Gothenburg.These emergent future orientations reveal alternative versions of the `good life', which stem from the contrasting education and welfare regimes of the two countries, Britain and Sweden
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present quantitative data collected through postal and web-based questionnaires looking at the frequency, location and motivations for the purchase of counterfeit leisure items for consumers in the United Kingdom.
Abstract: Social science, policy and popular discourse around counterfeiting regularly position consumers of counterfeit goods as part of a technological elite or as motivated by anti-capitalist or anti-corporate positions. In order to explore this construction and highlight its associated limitations, this article presents quantitative data collected through postal and web-based questionnaires looking at the frequency, location and motivations for the purchase of counterfeit leisure items for consumers in the United Kingdom.The article suggests that the purchase and consumption of counterfeit goods is commonplace across a broader variety of age, gender and socio-economic status categories than often assumed.The study also highlights the value of viewing the consumption of counterfeit goods as social and situated, occurring within existing social networks and familiar locations, and as closely related to other consumption practices.
TL;DR: This paper examined respondents' accounts about how they negotiate coming out as lesbian parents within their family of origin, and their perspectives on how their families of origin "come out" (or not) within their own social networks in order to claim new kin relationships with the lesbian parent family.
Abstract: This chapter draws upon data from a qualitative study of the family lives of same-sex (female) couples in England who had their first and subsequent children in the context of their current relationship. I examine respondents’ accounts about how they negotiate coming out as lesbian parents within their family of origin, and their perspectives on how their families of origin ‘come out’ (or not) within their own social networks in order to claim new kin relationships with the lesbian parent family. These new forms of ‘coming out’ resonate with Finch’s (2007) notion of ‘displaying families’—in which narratives around coming out as lesbian parents display meanings of family and contribute to ways in which these meanings are conveyed, recognised and understood as ‘family-like’ relationships.
TL;DR: In this paper, ex-workers were re-employed as heritage guides to tell the story of their own lives at a living history coalmining-museum, exploring the nature of the performances/representations of class that are produced.
Abstract: Industrial heritage deals directly with working-class experience in a very public forum, but has not really been analysed in relation to class issues. This article discusses the case of ex-workers re-employed as heritage guides to tell the story of their own lives at a living history coalmining-museum, exploring the nature of the performances/representations of class that are produced. Heritage performance is caught up in a double bind that is familiar to other kinds of working-class representation: a continual equivocation between foregrounding dignity and autonomy on the one hand, and acknowledging subjugation and defeat on the other.This tension is played out, though differently, both in the guides' past occupations and their present ones.The article examines the public narratives they produce for visitors in the here and now as well as locating these in an understanding of their current positions as tour guide employees and their living through of their memories and identities as mineworkers.