Showing papers on "Social network published in 1987"

Social theory and modern sociology

Abstract: Preface. 1. What Do Sociologists Do?. 2. Nine Theses on the Future of Sociology. 3. The Social Sciences and Philosophy -- Trends in Recent Social Theory. 4. Structuralism, Post-Structuralism and the Production of Culture. 5. Erving Goffman as a Systematic Social Theorist. 6. Time and Social Organization. 7. Nation-States and Violence. 8. Social Theory and Problems of Macroeconomics. 9. Out of the Orrery: E.P.Thompson on Consciousness and History. 10. Reason Without Revolution? Heberman&apos s Theory of Communicative Action. 11. Alvin Gouldner and the Intellenctuals. 12. The Perils of Punditry: Gorz and the End of the Working Class. Index.

A Social Information Processing Model of Media Use in Organizations

Abstract: This article presents a model of how social influence processes affect individuals' attitudes toward communication media and media use behavior. The model integrates two areas of research. One body of work posits that media use patterns are the outcome of objectively rational choices. These choices involve evaluating communication options and selecting an appropriate medium to match the communication requirements of the task. The second perspective is social information processing theory (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978). This approach proposes that attitudes and behaviors are partially determined by information embedded in the social context. The synthesis of these perspectives asserts that media characteristics and attitudes are in part socially constructed. Furthermore, attitudes are influenced by attributions based on observations of one's own past behavior. This model is shown to explain a wider range of existing empirical findings. Also, new propositions are derived to guide future research. This social co...

The Social Process of International Migration

Abstract: The social process of network growth helps to explain the rapid increase in the migration of Mexicans to the United States during the 1970s. Migrant networks are webs of social ties that link potential migrants in sending communities to people in receiving societies, and their existence lowers the costs of international movement. With each person that becomes a migrant, the cost of migration is reduced for a set of friends and relatives, inducing them to migrate and further expanding the network. As a result of this dynamic interaction, network connections to the United States have become widespread throughout Mexico, and the probability of international migration from that country is high.

Social networks: we get by with (and in spite of) a little help from our friends.

Abstract: Studies of social support networks have almost exclusively measured only their positive aspects. In this research, we investigated both the helpful or positive and the upsetting or negative aspects of social networks in a longitudinal study of spouses caring for a husband or wife with Alzheimer's disease, a progressive senile dementia. Measures of helpful and upsetting aspects of the care givers' networks, derived from interviews and daily interaction ratings, were studied for their relations with overall network satisfaction and depression at an initial interview period (n = 68) and at a follow-up period about 10 months later (n = 38). Results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses, in which care givers' age and sex and a measure of the spouses' health status were controlled, showed that the care givers' degree of upset with their networks was strongly associated with lower network satisfaction and increased depression at both time periods. Helpful aspects bore little or no direct relation to either depression or network satisfaction. Helpful aspects of the network did, however, interact with network upset in predicting network satisfaction, and depression (combined probabilities test, p less than .05). Longitudinal predictions of follow-up depression, after age, sex, care givers' health status, and initial depression levels were controlled, showed that changes in upsetting aspects of one's network were predictive of changes in depression over time. We interpreted these results within an attributional framework that emphasizes the salience of upsetting events within a social network.

Social support and social structure

Abstract: The burgeoning study of social support in relation to social stress and health would benefit from increased attention to issues of social structure. Three aspects of social relationships, all often referred to as social support, must be more clearly distinguished—(1) their existence or quantity (i.e., social integration), (2) their formal structure (i.e., social networks), and (3) their functional or behavioral content (i.e., the most precise meaning of “social support”)—and the causal relationships between the structure of social relationships (social integration and networks) and their functional content (social support) must be more clearly understood. Research and theory are needed on the determinants of social integration, networks, and support as well as their consequences for stress and health. Among potential determinants, macrosocial structures and processes particularly merit attention.

Research Methods in Social Network Analysis

Abstract: Based on a conference held in Laguna Beach, CA, 1980. Comprises 14 essays on network representations and boundaries, relational structure, clustering and positioning of actors. No index. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

The Shaping of Social Organization: Social Rule System Theory with Applications

Abstract: Actors, Social Action, and Systems - PART ONE: SOCIAL RULE SYSTEM THEORY Social Rule System Theory The Organization of Social Action and Social Forms Actors, Rule Systems, and Social Structure Rule Systems, Organization of Society, and Social Power Consensus and Conflict in Social Life Grammers of Social Institutions and the Structuring of Spheres of Social Action The Structuration of Markets and Other Distributional Regimes - PART TWO: MARKETS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SYSTEMS Market Organization and Performance Properties Collective Bargaining Regimes and Their Transformation Multiple Rule Systems Formal and Informal Social Organization - PART THREE: BUREAUCRACY AND FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS Local Public Administration as an Arena of Conflicting Rule Systems Hydro-Power Administration in a Changing World Industrialism, Environmentalism, and Center-Periphery Struggle in Norway Technology and Technique, Social Action, and Rule Systems - PART FOUR: EXPERTISE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION A Modern Oracle and Politics Studies in Energy Forecasting Science and Practical Action The Study of Competing Logics Conclusion Principles of Social Organization in the Structuration of Modern Western Societies

Gender differences in perceived intimacy with different members of adolescents' social networks

Abstract: Previous research has clearly established important gender differences in how intimacy is viewed within a narrow set of relationships, primarily those with same-sex peers This article presents a new social pressures model that delineates a set of diverse forces believed to influence gender differences in intimacy across a much wider set of social relationships during early adolescence Although it was impossible to examine the actual operation of the postulated pressures, an extensive data set on all the important people in the lives of over 2000 seventh- through tenth-grade white suburban adolescents made it possible to test a set of 22 hypotheses derived from the model These hypotheses covered relationships with nuclear, extended family, and nonkin members of the social network who were of different ages and genders Results indicated that, while gender differences in the perceived intimacy of relationships were widespread, they were neither present in all types of relationships nor were those found always in the same direction Furthermore, the social pressures model developed accurately predicted both the location and direction of the gender differences across most of the 22 different types of relationships Suggestions for an elaboration of the model are noted, along with additional research issues that need to be addressed

Integrating societal and psychological rules of entitlement: The basic task of each social actor and fundamental problem for the social sciences

Abstract: A preliminary statement of a theoretical framework integrating psychological and societal determinants of justice in human affairs is presented. It is proposed that the social structure provides the rules of entitlement and decision making that regulate the course of routine social interaction. These societally based norms are representable in people's conscious thought processes. By contrast, the psychologically generated rules of entitlement, typically contradict conventionally accepted rules of thought and discourse and thus remain “unconscious.” The major part of the discussion considers the motivationally important circumstances that engage the unconscious psychologically compelling determinants and how their appearance in behavior is both shaped and legitimized by the situationally prevailing normative context. The final section considers some of the more important methodological, theoretical, and social policy implications of this social psychological theory of entitlements.

Differential effects of social support and social network on physiological and social outcomes in men and women with type II diabetes mellitus.

Abstract: Patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) were advised to comply with a complex behavioral regimen of diet and exercise. The relationship between social support satisfaction and social support network size was evaluated using the Social Support Questionnaire for 32 men and 44 women with a confirmed diagnosis of NIDDM. Control of diabetes, as measured by the glycosylated hemoglobin assay, was significantly correlated with social support satisfaction for women but negatively correlated with social support satisfaction for men. Social support network size differentially predicted success in a program for men and women. For women, network size was significantly correlated with failure to attend sessions and with failure to complete a diary. For these women, network size was not significantly correlated with weight loss, which was the goal of the program. For men, network size was correlated with increases in weight, cholesterol, and triglycerides over an 18-month period. We conclude that social support network size and satisfaction have different functions for men and women faced with a serious chronic illness. Network size adversely affects success in a program, whereas social support satisfaction has some benefits for women. The direction of the influence of social network may be determined by the similarity or dissimilarity of network norms to the desired behavior.

Citizenship, social theory, and social change

Abstract: The concept of citizenship the nature of the citizen status and role, its rights, duties, and powers, and the nature of the community of citizens is much used but little analyzed in social policy analysis. And, outside of political philosophy, it is surprisingly little used or analyzed in social theory in general. Some of the reasons for the relative neglect may have to do with the assumptions that ground the enterprise of political sociology and that render it, unlike "political economy," merely a department of sociology rather than a general version of social theory. These assumptions tend to hold that political phenomena like states, citizens, and their activities are dependent variables that can be understood and explained by reference to deeper historical and social forces. In the classic tradition of the social theory, social changes in the mode of production (Marx), in the rationalization process (Weber), and in the development of the division of labor (Durkheim) have all been used to explain political phenomena. Sociology's underlying suspicion of eighteenth century "bourgeois" individualism and contractarian political philosophy tends to be carried over against the notion of the citizen that may be assumed to embody them. Thus political sociology tends, when examining the political phenomena of citizen's actions, struggles and movements, to reveal their impotence, dependency, and in any case their ignorance, in respect of the powers of such phenomena as the state's bureaucracy, the ruling groups and elites, dominant and mystifying ideologies, and ultimately socioeconomic forces.

Social Network Characteristics and Psychological Well-Being: A Replication and Extension

Abstract: This article represents a replication and extension of a previous study by Israel and her colleagues that investigated the relationship between psychological well-being and social network characteristics. The present research included both a comparable sample of white women (N=104) between the ages of 60 and 68 (as in the original study), and a more extensive adult population of men and women (N=718) between the ages of 50 and 95. The network characteristics examined are categorized along three broad dimensions: Structure—linkages in the overall network (size and density); interaction-nature of the linkages themselves (frequency, geographic dispersion, and reciprocity); and functions that networks provide (affective support and instrumental support). The results indicate a predominance of comparable findings for both the replication and extension studies. Of the eight network characteristics examined, the results of five of the regression analyses were the same across all three studies. The network charac...

The Interview Measure of Social Relationships: the description and evaluation of a survey instrument for assessing personal social resources.

Abstract: Measures of personal social resources and support are criticised for failing to assess clearly defined behaviours and self-evaluations of relationships that relate to specific events and time periods. A new schedule, the Interview Measure of Social Relationships (IMSR), attempts to resolve some of these problems. It assesses the size and density of the primary social network, contacts with aquaintances and others, adequacy of interaction and supportiveness of relationships, and crisis support. A hierarchical data base allows flexible access to the data. Initial evaluation of the IMSR demonstrates good inter-rater reliability, a high degree of temporal stability of close relationships, and good acceptability for use in large-scale surveys of individuals with differing social and educational backgrounds.

Gender differences in the structure and support characteristics of black adolescents' social networks

Abstract: This study explores gender differences in the social network characteristics of 390 Black American adolescents with a mean age of 14.8 Each adolescent completed the Social Network Record (SNR), which yields scores representing the organizational/demographic structure and the quality of emotional support in the network. It was hypothesized that males and females would construct different network profiles. Gender differences in both structural and support characteristics were found. Females indicated that they had more frequent contact with network members, that their network was on average slightly older, and that they tended to see network members in more private settings. Females also estimated that they know more people than males, although there were no differences between males and females in the actual number of network members listed and described. Males were much more likely to report having larger groups of intimate friends than did females. While females tended to nominate family members as role models and were more likely to indicate feeling close to both male and female peers, males indicated overwhelmingly that they felt close to male peers. The differences indicate that male and female adolescents experience very differently structured forms of social support. These results are discussed as they relate to gender differences found in achievement and other indices of competence during adolescence.

The Concept of Ideology in Organizational Analysis: The Sociology of Knowledge or the Social Psychology of Beliefs?

Abstract: Historically, the sociology of knowledge has focused on ideology as the examination of how ideas are rooted in the social structure and how they are used to serve group interests. Recently, however, organization scholars have defined ideologies as sets of beliefs, without reference to underlying interests. The present paper argues that this usage makes ideology redundant with concepts that already have been examined rigorously by social psychologists, but that the original meaning promises new insights.

Social Network Density and Rehospitalization Among Young Adult Patients

Abstract: The authors interviewed 30 patients under age 40 who had been hospitalized repeatedly to determine the relationship between social network density, or the extent to which network members know one another, and rehospitalization. They found that moderate levels of network density were associated with fewer days in the hospital. Time spent in the hospital was not related to network size, and patient diagnosis was not a good precdictor of hospitalization. The authors hypothesize that a moderately dense network is optimal for psychologically vulnerable individuals because id can be maintained under strees.

Reading Politics: Social Theory and Social Policy

Abstract: Arguments within social theory have only recently been brought to bear on social policy or policy analysis. This paper sketches some of the principles of structuralism and hermeneutics, and argues ...

The Relations between School and Social Structure

Abstract: Two quite different orientations toward schooling can be found throughout its history. These two orientations have created a dilemma for educational policy that has never been satisfactorily resolved. First, schools have been seen as the society’s instrument to release a child from the blinders imposed by accident of birth into this family or that family. They have been designed to open broad horizons to the child, transcending the limitations of the parents. They have taken children from disparate cultural backwaters into the mainstream of a nation’s culture. They have been a major element in social mobility, freeing children from the poverty of their parents and the low status of their social origins. They have been a means of stripping away identities of ethnicity and social origin and implanting a common identity.