bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Molecular Characters on Systematics of Filamentous Ascomycetes
Authors: Samuels G J , Seifert K A
Published: July 2003

Information derived from nucleic acid analyses either has complemented phylogenetic arguments based on phenetic characters or facilitated choice among competing hypotheses. Despite limited taxon sampling, a picture of the interrelationships of filamentous Ascomyceteas at higher taxonomic levels is developing. Intergeneric relationships within groups that include economically important fungi (e.g. Eurotiales, Hypocreales) are being clarified, and generic circumscriptions redefined. Molecular analyses have supported predictions of links between individual asexual species of groups or asexual species of the Fungi Imperfecti, and groups of Ascomycete genera and species. However, individual asexual species have not been linked unequivocally to individual Ascomycete species. Anamorph names are necessary and should be retained because teleomorphs may not be recognized in vivo nor formed in vitro. In the few cases where phenetic and molecular phylogenies seem irreconcilable, the ribosomal genes may not give the most parsimonious explanation. The taxon name “Plectomycetes” is confused and should be dropped.
Concepts and Terminology on Plant/Pest Relationships: Toward Consensus in Plant Pathology and Crop Protection
Authors: Bos L , Parlevliet J E
Published: July 2003

In plant pathology, terminological confusion still reigns despite national attempts at standardization. Terminological agreements reached within the crop protection community in The Netherlands are elaborated here and presented as an endeavor toward international consensus. Much of the on-going terminological disconcert derives from differences in outlook between academically oriented biologists (including biologically trained pathologists) and pathologists working in and for agricultural institutions where disease and harm have anthropocentric connotations. The name crop protection science more realistically covers and marks the field dealt with by most plant pathologists, and adoption of the FAO-defined term pest to encompass all biotic factors that are harmful to plants and their products is advocated.

The effect of pests on plants and the interrelationships between pests and plants in dependence upon the environment, topical in resistance breeding, are especially dealt with. A diagrammatic model is used to better describe these relationships and to define the terms that denote the phenomena and mechanisms involved.
The Oak Wilt Enigma: Perspectives from the Texas Epidemic
Authors: Appel D N
Published: July 2003

Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt, the oak wilt pathogen, is currently causing massive losses of semievergreen live oaks (Quercus fusiformis Small and Q. virginiana Mill.) in central Texas. Given the relatively limited oak mortality caused by C. fagacearum in the deciduous forests of the North Central, Midwestern, and Mid-Atlantic United States, this Texas epidemic was not anticipated. The intensity of oak wilt in Texas is attributed to a number of factors related to host characteristics and the ability of the pathogen to adapt to limiting environmental conditions. Oak wilt management in semievergreen oaks requires considerable revision of the control techniques previously designed for deciduous oaks. The Texas oak wilt epidemic provides a new perspective from which to evaluate questions concerning oak wilt, including the origins of the pathogen as well as the potential for future losses in unaffected oak forests.
The Sociology of Agriculture: Toward a New Rural Sociology
Authors: Newby Howard
Published: July 2003

Rural sociology has recently developed a new research agenda focussing on the sociology of agriculture. This has led to a revitalization of a field of research that had lost its way since the decline of the rural-urban continuum in the 1960s. The crisis that occurred in rural sociology in the 1970s is discussed in relation both to this theoretical vacuum and to the failure to achieve a policy impact. It is argued that the sociology of agriculture offers a potentially successful means of overcoming this crisis, but some of the difficulties in utilizing this approach are also discussed. Observations are made on the institutional setting of rural sociology and on whether it is compatible with the development of a critical sociology of agriculture.
Marxist Perspectives in the Sociology of Law
Authors: Spitzer Steven
Published: July 2003

This review considers the problems and prospects associated with the development of Marxist perspectives in the sociology of law. Taking as its starting point the efforts to construct a Marxist understanding of law through the traditional approach of legal economism, a number of directions and themes in the development of a new Marxist vision of law are explored. Alternatives to “legal nihilism” are examined in conjunction with a survey of the movement of Marxist theory toward a “looser” and “flatter” conception of the relationship between law and society. The role of politics, ideology, and history in the reconstruction of Marxist legal theory are then considered with special attention to the virtues and limits of “imbricationist” and “constitutive” accounts. The analysis ends with a reexamination of the points of convergence and divergence among Marxism, sociology, law, and socialism.
The Sociology of Transportation
Authors: Yago Glenn
Published: July 2003

This article provides a comprehensive review of developments in transportation research relevant to sociological inquiry about urban transportation and its consequences for urban structure, both spatial and social. Recent research has gone beyond initial observations about the linkages between transportation use and the spatial form of cities to further detail its impacts upon residential segregation, decentralization, and inequalities in mobility access. Historical case studies of local transit firms and politics, industrial organization of the transportation industry and its impact upon transportation policy, and national and local studies of the political economy of urban transporation have advanced a comparative research framework for understanding the institutional forces that constrain transportation choices and technical development. Finally, social psychological research, through laboratory experimental studies, field studies, and time-budget analysis, has just begun to examine the impacts of transportation upon social interaction in the family and community. This literature review concludes with proposed research questions for future investigations.
Sociological Aspects of Attribution
Authors: Crittenden Kathleen S.
Published: July 2003

Attribution theory, the study of the causal interpretations that persons give to events in their environment, has recently been a major emphasis in psychological social psychology. This paper explores the utility of the classic theoretical statements in attribution for sociological problems, and reviews the efforts of sociologists to apply attribution concepts in their research. The theory has been criticized regarding its limited applicability to attribution occurring in interaction or in natural contexts. These criticisms are reviewed, as well as arguments for synthesizing attribution theory with symbolic interactionism, and efforts to apply such a synthesis in the areas of labeling, impression management, and accounts. Future research and conceptualization agendas are suggested, along with a research strategy for accomplishing these.
Individual and Collective Behaviors Within Gatherings, Demonstrations, and Riots
Authors: McPhail Clark , Wohlstein Ronald T.
Published: July 2003

The life cycles of gatherings, demonstrations, and riots begin with an assembling phase and end with a dispersal phase. The three types of events are primarily distinguished by the form and content of individual and collective behaviors that occur in the interim phase when a number of people are in the same locale at the same time. We review the past 15 years’ research on behaviors in this phase. We first consider some elementary forms of collective behavior that frequently occur in all gatherings, demonstrations, and riots. We next examine more complex dimensions and forms of behavior within political, religious, and sport demonstrations. We then review research on the individual and aggregate violence against person, property, and property rights that distinguishes riots. Finally, we note some recurring patterns in the research on all three types of events, and we identify problems warranting further investigation.
Organizational Ecology
Authors: Carroll Glenn R.
Published: July 2003

Recent research on organizational ecology is reviewed. Three levels of analysis and approaches to evolution are distinguished: (a) the organizational level, which uses a developmental approach; (b) the population level. which uses a selection approach; and (c) the community level, which uses a macroevolutionary approach. Theoretical and empirical research is critiqued within this framework. Proposals to develop organizational taxonomies are considered.
The Petite Bourgeoisie in Late Capitalism
Authors: Bechhofer F. , Elliott B.
Published: July 2003

Over the past decade or so social scientists and policy makers have grown increasingly interested in the role of the petite bourgeoisie in capitalist societies. The paper begins by sketching the major sociological approaches to the study of this stratum and the diverse characteristics of and propositions put forth about the fortunes of the petite bourgeoisie.

The second section draws together evidence from several western societies in an attempt to appraise arguments about the alleged archaism, the long run decline, or the possible regeneration of the small business sector of western economies.

The economic significance of the petite bourgeoisie is assessed with respect to information about the capacity of the stratum to provide employment, to generate new jobs, and to stimulate innovation. The small business sector also has considerable political significance. Though its role in the political life of particular societies shows considerable variation it is everywhere an important repository of ideas and sentiments supportive of capitalism and the institutions of liberal democracy. This is a fact which contemporary right wing governments have been quick to recognize. The petite bourgeoisie is a socially distinctive and persistent element in capitalist societies. Factors that do much to account for its reproduction include the effects of recession, processes of technical change, and government policies that support and encourage smallseale entrepreneurial activity. The paper concludes by arguing that even in economies dominated by large corporations, petits bourgeois businesses continue to provide jobs for a substantial proportion of the population and the most personal and direct experience of capitalism for many citizens.
Social Problems Theory: The Constructionist View
Authors: Schneider Joseph W.
Published: July 2003

This paper reviews and critiques the origin and development of a new specialty in sociology, the sociology of social problems. While social problems long has been a topic of sociological attention, it is only since the work of Blumer and, most especially, Spector & Kitsuse in the early 1970s, that a theoretically integrated and empirically viable tradition of writing and research has developed. The central proposition of this tradition is that social problems are the definitional activities of people around conditions and conduct they find troublesome, including others' definitional activities. In short, social problems are socially constructed, both in terms of the particular acts and interactions problem participants pursue, and in terms of the process of such activities through time. The founding theoretical statements are reviewed and the research is discussed in terms of the following categories: containing trouble and avoiding problems; the creation, ownership, and processing of problems; public regulatory bureaucracies and legal institutions; medicalizing problems and troubles; and social problems and the media. The paper closes with an overview of problems and insights of the perspective. There is a bibliography of 105 items.
Family Violence
Authors: Gelles Richard J.
Published: July 2003

This chapter reviews research on family violence. Once viewed as rare and confined to a few mentally ill offenders, family violence has rapidly captured public and social scientific attention. The review examines the “discovery” of family violence as a social and sociological problem. Among the major problems that confront students of family violence are defining, both nominally and operationally, child abuse, wife abuse, and violence. Access to cases, sampling, and measurement of violence are additional issues that are reviewed. Research on family violence is described with a specific focus on the extent of the various forms of family violence and the factors associated with violence in the home. Seven theoretical models that have been developed to analyze the specific issue of family violence are briefly reviewed. The chapter concludes by covering new issues in the field of family violence, including research on the responses of victims of wife abuse, studies of the consequences of child abuse, and evaluation studies of prevention and treatment programs.
Urban Policy Analysis
Authors: Clark Terry Nichols
Published: July 2003

Four overlapping subfields of urban policy analysis are reviewed. The political leadership analyses include elite theories, group theory, neo-Marxist work, and network analyses. Consideration of citizen preferences involves populist spatial theories, budget pies, and policy responsiveness. Bureaucratic theories include incrementalism, the dynamic bureau head, and professionalism. Population and economic location analyses increasingly stress small firms, simultaneity of job and residential choice, and impacts of public policy.

These alternative approaches were often advanced as one-factor interpretations. But a contextual relativism approach seeks to reconcile their ostensibly conflicting results. Results differ by context. Current work specifies how rules of the game, identified by distinct political cultures, shift processes across contexts.
Organizational Culture
Authors: Ouchi William G. , Wilkins Alan L.
Published: July 2003

The contemporary study of organizational culture reflects mainline concerns of the organizational sociologist. Though anthropology and cognitive psychology have made significant contributions to this new field, the study of organizational culture may be seen as a return to some of the most basic concerns about the nature of organizations and the appropriate methods for analyzing them. We review current work on theory, empirical studies, and contributions—both theoretical and empirical—o the understanding of planned change of organizations. The contemporary study of organizational culture reflects several hotly contested concerns, among which are the following: Can culture be intentionally managed? Must culture be studied using the tools of the phenomenologist or the ethnographer, or does the use of multivariate statistics also have a place? Which social science paradigm is most appropriate for understanding organizational culture: phenomenology, symbolic interaction, semiotics, structural-functional anthropology, cognitive psychology?
Female Labor Force Behavior and Fertility in the United States
Authors: Lehrer Evelyn , Nerlove Marc
Published: July 2003

This article critically reviews the literature on fertility and female labor force behavior in the United States, with particular emphasis on recent quantitative research by economists, demographers, and sociologists. We first examine the empirical evidence regarding the influence on fertility and female employment of certain key variables: the value of female time, husband's income, and relative economic status. Then the issue of whether there is direct causality between fertility and female labor supply is addressed. We review simultaneous equations models and a new approach to the study of causality. Sequential decision-making models are also discussed.

Factors that may mediate the fertility-labor supply nexus are examined. These include childcare arrangements, husband's income, wife's education, and the convenience of employment. Differentials in the relationship between fertility and labor supply among racial and religious groups are noted. The article concludes with a discussion of changes over time in the association between fertility and female employment.
Religious Movements: Cult and Anticult Since Jonestown
Authors: Barker Eileen
Published: July 2003

The article contains an overview of theoretical and empirical work carried out by sociologists of religion in the study of new religious movements and the anticult movement since 1978; it pays special attention to the aftereffects of the mass suicide/murder of followers of Jim Jones in Guyana. The different theories as to why people join the movement are discussed-whether they are 'brainwashed,' what influences (pushes and/or pulls) the wider society has on the membership. Mention is made of the role of sociologists themselves as witnesses in court cases and as participant observers at conferences organized by the movements. Bibliographic details are supplied of writings about particular movements, in particular countries, and concerning particular problems (finances, family life, legal issues, conversion, 'deprograrnming,' etc) It is suggested that the differences between the movements are considerably greater than is often recognized and that there is a need for further comparative research and more refined classificatory systems before our theoretical knowledge can develop and be tested satisfactorily. Various changes (such as the demographic variables of an aging membership, the death of charismatic leaders, and the socialization of second-generation membership; changing relationships with the 'host' society; and the growth—or demise—of the movements) provide much more of interest for the sociologist to study in the future.
New Developments in the Sampling of Special Populations
Authors: Sudman Seymour , Kalton Graham
Published: July 2003

This paper describes alternative methods for careful sampling of special populations. It discusses the use of single or multiple lists, even when incomplete, along with supplementary measures using telephone and mail techniques. If the special populations are clustered there are several alternatives for reducing costs substantially. These involve telephone or mail screenings to eliminate zero segments with a single contact, use of two or three contacts to eliminate zero segments if face-to-face screening is required, use of lists to identify nonzero segments, use of combined screening, and reducing the sampling rate in nonzero areas that have low densities.

For some populations the use of network sampling can be very effective. Some populations can be defined by their activities and sampled at locations where they participate. These careful methods should be used if one is trying to generalize to a total special population.
Theories of the Welfare State
Authors: Quadagno Jill
Published: July 2003

In the post-World War II era the apparent success of Keynesian economic principles in evening out the instabilities of the business cycle stimulated rapid growth in public welfare expenditures in Western capitalist democracies. For social science, welfare state expansion was not a puzzle but a given. When the economic crisis of the 1970s undermined faith in permanent and sustained growth in welfare programs, the new agenda for social theory concentrated upon the conditions that hindered or favored development. Ironically, both neo-Marxists and conservative economists reached the same conclusion: Welfare programs undermined profitability. The first half of this paper traces these theoretical developments, both in relation to internal debates among social scientists and in regard to external social and economic conditions that shaped the context of theorizing about the welfare state.

Underlying the broader debates about the factors influencing welfare state development has been a more specific concern with the exceptionalism of the American welfare state. Here the central agenda has been to explain why the United States was late in developing national welfare programs and why the programs that did arise contained a bifurcated structure that separated benefits for the poor from those available to all citizens as a right. Three explanations have emerged: the failure of organized labor, the legacy of American politics and the dualism of the American economy. This paper critically assesses the theoretical relevance of these arguments and their implications for recent attacks on benefit programs.
Gentrification: Culture and Capital in the Urban Core
Authors: Zukin Sharon
Published: July 2003

Gentrification, the conversion of socially marginal and working-class areas of the central city to middle-class residential use, reflects a movement, that began in the 1960s, of private-market investment capital into downtown districts of major urban centers. Related to a shift in corporate investment and a corresponding expansion of the urban service economy, gentrification was seen more immediately in architectural restoration of deteriorating housing and the clustering of new cultural amenities in the urban core.

Research on gentrification initially concentrated on documenting its extent, tracing it as a process of neighborhood change, and speculating on its consequences for reversing trends of suburbanization and inner-city decline. But a cumulation of 10 years of research findings suggests, instead, that it results in a geographical reshuffling, among neighborhoods and metropolitan areas, of professional, managerial, and technical employees who work in corporate, government, and business services.

Having verified the extent of the phenomenon, empirical research on gentrification has reached a stalemate. Theoretically interesting problems concern the use of historic preservation to constitute a new urban middle class, gentrification and displacement, the economic rationality of the gentrifier's behavior, and the economic restructuring of the central city in which gentrification plays a part.

Broadening the analytic framework beyond demographic factors and neoclassical land use theory is problematic because of serious conceptual and methodological disagreements among neo-Marxist, neo-Weberian, and mainstream analysts. Yet efforts to understand gentrification benefit from the use of economic paradigms by considering such issues as production, consumption, and social reproduction of the urban middle class, as well as the factors that create a supply of gentrifiable housing and demand for it on the part of potential gentrifiers.

An emerging synthesis in the field integrates economic and cultural analysis. The mutual validation and valorization of urban art and real estate markets indicates the importance of the cultural constitution of the higher social strata in an advanced service economy. It also underlines how space and time are used in the social and material constitution of an urban middle class.
Decision-Making at the Top of Organizations
Authors: Hickson David J.
Published: July 2003

Strategic decision-making processes at the top of organizations are examined. Research is reviewed on types of process movement, on the matters under decision, the problems raised, the interests implicated, the rules of the game, and its outcomes and implementation. Methodology is found to have gone through a conventional sequence of development from the small-scale intensive study to the large-scale extensive study, the latter very recently. Methodology has been catching up with theory, which has long been well developed. There are three main theories, overlapping and complementary—the incrementalism theory, the garbage-can theory, and the dual rationality theory. Five areas for further research are indicated.
The Effect of Women's Labor Force Participation on the Distribution of Income in the United States
Authors: Treas Judith
Published: July 2003

Because the wives of highly paid men participate less in the labor force, the earnings of working wives make the distribution of pretax, money income more equal for families than it might otherwise be. Although there is considerable speculation that future developments in women's labor force participation may foster greater inequality, the empirical results are mixed. To assess the impact of women's labor force participation on the distribution of well-being, future research will need to consider the implications of taxes, job-related expenses, fringe benefits, and the value of homemaker services. Future research would also benefit from linking empirical research to an implicit sociological theory of family income-getting—one that recognizes the motivational structure of household decision-making as well as the changing environment that families face. Rising housing costs, poorer economic prospects of young men, and women's higher wage rates, for example, make wives' paychecks more salient, but family dependence on married women's earnings means secondary earners become a less viable way of coping with unemployment.
Making Sense of Diversity: Recent Research on Hispanic Minorities in the United States
Authors: Portes Alejandro , Truelove Cynthia
Published: July 2003

This is a review of the principal strands of the sociological literature on Spanish-origin groups in the United States. It emphasizes: (a) their labor market characteristics; (b) English acquisition; and (c) political participation and naturalization. We conclude that the label “Hispanic” is itself problematic because of the diversity of the groups included. There are trends toward convergence in political orientations and voting, but there are major divergences in patterns of social and economic adaptation. The rapid increase of new Latin American immigrant communities is likely to add to the diversity characterizing the major Spanish-origin groups already settled in the country.
Evaluating Work and Comparable Worth
Authors: England Paula , Dunn Dana
Published: July 2003

Policy debates over comparable worth have directed the attention of sociologists to questions of how employers evaluate the worth of jobs and determine interjob wage differences. We discuss techniques of job evaluation, developed primarily by industrial psychologists. Job evaluation can embody some kinds of gender bias; nonetheless, it is useful in detecting gender discrimination of other types. The methods and findings of job evaluation are then situated within theoretical positions in sociology: the global theories of functionalism and conflict theory, and the middle range theory of the new structuralism in stratification research. The neoclassical economic view on comparable worth is contrasted with the sociological view.
Equality of Educational Opportunity
Authors: Hallinan M. T.
Published: July 2003

This chapter discusses recent empirical work in the sociology of education which emerged from a widespread concern about equality of educational opportunity. Four bodies of empirical work can be linked to this concern: status attainment studies, school effects studies, research on the organization of schools and instruction, and research on school and classroom processes. The chapter discusses how these bodies of research are linked to an interest in social equality and how they have developed beyond that initial concern. While some comparative, cross-national and cross-cultural research exists in these traditions, this review is limited to work conducted in the United States.
Practical Uses of Multistate Population Models
Authors: Schoen Robert
Published: July 2003

The article provides a nontechnical description of multistate population models, useful analytical tools that can reflect changes over time in the characteristics of a closed group of persons. The multistate life table literature is reviewed, emphasizing applications of the models to studies of marital status, family and household status, interregional migration, and labor force participation and concluding with a discussion of the relationship between multistate and event history models.
Ethnomethodology: A Critical Review
Authors: Atkinson Paul
Published: July 2003

The paper reviews recent publications in ethnomethodology (EM) from sympathetic but critical perspective. It is agreed that EM has made major contributions to sociological theory and to the empirical investigation of everyday life. A number of major reservations are made, however. The author suggests that some contemporary versions of EM—conversation analysis in particular—have an unduly restricted perspective. They give rise to a sociology which is behaviorist and empiricist, and which does not reflect the interpretative origins that inspired EM. Far from being a coherent and homogenous movement, the author suggests, EM is marked by inconsistency.
Some Reflections on the Golden Age of Interdisciplinary Social Psychology
Authors: Sewell William H.
Published: July 2003

In the 25 years or so that began with World War II, there was a great wave of enthusiasm for interdisciplinary social psychology which resulted in the establishment of interdisciplinary social psychology training and research programs in some of the major universities in the United States. By the mid-1960s however, this seeming Golden Age had largely vanished. This article, by one of the participants in this movement, is devoted to an elaboration of how this Golden Age came about and the forces that led to its demise. Its origins are traced to the World War II experiences of social psychologists in interdisciplinary research on the adjustments of the American soldier under the leadership of Samuel Stoffer and with Rensis Likert on the US strategic bombing surveys in Germany and Japan. Many of the participants in this research were greatly impressed by the fruitfulness of interdisciplinary collaboration and were determined to establish interdisciplinary social psychology programs on their return to their universities. Several of these programs were very successful for a number of years, especially those at Harvard and Michigan, but failed to survive and become integrated into the institutional structure of the American university. The reasons for their failures are complex but at least four factors seem to have been important. First, the threat of these programs to the traditional departmental structure of the university—particularly in light of the relatively weak position of the social sciences in that structure. Second, the lack of adequate and appropriate funding from either university or federal sources. Third, the lack of a major breakthrough in social psychological theory. Fourth, advancements in research methods did not produce greatly increased understanding of social psychological phenomena. These factors are examined and contrasted with the situation in the natural sciences, particularly with molecular biology.
Immigration and Urban Change
Authors: Waldinger Roger
Published: July 2003

The immigrants to the United States since 1965 are overwhelmingly an urban population; they have converged on a small number of large metropolitan areas. This article describes the characteristics of the new immigration and its geography. It then focusses on the key immigrant-receiving metropolitan areas and discusses the relationship between the restructuring of their economies and land markets and the employment and settlement patterns of the new immigrants.
The Influence of Sociological Lives: Personal Reflections
Authors: Riley Matilda White
Published: July 2003

In contrast to the well-established influence of social change on sociological lives, the author develops a theory of the influence exerted by the lives and experiences of sociologists on social and intellectual structure and change, both in sociology and in society as a whole. Writing in a semi-autobiographical vein, she uses as examples of this influence fragments from her earlier writings in four areas of current sociological concern: sociological practice, gender, age, and dynamic social systems. These fragments are interwoven with anecdotal accounts of experiences from the lives of well-known sociologists and the author herself, spanning much of the twentieth century. While giving a flavor of her own contributions and also several thwarted attempts, these reflections illustrate how the degree of sociological influence depends on the mesh between the attributes of particular lives and the opportunities afforded at the time by the state of the discipline and of society. Several types of historical structures and changes are identified as either facilitating or hindering the flow of influence, including trends in sociological thought and methods of research, ideologies and values paramount in the discipline, and social and cultural changes in society as a whole. For the future, the question raised is how, in a rapidly changing world, to identify channels for exercising influence on sociology as well as on public policy and professional practice. The concluding hope is that other sociologists may be sensitized to a self-conscious awareness of the special opportunities for influence available in the unique historical era in which their lives unfold.
Poverty and Opportunity Structure in Rural America
Authors: Tickamyer Ann R. , Duncan Cynthia M.
Published: July 2003

Rural areas have a disproportionate share of the US poverty population. Like poor urban communities, the persistence and severity of poverty in rural America can be linked to a limited opportunity structure which is the outcome of both past social and economic development policies and current economic transformation. Many rural communities lack stable employment, opportunities for mobility, investment in the community, and diversity in the economy and other social institutions. They are increasingly socially and spatially isolated and particularly vulnerable to adverse effects from structural economic change. This study reviews research on rural poverty and traces its relationship to its historical roots in social, political, and economic inequality and to current economic restructuring. Relevant sources of information on rural poverty include classic community and regional analyses, studies of rural-urban migration, regional development and underdevelopment, economic restructuring, and labor market analysis.
Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship
Authors: Aldrich Howard E. , Waldinger Roger
Published: July 2003

We examine various approaches to explaining ethnic enterprise, using a framework based on three dimensions: an ethnic group's access to opportunities, the characteristics of a group, and emergent strategies. A common theme pervades research on ethnic business: Ethnic groups adapt to the resources made available by their environments, which vary substantially across societies and over time. Four issues emerge as requiring greater attention: the reciprocal relation between ethnicity and entrepreneurship, more careful use of ethnic labels and categories in research, a need for more multigroup, comparative research, and more process-oriented research designs.
Theories and Methods of Telephone Surveys
Authors: Groves Robert M.
Published: July 2003

This discussion of the theories and methods of telephone surveys begins by considering the theories relevant to understanding mode effects. It analyzes theories related to coverage error, psychological theories of compliance and persuasion relevant to nonresponse error, sociological theories relevant to nonresponse error, and cognitive and social psychological theories relevant to measurement error.

The second part of the chapter discusses results from methodological studies and deals with four kinds of error: coverage error, sampling error, nonresponse error, and measurement error.

The third section of the chapter deals with computer-assisted data collection. The chapter concludes with a summarya nd a short anticipation of the future in telephone survey studies.
Concepts of the Life Cycle: Their History, Meanings, and Uses in the Social Sciences
Authors: O'Rand Angela M. , Krecker Margaret L.
Published: July 2003

Life cycle is among the most widely used concepts in the social sciences. It may be invoked merely to denote temporality. It may be applied metaphorically or heuristically to initiate an analysis. Or it may comprise the core assumptions of a research program in developmental processes. Strictly defined, life cycle refers to maturational and generational processes in natural populations. Alternative conceptions of life cycle, like life span and life course, do not share the same intrinsic reference to generation or reproduction that transcends the single lifetime of the individual. Still these concepts are often used interchangeably. The history, meanings, and uses of these concepts across anthropology, psychology, economics, and sociology are reviewed. Three areas of modern sociology—individual aging, family life cycle, and organizational life cycle—are examined specifically in their treatment of life-cycle concepts. Finally, the implications of alternative usages for the study of populations as opposed to individuals and for the study of stability as opposed to change are considered.
The Risks of Reproductive Impairment in the Later Years of Childbearing
Authors: McFalls Joseph A.
Published: July 2003

A notable feature of the present baby bust in the United States is that substantial proportions of women are delaying much of their childbearing until relatively late in their reproductive lives. One concern about this delayed childbearing is that many women may end up either childless or with fewer children than they desire, owing to reproductive impairment. This paper reviews evidence concerning the decline of reproductive ability with age. The findings can be distilled into two main facts. First, the proportion of women with low reproductive ability increases steadily from age 15 to age 50. Second, this rise is moderate until the mid-30s when it begins to increase mores harply. While the current consensus is that most healthy women in their late thirties have a good prospect of giving birth to a healthy infant, a substantial minority of postponers will end up childless or with fewer children than they desire, due to reproductive impairment as well as to social causes.
The Evolution of New Organizational Forms
Authors: Romanelli Elaine
Published: July 2003

Rather quietly over the last decade, a large body of literature has emerged to consider how new forms of organization arise and become established in the organizational community. The literature represents a very wide array of theoretical perspectives, and no emerging consensus or dominant theme can plausibly be identified. No long stream of research has been produced to validate the arguments of any perspective. What we find instead is a disparate group of mostly nascent theories from organizational ecology, economics, institutional sociology, strategic management, and others, all seeking to explicate the nature of contexts and processes that may generate new organizational forms. This review organizes this literature according to assumptions about how variations are generated in the organizational community. Three perspectives appear to capture most of the arguments: an organizational genetics view, which emphasizes random variation; an environmental conditioning view, which considers variation to be contextually constrained; and an emergent social systems view, which considers variations in organizational forms to be the products of embedded social-organizational interactions. Theories associated with each of the perspectives are explicated, and their practical implications for future research are examined. The review concludes with a brief consideration of the theory of the evolution of new organizational forms as itself an evolution of a new and important field of study.
Critical Theory, Poststructuralism, Postmodernism: Their Sociological Relevance
Authors: Agger Ben
Published: July 2003

This article examines the main theoretical contributions of critical theory, poststructuralism and postmodernism. It is argued that these three theories offer related perspectives on the shortcomings of positivism as well as new ways to theorize and study contemporary societies. Empirical and conceptual applications of these perspectives in sociological research are discussed. Some of these applications include work in the sociology of deviance, gender, media and culture. Finally, implications of these three theoretical perspectives for the ways sociologists think about the boundaries and territoriality of their discipline are discussed.
Major Traditions of Economic Sociology
Authors: Swedberg Richard
Published: July 2003

Not only sociologists but also economists have made important contributions to economic sociology. Which particular works by economists are relevant in this context is indicated with the help of Schumpeter's History of Economic Analysis, a work unique in that it traces not only the history of economic theory but also that of economic sociology. Three main traditions appear in economic sociology, which are still fairly unexplored: the German tradition of Wirtschajissoziologie (1890-1930), the French tradition of sociologie economique (1890-1930), and the US tradition of “economy and society” (1950s). Since the 1970s a revival of interest in economic institutions has occurred especially in the United States, and a new economic sociology has come into being. Both economists and sociologists helped to create this new economic sociology. Economists have developed an approach known as New Institutional Economics. The main idea here is to explain the emergence and functioning of economic institutions with the help of microeconomics. Sociologists have developed an approach to economic sociology, sometimes referred to as the “new sociology of economic life.” This approach attempts to analyze core economic problems, as opposed to the problems traditionally left over by the economists for the sociologists to solve. Today's sociologists have done important work, particularly on the role of networks in the economy, on the structure of economic organizations, and on the role of culture in economic life. Though some weaknesses hamper both new institutional economics and the new sociology of economic life, they have breathed new life and vigor into economic sociology.
Comparative Perspectives on the State
Authors: Barkey Karen , Parikh Sunita
Published: July 2003

Comparative work on the state, in terms of both new cases and general theoretical frameworks, has proliferated in the last decade. In this new work, traditional categories of differentiation such as structural-functionalism, Marxism, and pluralism have lost relevance and have been replaced by common conceptual strands that infuse every subfield of research on the state. In this review we select the most important conceptual strands and examine new research in state formation, the state's role in economic development, and the state's relation to social movements and ethnic identity formation. Despite the frequent criticism that the state is the only explanatory variable in these studies, we find that the literature has always recognized that statesociety relations are critical to understanding state action.
Changing Fertility Patterns and Policies in the Third World
Authors: McNicoll Geoffrey
Published: July 2003

Average fertility in the third world has fallen from 6 children per woman in the 1960s to about 4 in the 1980s. Global population growth, however, is still adding nearly a billion people a decade—a process that has large, mostly adverse, welfare implications. Fertility trends in the main third world regions and in selected countries are described. Differences in social and political organization, economic conditions, cultural orientations, and policy directions yield distinctive paths of fertility decline. Explanations of them exhibit the range and variety of theories of social change in general. Matters of contention include the appropriate scope of an economic calculus in fertility decision-making and the relative significance of “structural” and “cultural” content in characterizing the decision environment and its sources of change. Much fertility research has been concerned with issues in technical demography such as birth interval dynamics or, in the case of policy, with the operational problems of family planning programs. A redressing of this imbalance is needed, making for a less microanalytic theoretical stance and greater attention to the public choice dimensions of fertility policy.
The Self-Concept Over Time: Research Issues and Directions
Authors: Demo David H.
Published: July 2003

Although theoretical attention has been devoted to the situational variability of the self-concept, empirical investigations continue to rely on one-shot methodologies. Such efforts assume that data obtained through these methods can be generalized to other situations in the person’s life, even to subsequent years or stages in the life course. Self-concept is a structural product of reflexive activity, but it is also susceptible to change as the individual encounters new roles, situations, and life transitions. The data reviewed in this paper suggest that: (i) self-evaluation generally becomesm oref avorable through the life-span; (ii) self-evaluation is represented by a “moving baseline” from which situational fluctuations emerge; (iii) self-concept is characterized by both stability and change over the life course; and (iv) environmental stability plays an important role in self-concept stability. Several avenues of research are recommendetdo develop an accurate, meaningful, and testable theory of the self-concept over time.
The Sociology of Mexico: Stalking The Path Not Taken
Authors: Davis D. E.
Published: July 2003

Why did dependency theory fail to take strong root among sociologists of Mexico over the sixties and seventies; and why, in contrast, did Mexico’s sociologists tend to study social movements and the state instead? Using these questions as a starting point, this paper examines the divergent paths of research on Mexico taken by both North American and Mexican sociologists over the past several decades. In seeking the origins of these unique patterns, the paper assesses the nation’s revolutionary history, the institutional training of Mexican and North American sociologists, the corporativist and collectivist structure of politics and society, the social and political activism of Mexican sociologists, and the ruling party’s appropriation of dependency rhetorics for its own political purposes. These unique legacies, in combination with Mexico’s history of rapid and concentrated urbanization, are then examined with respect to their impact on recent and forthcoming research. Among the highlighted studies are those that examine territorially based struggles in cities and regions and their reciprocal impact on identity, collective action, and political power.