bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Psychology
Authors: Stepnisky Jeff
Published: September 2017

Psychology understands itself as the scientific study of individual behavior and mental processes. Broadly, psychologists divide their work into pure and applied fields. Pure researchers have adopted the investigative methods of the natural sciences (i.e., positivist empiricism and variants) to study the fundamental processes that are said to undergird human behavior. Applied practitioners have pursued “in the world” applications of psychological research: clinical and counseling psychology, community psychology, health psychology, educational psychology, industrial psychology, and sports psychology, among others.
Prestige
Authors: Kantzara Vasiliki
Published: September 2017

Prestige originally referred to a conjuror's trick. In the social sciences, however, prestige denotes the honor, respect, and esteem attained by individuals and groups for their skills and achievement. Prestige as a symbolic value constitutes a form of social evaluation. Research has focused on an array of aspects, from professional prestige to prestige as a social control system. The impact of prestige is multifaceted. At a societal level prestige reproduces the existing social hierarchy, but it may also facilitate upward social mobility when individuals are judged by their achievement and not according to their origin. Today, prestige is expressed as respect and may indicate trust, which in turn structures and regulates much of relations at local and international levels.
Positive Sociology
Authors: Stebbins Robert A.
Published: September 2017

Robert Stebbins, who coined the term “positive sociology,” defines it as the study of what people do to organize their lives such that those lives become, in combination, substantially rewarding, satisfying, and fulfilling (Stebbins, 2009). This proposed new branch of sociology follows the lead of the only two fields in the social sciences, notably positive psychology and leisure studies, to move beyond the traditional concentration on life's many problems to focus intensely on how, why, and when people pursue those things in life they desire, the things they do to make their existence attractive, worth living. From this it should be clear that positive sociology has nothing to do with methodological positivism, which is a research approach, not a field of inquiry.
Popper, Karl (1902–1994)
Authors: Udehn Lars
Published: September 2017

Karl Raimund Popper was born in Vienna in 1902. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1937 and moved to London in 1946, where he became affiliated to the London School of Economics. Popper was knighted in 1965 and died in 1994.
Popular Culture Forms: Rock ‘
N
’ Roll
Authors: Beilharz Peter
Published: September 2017

Rock and roll refers to the music generated originally out of the experience of black folks and then whites in the US from the post‐war period, which became a global style and key indicator of modern culture.
Popular Culture Forms: Zoos
Authors: Franklin Adrian
Published: September 2017

The number of zoos (“zoological gardens”) around the world grew dramatically during the twentieth century from 120 in 1920, to 309 by 1959, to 883 by 1978 (Mullan & Marvin

: 113), though according to recent work by Nils Lindahl‐Elliot their visitor numbers peaked in the 1960s.
Popular Culture Icons: Bob Marley (1945–1981)
Authors: Cashmore Ellis
Published: September 2017

While his putative remit was to produce music, Marley's status extended far beyond, embracing that of a prophet, sage, and emissary for Ras Tafari, a cultural movement that attracted acolytes wherever there were black people.
Popular Culture Icons: Jimi Hendrix (1947–1970)
Authors: Beilharz Peter
Published: September 2017

James Marshall Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington and died in London. He became the guitar icon of the modern period and helped to make electric guitar itself iconic of modern popular culture.
Qualitative Computing
Authors: Cisneros‐Puebla César A.
Published: September 2017

Qualitative computing refers to the ensemble of technology and methodology for qualitative data analysis. Its development is rooted in qualitative sociology and the tradition of symbolic interactionism and is embedded in the evolution of computers. It goes beyond simple data management, incorporating features such as criticism of traditional approaches to data analysis, searching for new logical strategies for theory building, and innovative ways to visually represent multiple realities. Some criteria to differentially assess the software programs, among others, are ease of integration of all research process stages, type of data, process of searching units of analysis to read and review, memo‐writing managers, categorization and code book access, analysis inventory and assessment, capability to export and import quantitative data, and options to merge data from different projects.
Qualitative Computing
Authors: Cisneros‐Puebla César A.
Published: September 2017

Qualitative computing refers to the ensemble of technology and methodology for qualitative data analysis. Its development is rooted in qualitative sociology and the tradition of symbolic interactionism, and is embedded in the evolution of computers. It goes beyond simple data management, incorporating features such as criticism of traditional approaches to data analysis, searching for new logical strategies for theory building, and innovative ways to visually represent multiple realities. It includes tools to work with still images, text, audio and video files, and geographic co‐ordinates in order to get a holistic view of all the components that form the research project. In addition, it is gradually integrating ways to work with big data. Some criteria to differentially assess the software programs, among others, are ease of integration of all research process stages, type of data, process of searching units of analysis to read and review, memo‐writing managers, categorization and code book access, analysis inventory and assessment, capability to export and import quantitative data, and options to merge data from different projects. Nowadays, it is also going into mobile computing providing free applications to prepare fieldwork data and into the cloud computing to retain, analyze and represent data.
Qualitative Methods
Authors: Wasserman Jason Adam , Clair Jeffrey Michael
Published: September 2017

The tension between qualitative and quantitative methods is at the heart of much discourse about the state and direction of the discipline of sociology. Qualitative methodology refers to ways of conducting sociological inquiry using empirical practices such as observation and interview. Qualitative researchers typically use in‐depth interviews or participant observation in order to get a detailed picture of the populations they are investigating. This entry provides a definition and explanation of qualitative methods; elucidates its contrast with quantitative methods; explains underlying epistemological considerations that are at the heart of methodological disputes; suggests that the fundamentally different pursuits of these methodologies nullify conflict; and concludes by suggesting some future challenges that qualitative methodologists should attempt to address.
Race and Crime
Authors: Chilton Roland , Triplett Ruth
Published: September 2017

The importance of race in the production of criminal conduct has been an issue in American criminology for decades. The fact that minority groups, particularly African Americans, are disproportionately involved as offenders in the criminal justice system in the US is not in dispute. However, there is little agreement among criminologists on what this means. Some argue that the relationship between race and crime is largely the result of the conduct of African American men and boys. Others argue that the relationship between race and crime suggested by official statistics is the result of discrimination in the various systems of justice in the US.
Race and Ethnic Consciousness
Authors: Gold Steven J. , Miller Paula
Published: September 2017

Racial and ethnic consciousness refers to the awareness of membership in a racial or ethnic group that is displayed by both group members and the larger society in which they reside. The concept embodies both popular
and
social scientific understandings of classification and membership. Popular perceptions often attribute race and ethnicity to biological origins. In contrast, social scientists insist that these categories are the consequence of a social construction process. Despite the social basis of race and ethnicity, social scientists acknowledge that these categories are real in their consequences. Race and ethnicity shape social stratification, underlie individual and group identities, determine patterns of social conflict, and condition life chances. In fact, so important is the notion of consciousness to the comprehension of race, that the eminent scholar George Fredrickson (1988: 3) defines race as
“consciousness
of status and identity based on ancestry and color” (emphasis added).
Race (Racism)
Authors: van den Berghe Pierre L.
Published: September 2017

The term “racism” widely entered the social science vocabulary in the 1930s, as part of the Boasian reaction against the social Darwinism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Ruth Benedict, a student of Franz Boas, was one of the prominent early users. By the 1950s and 1960s, a broad consensus developed as to what racism meant, namely, an attitude or theory that some human groups, socially defined by biological descent and physical appearance, were superior or inferior to other groups in physical, intellectual, cultural, or moral properties. It was clearly understood that “races” were socially defined, differently in different societies, but according to physical phenotypes, such as skin color, facial features, or hair texture.
Racism, Structural and Institutional
Authors: Mariel Lemonik Arthur Mikaila
Published: September 2017

When most people think about racism, they think about the concept of individual prejudice – in other words, negative thoughts or stereotypes about a particular racial group. However, racism can also be embedded in the institutions and structures of social life. This type of racism can be called structural or institutional racism (hereafter, institutional racism) and it is significant in creating and maintaining the disparate outcomes that characterize the landscape of racial inequality.
Random Sample
Authors: Kirk Roger E.
Published: September 2017

A census, which is a survey of every unit in a population, is rarely used to gather information in the social sciences because it is often costly, time consuming, or impracticable. Instead, researchers gather the information from a sample that is assumed to be representative of the population. Such a sample can be obtained by using a
simple random sampling procedure
. The procedure selects a sample of size
n
without replacement from a finite population of size
N
<
n
such that each of the
N
![
n
!(
N
–
n
)!] possible samples is equally likely to be selected. The resulting sample is called a
simple random sample
. Simple random sampling is a type of
probability sampling
. Probability sampling procedures have three common characteristics: (1) the units that compose the population and the units that are excluded from the population are explicitly defined; (2) every potential sample of a given size that could be drawn from the population can be enumerated; and (3) the probability of selecting any potential sample can be specified. In the case of simple random sampling, each sample has the same probability of being selected and the probability of selecting a particular sample is 1/{
N
![
n
!(
N
–
n
)!]}. Non‐probability sampling procedures do not satisfy one or more of the three characteristics. A familiar example of a non‐probability sampling procedure is
volunteer sampling
. As the name suggests, people volunteer to be in the sample. Television viewers, for example, are frequently encouraged to express their opinion about an issue of the day by calling a 900 number. Those viewers who choose to call the number are a non‐random sample. Such callers typically have stronger opinions about the issue than non‐callers.
Random Sample
Authors: Kirk Roger E.
Published: September 2017

A census, which is a survey of every unit in a population, is rarely used to gather information in the social sciences because it is often costly, time consuming, or impracticable. Instead, researchers gather the information from a sample that is assumed to be representative of the population. Such a sample can be obtained by using a
simple random sampling procedure
. The resulting sample is called a
simple random sample
. The procedure selects a sample of size
n
with replacement from a finite population of size
N > n
such that each of the

N
n

possible samples is equally likely to be selected. The probability of selecting a particular sample is 1/

N
n

. A sample unit is returned to the population once it has been selected so that the selection of a unit does not affect the selection of other units. In the social sciences, sampling is usually performed without replacement. The procedure selects a sample of size
n
from a finite population of size
N > n
such that each of the
N
!/[
n
!(
N – n
)!] possible samples is equally likely to be selected. If the population is large, this procedure is adequate for all practical purposes.
Ratings
Authors: Lealand Geoff
Published: September 2017

Ratings is a term with wide currency, used in activities as diverse as judgments about standards of hotel accommodation to judgments of the economic health of corporations or nations (such as the Standard & Poor's Financial Strength Ratings). In contemporary media, however, the term ratings has more specific meanings, especially in respect of television, radio, and film, but there is also considerable ambiguity and confusion in its use and application.
Rawls, John (1921–2002)
Authors: Rank Mark R.
Published: September 2017

John Rawls (1921–2002) is generally considered the most significant moral philosopher of the twentieth century. His work has had a profound influence upon political philosophy as well as upon political science, sociology, economics, social work, theology, and law. For much of his career he was a faculty member in Harvard's department of philosophy.
Reception Studies
Authors: Livingstone Sonia
Published: September 2017

Reception studies derives primarily from the application of literary theories of textual interpretation to the everyday activities of mass media audiences. Drawing on ideas from the interpretation of the literary texts of high culture, reception studies argues that media texts must also be interpreted, made sense of, worked on by their audiences. Reception studies began in the 1980s in reaction to the predominant conception of audiences as passive and – in tandem – of media texts as moving wallpaper occasioning little or no effort of interpretive activity. For, ever since the advent of mass media over a century ago, the major theories of the audience have been strongly influenced both by sociological theories of ideology and hegemony and by social psychological theories of media effects and attitudinal or behavioral change. The result has been an image of the audience as homogeneous, vulnerable, and easily manipulated in the face of a powerful and all‐pervasive mass media. Reception studies has sought to critique each element of this image, proposing instead that audiences are active, heterogeneous, resourceful, motivated, and even resistant in their responses to mass media texts. Since its inception, reception studies has mapped out a theoretical and empirical program of research on the “active audience” for mass media, establishing an influential strand of audience research, together with a series of innovations in both theory and methodology (Livingstone 1998).
Recidivism
Authors: Smith Paula
Published: September 2017

Recidivism refers to reoffending, or the repetition of criminal acts by a convicted offender. The term is derived from the French wordrécidiver, and based on the Latin wordrecidivus, meaning “falling back,” to denote a relapse into prior criminal habits. Recidivism is an important consideration for modern penologists as a large proportion of incarcerated offenders in most countries are classified as recidivists. Studies in several countries across North America and Europe, for example, indicate that between one‐half and two‐thirds of inmates have served previous sentences (Bonta et al. 1992; Farrington 1992). According to Langan and Levin (2002), a recidivism rate as high as 70 percent has been reported within three years of release for inmates in the United States. Research also indicates that recidivists tend to have lengthier criminal histories, and the recidivism rate appears to be highest for those convicted of property offenses (Bonta et al. 1992; Langan & Levin 2002). Women are much less likely to recidivate than men (Bonta et al. 1992).
Recognition
Authors: Chriss James J.
Published: September 2017

One of the more notable trends in the human sciences of late is a growing concern with reflection, reflexivity, and reflexive or reflective practice (Sandywell 1996). Wilhelm Dilthey is most directly linked to the concept of reflexivity as it has developed in hermeneutics, phenomenology, existentialism, and other interpretive theories in sociology. Dilthey's thought is located within the line of German idealism beginning with Kant and especially Hegel, the latter of whom is famous for the dialectical method. Hegel had attempted to overcome the dualism of subject/object by conceptualizing Spirit (
Geist
, or mind) as a triadic structure composed of
subjective Spirit
(thesis, or Spirit
in
itself, i.e., the pure subjectivity of the individual);
objective Spirit
(antithesis, or Spirit
for
itself, the subject projecting onto the outer world itself, for itself); and
absolute Spirit
(synthesis, or Spirit
in and for
itself, whereby Spirit returns to itself) (Tolman 2001: 184).
Recognition
Authors: Chriss James J.
Published: September 2017

An ongoing trend across the human sciences is the concern with reflection, reflexivity, or reflective practice (Sandywell, 1996). Reacting to Descartes who launched the idea that mathematical thinking and reasoning leads us to certitude about (at least) the physical universe, Vico (2002) argued that since human beings make the human social world, they should understand it better than nature, the laws of which are not available to experience but must be conjured through mathematical or logical axioms. Indeed, Vico's conceptualization of a new science of humanistic inquiry as a supplement to the (then) establishing natural sciences can certainly be pointed to as a key starting point for what would later be described and understood as the social sciences generally and sociology specifically (Cahnman, 1981).
Redlining
Authors: Dwyer Rachel
Published: September 2017

Redlining is a form of discrimination in credit markets where banks and financial institutions identify entire neighborhoods as too “high‐risk” for financial investment in both residential and commercial property. Financial institutions “redline” neighborhoods for a number of reasons including the physical characteristics of the housing stock and undesirable location, but most important has been the presence of minority, especially black, residents. Racial redlining occurs not only because of the correlation of race with indicators of financial risk, but also because investors interpret the racial category itself to signal risk apart from the quality and prosperity of the neighborhood on other measures. In short, redlining is a critical form of community disinvestment that occurs when resources (e.g., home mortgages, insurance, home improvement loans) are made unavailable to residents because of the high proportion of ethnic or racial minorities living in their neighborhood, regardless of objective socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., wealth, income, age of housing).
Representation
Authors: Butler Rex
Published: September 2017

Although popularly associated with postmodernism, the idea that the world is a representation goes back to the origins of western thought. In Plato's allegory of the cave, it is said that we cannot see the truth but only a reflection of it. In Descartes’ hypothesis of the Evil Demon, it is argued that all we know is merely an illusion produced by another, alien intelligence. And after Descartes there are a variety of philosophical Idealisms, in which it is claimed that the world comes about only as an effect of our will or that the world exists only insofar as it is perceived. In postmodernism, however, these essentially metaphysical speculations are seen to be socially embodied through such mass media as the movies, television, advertising, and the Internet. Thus, a film like the Wachowski Brothers’The Matrixis understood at once as a revival of the old Platonic fantasy and a powerful metaphor for our contemporary society of the spectacle. Indeed, in the now‐celebrated catchphrase of the film, uttered by the leader of the resistance, Morpheus, to the newcomer, Neo, “Welcome to the desert of the real,” the filmmakers even acknowledge the prominent postmodern theorist Jean Baudrillard and his theory of simulation, which is often taken for an argument that the world has become its own representation.
Repressive Hypothesis
Authors: Klesse Christian
Published: September 2017

The publication of Michel Foucault's first volume of theThe History of Sexualitythoroughly transformed theoretical thinking around sexuality. A range of Foucault's longstanding concerns around power, knowledge, discourse, truth, and subjectivity culminate in this text about the genealogy of sexuality in Christian western societies. With this book, Foucault attempted to write the history of sexuality “from the viewpoint of the history of discourses.” In Foucault's work, the concept of discourse is intrinsically interwoven with what he perceived to be distinctively modern forms of power. The insistence that modern power isproductiverather than simplyrepressiveis one of the central assets of his novel theory of power. Premodern forms of power were based on the idea ofpower‐sovereigntyorpower‐law.They were derived from monarchical techniques of government and drew upon the binary ruler/ruled. From within this paradigm, power is conceived asnegative. It works through measures such as censorship, prohibition, prevention, exclusion, or spectacular forms of punishment. In contradistinction, power as a modality of discourse ispositivein that it is productive of social relationships, forms of knowledge, and modes of subjectivity. Moreover, it is more difficult to pin it down clearly or to identify its origin in any particular agent, institution, or social space. Foucault describes discursive power as having a dispersed, contradictory, and all‐pervasive character.
Reputation
Authors: Fine Gary Alan
Published: September 2017

Reputation, as a social scientific concept, refers to the existence of a socially recognized persona: an organizing principle by which the actions of a person (or group, organization, or collectivity) are linked into a common assessment. On one level a reputation constitutes a moral gestalt that is connected to a person – an organizing principle for person perception. However, reputations extend beyond this social psychological claim: they are collective representations, enacted in relationships. In this, the opinion that one individual might form of another often differs from a shared, established image. Reputations are embedded within social relations, and, as a consequence, reputation is connected to forms of communication, tied to a community.
Restrictive Covenants
Authors: Krase Jerome , Martucci Sara
Published: September 2017

Restrictive covenants are deed restrictions on particular kinds of real estate. For example, they may restrict use of land in a subdivision to residential purposes only and define the maximum and minimum square footage of homes to be built. They might also place restrictions regarding construction of other buildings on the property, as well as control activities that take place within its boundaries, such as rentals. Real estate professionals argue that such legal restrictions give a development a more standard appearance and, when enforced, protect property values. Racially restrictive covenants were legally enforceable contractual agreements between property owners and neighborhood associations that prohibited the sale, occupancy, or lease of property and land to certain ethnic and racial groups. While now unenforceable by the courts, racially restrictive covenants had been one of the primary ways by which access to housing had been blocked for racial and ethnic minorities. At their peak, such covenants affected up to 75 percent of property in some cities.
Riesman, David (1909–2002)
Authors: Lair Craig D.
Published: September 2017

David Riesman was not a formally trained sociologist. Nevertheless, his 1950 book
The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character
, written in collaboration with Nathan Glazer and Reuel Denney, has earned a unique distinction in American sociology: excluding textbooks and “classical” works, it is the only book by an American sociologist to sell over a million copies (Gans 1997). This means that the all‐time bestselling work in American sociology was written by someone who never earned a degree in this discipline.
Rite of Passage
Authors: Tzanelli Rodanthi
Published: September 2017

The term was first used in anthropology to encapsulate rituals that symbolize the transition of an individual or a group from one status to another, or to denote the passage of calendrical time, but soon it was embraced by social scientists from other disciplines. The concept was developed by the Durkheimian anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep inLes Rites de passage(1909), in which he identified three ritual phases: (1) separation, when the individual or the group is distanced from their former identities; (2) liminality, the phase in‐between two conditions (the one from which the individual or group departs and the one which they will enter); and (3) re‐aggregation (or incorporation), the final stage in which the individual/group is readmitted to society as bearers of new status. Because for van Gennep rites of passage belong to sacred time, they are formalized and strict in their performance. The initiate(s) are placed in symbolically subordinate positions vis‐à‐vis those who have been initiated (elders, married, mothers) and have to go through elaborate “trials” (isolation, humiliation, fasting) before they are accepted back into the community.
Robbery
Authors: Decker Scott H.
Published: September 2017

Robbery is the use or threat of force to take another's property and ranks among the most serious crime problems in the US. Robbery is one of the four crimes of violence (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and is the second most prevalent of the four. Robbery is also a central component of the fear of crime, magnifying its impact particularly for women, the elderly, and suburban residents. As Conklin (1972: 4) has observed: “Although the public certainly fears murder and rape, it is probably fear of robbery … which keeps people off the street, makes them avoid strangers, and leads them to lock their doors.”
Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Urban Social Research
Authors: Ballis Lal Barbara
Published: September 2017

The style of social research associated with the Chicago School of American sociology owes much to the determination of Robert E. Park and his younger colleague, Ernest Burgess, to understand city life. (Park was a faculty member in the department of sociology/anthropology at the University of Chicago between 1913 and 1934. Burgess was a faculty member in the department between 1916 and 1952. In 1929 sociology and anthropology became separate departments.) Other scholars who aided them in this endeavor included W. I. Thomas, Louis Wirth, Everett Hughes, Clifford Shaw, Donald Cressey, Frederick Thrasher, St. Clair Drake, and Horace Cayton. Economic growth, industrialization, population increase, immigration, and rural‐urban migration including the large‐scale movement of African Americans from the South contributed to the emergence of Chicago as a city in which diversity of occupation was complemented by differences having to do with race, ethnicity (whether or not foreign‐born), religion, and language. Chicago, and cities like it, differed profoundly from the rural towns that had hitherto shaped American social life and politics. What, asked Park in an essay published in1926, is to be the basis of a “moral order” which supposes communication and obligation between individuals and groups, in an urban environment characterized by “physical propinquity” and “social isolation”? The monographs
The Crowd and the Public
(1904),
Old World Traits Transplanted
, in the most part the work of W. I Thomas but with authorship attributed to Park and H. A. Miller (1921), and
The Immigrant Press and Its Control
(1922), along with numerous essays, reflect his concerns.
Routine Activity Theory
Authors: Chamard Sharon
Published: September 2017

Routine activity theory is a theoretical approach that explains the components of a criminal incident. It breaks down a crime into three basic elements: (1) a likely offender, (2) a suitable target, and (3) the absence of a capable guardian. It is only when these three elements converge in time and space that a crime occurs. Despite this focus on the crime event, routine activities is considered a macro‐level theory, as it concerns how broad changes in society lead to alterations in community life that create new opportunities for crime.
Ruling Relations
Authors: DeVault Marjorie L.
Published: September 2017

The term ruling relations is associated with the feminist thought of Dorothy E. Smith, who came to prominence in the academic movement that arose from women's activism in the 1960s and 1970s. Her work takes up the project of locating lived experiences of oppression within the social contexts that produce those experiences. Ruling relations identifies the institutional complexes (emerging from the development and elaboration of capitalist economies) that coordinate the everyday work of administration and the lives of those subject to administrative regimes.
Rural Aging
Authors: McCulloch B. Jan
Published: September 2017

Place, community, and nature are important lifestyle components for persons aging in rural areas (Milbourne, 2011). Regardless of context, methodological application, theoretical framework, or disciplinary focus, consistent evidence underscores the fact that, when populations are examined, rural areas are aging faster than their urban counterparts.
Sainsaulieu, Renaud (1935–2002)
Authors: Alter Norbert , Martin Dominique
Published: September 2017

Renaud Sainsaulieu was born in Paris on November 4, 1935 and died there on July 26, 2002. After secondary studies in a Jesuit school, he went on to obtain advanced degrees in law and psychology from the Sorbonne. It was there that he committed himself to sociological studies and wrote his doctoral dissertation, with Michel Crozier as his adviser. Named Professor of Sociology at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris in 1975, he managed the Laboratory for the Sociology of Institutional Creation (LSCI). Renaud Sainsaulieu was also one of the main European promoters of sociology outside academia. He created a specific master's program for that purpose, as well as the Association Professionnelle des Sociologues d'Entreprise (APSE), a professional association for in‐house sociologists. He also served as an active member and president of the Association Internationale des Sociologues de Langue Française (AISLF).
Same‐sex marriage/civil unions
Authors: Heaphy Brian
Published: September 2017

Same‐sex marriage refers to a union by two people of the same sex that is legally sanctioned by the state, where identical rights and responsibilities are afforded same‐sex and heterosexual married couples. The term “gay marriage” is popularly used to refer to same‐sex partnerships or cohabiting relationships that are formally registered in some way as a “civil union” (variously known as civil partnerships, registered partnerships, and registered cohabitation), although the latter are in fact legally distinct from marriage. The term is also sometimes employed to talk about unregistered same‐sex couple cohabitation or partnerships acknowledged through commitment ceremonies. Ten countries currently (as of December 2011) afford same‐sex couples the opportunity to participate in marriage including Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden (see the following websites for detailed information on changing status in different countries:
www.marriageequality.org
;
www.samesexmarriage.ca
;
www.stonewall.org.uk
). Civil unions, civil partnerships, and registered cohabitation, which include some exemptions from the automatic rights and responsibilities afforded heterosexual married couples, are the most common forms of legal recognition. They offer some of the symbolic and material advantages associated with marriage, but with more limited legal status. At a global level, most same‐sex partners must currently rely on “do‐it‐yourself” affirmation and commitment ceremonies, or seek religious blessings where available.
Sampling, Qualitative (Purposive)
Authors: Patton Michael Quinn
Published: September 2017

Perhaps nothing better captures the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods than the different logics that undergird sampling approaches. Qualitative inquiry typically focuses in depth on relatively small samples, even single cases (n = 1), selected
purposefully
. Quantitative methods typically depend on larger samples selected randomly. Not only are the techniques for sampling different, but also the very logic of each approach is unique because the purpose of each strategy is different.
Sampling, Qualitative (Purposeful)
Authors: Patton Michael Quinn
Published: September 2017

Perhaps nothing better captures the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods than the different logics that undergird sampling approaches. Qualitative inquiry typically focuses in depth on relatively small samples, even single cases (n = 1), selected
purposefully
. Quantitative methods typically depend on larger samples selected randomly. Not only are the techniques for sampling different, but the very logic of each approach is unique because the purpose of each strategy is different.
Saussure, Ferdinand de (1857–1913)
Authors: (Hans) Bakker J. I.
Published: September 2017

Ferdinand de Saussure is an important linguist and, along with C. S. Peirce, one of the two main contributors to semiotics (Sebeok 2001; Sanders 2004). His distinction between the signifier and the signified is central. The theory of signification, the idea that a sign is an entirely arbitrary verbal or written phonemic and phonetic device, is attributed to him. The word “cat” and the word “chat” are different only linguistically; the signified “object” remains the same (Koerner 1973). The standard view of Saussure is based on posthumous publication of his lecture notes (Saussure 1967, 1968, 1989 [1916]). Like work by Weber and Mead, the
Course in General Linguistics
(1916) is the product of other hands. Between 1906 and 1911, Saussure taught three courses on general linguistics. Student notes have now been published separately (Saussure 1993 [1910–11], 1996 [1907], 1997 [1908–9]). Bouissac (2005) argues that the standard view of Saussure is incorrect; he did not reach any definitive conclusions concerning general linguistics or semiology. Indeed, Saussure (2002) found many ideas in linguistics problematic epistemologically. He linked “signology” (
signologie
) to psychology. He poses epistemological questions, but there is debate concerning his answers. His emphasis on evolutionary change can be thought of as sophisticated neo‐Darwinian theory (e.g., cognitive neuroscience). This makes it possible to think of an “algorithmic” version of semiotics (Bouissac 2005). Saussurean scholarship (
Cahiers Ferdinand de Saussure
) has questioned some of the poststructuralist critiques (e.g., Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida) of Saussure's structuralist linguistics.
Schools, Professional
Authors: McGhee Hassrick Elizabeth
Published: September 2017

Professional schools play an important role in socialization and stratification processes in modern societies. The credential process for professions, in which a person trains to become a legitimate practitioner, is currently dominated by universities. Universities established certification programs during the late 1800s, successfully outcompeting the guild‐based apprenticeships and mentorships of earlier centuries (Stevens 1983). Before World War II, most professional schools were located in elite private universities, accessible only to the wealthy, but enrollment in professional schools dramatically increased post‐World War II, shifting participation from an elite arena to one more accessible across social class. Sociological researchers have explored the social and psychological effects of participation in professional schools (Becker et al. 1961; Hughes et al. 1973; Fox 1979), and sorting processes have been identified that influence the stratification of people from different classes, races, and genders as they seek to gain entrance and successfully complete professional school programs (Spaeth 1968; Spangler et al. 1978; Stolzenberg 1994; Schleef 2000). Much of the research about professional schools has been conducted within specific professions, in the service of practitioners. Cross‐disciplinary studies investigating the connections among professional schools, professions, and larger social processes have been neglected.
Science and Culture
Authors: Breslau Daniel
Published: September 2017

Philosophers of the European Enlightenment defined science in opposition to culture or humanistic knowledge. Science was truth based on verifiable observation and certain logical procedures, and thus stood opposed to all traditional beliefs. Francis Bacon, who initiated the philosophical tradition of elaborating “demarcation principles” to distinguish science from non‐science, differentiated science from all knowledge that is based on tradition and all humanistic knowledge, thus defining it in opposition to most of what we think of as pertaining to culture (Bacon 2001). Science was distinct from culture due to both its method, which followed transhistoric, universal rules, and its results.
Science and the Measurement of Risk
Authors: Haggett Claire
Published: September 2017

The definition and measurement of risks is controversial and much in debate, with risk assessments made by scientists often differing from those of the lay public. Scientific measurements are based on logic and rationality. They tend to ignore or invalidate lay understandings of risk, not taking into account social, experiential, or perceptual influences. However, sociological work has highlighted that responses to risk are governed by a huge number of interrelated factors and have to be considered as part of the social context from which they arise. Lay people also have their own knowledge and expertise to draw upon when making assessments of the immanency and impact of any risk. It is not necessarily the case, therefore, that the public is being “irrational” in its decision‐making, but that it uses a different rationality to that of scientists. These differences can lead to conflicts over risks, and resistance from the public to the measurements, and subsequent recommendations, imposed upon them by scientific research.
Second Demographic Transition
Authors: Lesthaeghe Ron J.
Published: September 2017

The first or “classic” demographic transition refers to the historical declines in mortality and fertility, as witnessed from the eighteenth century onward in several European populations, and continuing at present in most developing countries. The end point of the first demographic transition (FDT) was supposed to be an older stationary and stable population corresponding with replacement fertility (i.e., just over two children on average), zero population growth, and life expectancies higher than 70 years. As there would be an ultimate balance between deaths and births, there would be no “demographic” need for sustained immigration. Moreover, households in all parts of the world would converge toward the nuclear and conjugal types, composed of married couples and their offspring.
Secondary Data Analysis
Authors: Schutt Russell K.
Published: September 2017

Secondary data analysis is the method of using pre‐existing data to answer a new research question. Pre‐existing data useful to social scientists for secondary analyses may be generated by social science surveys, by government agencies and institutions at all levels, both national and international, and by private for‐profit and nonprofit organizations. Data collected for one purpose and then reanalyzed by the same researcher or research team to address a different research question can also be considered to involve secondary analysis. Thousands of large‐scale data sets are now available. The US Bureau of the Census and comparable agencies in many other nations conduct a decennial population census; many social scientists and many government agencies deposit data sets in the archive maintained by the University of Michigan's Inter‐University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR); many large survey projects funded by the US government make the resulting data available on their own Web sites. Qualitative data obtained from intensive interviews, observations, or documents are also increasingly being archived for reanalysis. Secondary data analysts benefit from some important advantages but also face some unique challenges. Problems can be lessened by reviewing data features and quality before deciding to develop an analysis of secondary data.
Secondary Groups
Authors: McGinty Patrick J. W.
Published: September 2017

A secondary group is a unique form of social group that tends to be formally organized or highly structured and based on predominantly impersonal or role‐based instrumental (task oriented) interactions that are of a nonpermanent nature. Examples of secondary groups include the impersonal relationship between salesclerk and customer in a department store; large lecture courses at popular universities; and complex organizations such as the American Sociological Association.
Secrecy
Authors: Moss Laurence
Published: September 2017

George Orwell's celebrated novel,
Nineteen Eighty‐Four
, presents a haunting and horrific account of how the thought police in a totalitarian world can monitor the private thoughts and uproot the deepest emotional sentiments held by individuals. Keeping secrets has become a capital offense. The “Party” has reduced the sphere of individual autonomy and privacy to practically nothing at all. According to Orwell, in this dystopia it became “intolerable [to the Party] that an erroneous thought should exist anywhere in the world, however secret and powerless it may be” and “in the eyes of the Party there was no distinction between the thought and the deed” (Orwell 2003 [1949]: 250, 263). Either one resulted in immediate arrest and eventual execution.
Secularization
Authors: Dobbelaere Karel
Published: September 2017

Secularization expresses the advancing “emancipation” of the secular from institutional religion in modern societies. These societies are primarily differentiated along functional lines that overlay the prior forms of segmentary and social class differentiation and have developed different subsystems (e.g., economy, polity, family, and education). These subsystems perform their own particular function. As far as institutional religion is concerned, they claim their autonomy and reject religiously prescribed rules. This is not a mechanical process but the result of conflicting viewpoints between politicians, professionals, persons, and clergy. The presentation in this entry is analytical and discusses studies of secularization on the societal (macro), organizational (meso), and individual (micro) levels, indicating the reciprocal impact of changes on these levels.
Segregation
Authors: Wolff Kristina B.
Published: September 2017

Segregation is both the informal and formal separation of one group or population from another. Often this division is based on markers of difference, where race, ethnicity, gender, social class, educational attainment, sexual orientation, disability, age, or religion is used as the foundation for justifying a split between groups and populations. De facto segregation, the division of groups based on identity, culture, and social lives, is the most common. Legal separation, such as different accommodations for people based on race, gender, or nation status is de jure segregation. The repercussions of these separations are vast, creating and supporting structural inequality within societies.
Self
Authors: Belgrave Linda Liska , Charmaz Kathy
Published: September 2017

Although the self exists in social life, common definitions of the self accentuate its subjective side: the qualities, attributes, values, feelings, and moral sentiments that a person assumes to be his or her own. The social sources of self make subjectivity possible because the person's experience of feelings, images, and interpretations emerges and takes on meaning through social interaction.
Sex Panics
Authors: Shepard Benjamin
Published: September 2017

The concept of a sex panic builds on the idea of moral panic – a term first coined within British sociology and Stuart Hall's cultural studies. Sex panics are a distinct form of moral panic. The term moral panic builds on themes from American sociology of deviance, theories of collective behavior, social problems, French structuralist theory, and Frankfurt School social theory. Moral panics about youth have been assessed as studies of subcultures, while other inquiries have adopted social and psychological perspectives borrowed from disaster studies. As theorists grappled with the meanings of the AIDS epidemic and public policies aimed at alleviating social problems, conceptions of moral panics overlapped with debates about “the underclass.” A frequent theoretical approach to studying representations of moral panics about sexuality is to analyze “discourses” that regulate sexuality and demarcate hierarchies of what is and is not normal and moral, worthy and unworthy. Thus, panics have been analyzed from a range of different perspectives. In
Moral Panics
, a reader on moral panic as a “key idea” for sociological inquiry, Thompson (1998: 72) counsels: “It may be a sensible tactic to adopt insights from each of these in an eclectic manner or to combine them where appropriate, depending on the particular type of moral panic being studied.”
Sex Tourism
Authors: Wortmann Susan
Published: September 2017

Sex tourism is generally described as individual travel for the express purpose of obtaining a range of commercial sex‐related services from residents in a location where those services are either legal or readily available. Feminist scholars such as Enloe were instrumental in bringing academic attention to this phenomenon. Early studies tended to focus on the inequality, commodification, and exploitation of women and children from developing countries by Western men. The current expanding interdisciplinary body of scholarship reveals that sex tourism must be explored at both global and local levels from economic, industrial, and interactional perspectives.