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There is general agreement that mass political parties emerged during the Jacksonian era, but there is no consensus about their precise origins. Institutional theorists within political science contend that political parties trace their beginnings to elite who nurtured them within the civil service bureaucracy, whereas theorists in political science who rely on microlevel explanations consider that parties developed to solve problems of social choice and collective action. Historians, in contrast, indicate that newspaper patronage in Washington, DC, beginning with Jefferson, was critical for the emergence of federal political parties. This study systematically examines the empirical implications of that assumption and considers both the organizational and political processes that underlie establishment of newspapers in the Capital, contributing to the understanding that newspapers provided a model both for the civil service and for political parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a letter from the editor, which discusses articles in the November 1, 2006 issue of "Sociological Inquiry." The periodical included four papers selected by Charles Faupel, the former editor, and two book reviews by Professor Gwen Hunnicutt, "Sociological Inquiry's" book review editor. The editor explains the kinds of articles that he would like to see published and encourages submitting authors to examine these articles for methods and writing styles.

Interest in the structure and dynamics of sociology as a discipline has led to recurrent attempts to measure the prestige, productivity, and quality of education of the various sociology departments. While several previous papers have suggested the potential value of the Science Citation Index (SCI) as a measure of scientific standing, few attempts have been made to utilize a citation-based measure of scientific prestige. This paper considers the meaning of the citation in science and in stratification theory. Procedures are described whereby citations to individual sociologists and journal are employed to yield rankings of departments of sociology and journals. The differences between these rankings and other rankings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an introduction to the articles published in January 3, 1980 issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry."

Presents an introduction to the March 1970 issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry."

Presents an introduction to articles published in the March 1984, issue of "Sociological Inquiry."

The article is a response to writer Michael Hill's comment on the author's essay regarding criterial crisis in academe. Hill alleges that "small journals" are being denigrated, a point which simply is not true since small journals have neither criticized nor mentioned. To the contrary, many of the problems delineated are connected with major journals, the kind described by Arnold Relman, editor of "The New England Journal of Medicine, as having "very exacting standards." The author has not argued against publications in "obscure" journals. In fact, a different method of assessment was called for, a means which could create a balance in favor of "small" and "obscure" journals, the kind in which ideas are more important than peer review or disciplinary status. The author has argued for greater intellectual risk-taking and originality and against the kind of centripetal academic culture which facilitates journals that publish massive amounts of trivial, fact-laden but largely irrelevant reports. The new media technologies that make possible the dissemination of scholarly knowledge and ideas were not criticized, nor has the author argued against the use of personal computers, information retrieval through compact discs, or any of the other communication technologies.

This article presents an introduction to the March 1, 1968 issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry."

Presents an introduction to the Spring 1966 issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry."

This article discusses the intention of the author to publish issues in the journal "Sociological Inquiry," which was of importance to sociology in the 1980s. One of these topics was environmental sociology. The author hopes that the material contained in the special issue of the journal will bring its greater visibility and contribute to its future maturity. To the best of his knowledge this is the first time a major journal has featured an issue on environmental sociology. This is true despite the fact that the American Sociological Society has recognized a Section on Environmental Sociology since 1976. For the most part, what the author knows about environmental sociology he has gleaned from editing this special issue. For the special issue 9 of the 54 authors were female. For the general issues 31 of the 121 authors were female. The bulk of the articles submitted for the special issue were review and position papers. In contrast over 80 percent of those submitted for general issues were theoretical pieces and reports of empirical research. Less than one-quarter of the manuscripts submitted for the special issue were research reports.

Presents an introduction to the March 1, 1961, issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry."

This issue of "Sociological Inquiry" presents a new and rather exciting feature which I believe will be of great interest to the readers of this journal. They are, for the first time, publishing the winning paper of the Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) undergraduate paper competition. The editorial advisory board strongly recommended publishing the winning paper as "Sociological Inquiry" is, after all, the official journal of AKD, the international sociology honorary society. They also know that many of their subscribers are students. The editor hope that they enjoy this rather unique look at an aspect of human society that has been virtually untouched by sociologists. As they read this article, he hope also that they come away with a sense of satisfaction with knowing that the next generation of sociologists is being well trained in their discipline. Recognizing that much of this behavior has little to do with intended suicide, and cannot necessarily be linked to other pathologies, Sarah Hodgson interviews individuals who engage in this type of self mutilation through online chat rooms. Her analysis reveals several layers of learning that take place, as well as numerous mechanisms that are employed to maintain their credibility in a society that otherwise stigmatizes such behavior.

This article presents the names and affiliations for authors who have contributed to this issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry." Included on the list is John P. Bartkowski, Professor of Sociology at Mississippi State University, Vanessa Casanova, Ph.D. candidate in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University, Suzie Cashwell, Master of Social Work Program Director at Western Kentucky University, Patricia A. Duffy, Alumni Professor of Agricultural Economics at Auburn University, and Shanyang Zhao, Associate Professor of Sociology at Temple University.

People that the editor would like to thank for the creation of this journal are mentioned.

Abundant research investigates the content of public discourse about social problems. Far less is known about the quantity of social problems discourse. This article employs original data to address this gap by examining the emergence of single-parent families as a social problem within U.S. popular magazines and social science journals. I trace the growth of discourse about single-parent families in magazines indexed by the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature ( N= 3050) and social science journals indexed by JSTOR ( N= 1376) between 1900 and 1998 and explore factors associated with this growth. The results indicate that contemporary issues functioned as rival social problems and depressed single-parent family discourse within magazines but not within journals. Increases in the prevalence of single-parent families were associated with increases in related discourse in both arenas, but discourse increased earlier in journals. Growing popular concern about single-parent family formation in the 1960s was associated with a reduction in the quantity of single-parent family discourse within journals but not within magazines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers brief profiles of authors who contributed to the writing in the journal such as Julie Arnold, Glenda M. Flores, and Susan F. Sharp.

Presents an introduction to the June 1981 issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry."

Presents an introduction to articles published in the Spring 1961 issue of the journal "Sociological Inquiry."

The article sheds light on the response generated by the work of sociologist George Homans. There is no lack of reviews, summaries and analyses of the work of sociologist George Homans, yet Homans himself would probably agree that the influence of a leader is to be seen in the response of his followers, rather than in the activity originated by the leader. Probably this response is never completely what the leader intended. The scope of this review is limited to all footnoted citations appearing in six journals, "The American Sociological Review," "The American Journal of Sociology," "Sociometry," "Social Forces," "Sociology and Social Research," and "Human Relations," over the period from 1951 through 1962. The approach does not take account of implicit influences and of general references to Homans in text, without footnote. Books and monographs have been excluded from the analysis largely because of the difficulty of defining a universe feasible to study. Certain journals have been omitted either because they have changed significantly in twelve year period or because they are not primarily sociological in orientation or sponsorship. The listed journals are surely representative of at least one level in the continuing discourse of the discipline and it is the fate of Homans' ideas in this universe that the article examines.

This article presents information on those people who contributed a lot in the publication of the current issue of the journal Sociological Inquiry. Some of the contributors are: Jennifer L. Dunn, assistant professor of sociology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where she teaches courses in social problems, social psychology, deviance, and victims of crime; Jason A. Ford, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Central Florida. His research interests include substance use, life course criminology, and deviant behavior; Joyce Tang, associate professor and deputy chair of the sociology department at Queens College of the City University of New York. Her research interests include stratification and mobility, and science and technology.

The article presents a preface by the editor. As, this would be the last issue that the editor would be responsible for; he acknowledges the support of various individuals and reviewers. He appreciated the educational institutions that provided financial support -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He notes that it was through their contribution that the "state of inquiry" has become what it is today. He relates that, ultimately, what does and does not appear in a professional journal is the editor's decision. He implies that he has striven for objectivity, although no one denies that editor's biases are reflected in the choice of subjects. Specially in the selection of subjects for the four special issues -- 53/2-3, 1983, "Sociology of the Environment"; 54/2, 1984, "Issues of Interest to the Profession"; 56/1, 1986, "Gender Roles and Women's Issues"; and 57/2, 1987, "Comparative/Historical Sociology of Science." He construes that journal editors act as gatekeepers by exercising control over the flow of scientific and/or scholarly knowledge. They also play a significant role in people's career. The editor says that he wrote letters to deans and/or chairpersons on behalf of sociologists being considered for promotion and/or tenure to the effect that their manuscripts were scheduled for publication.