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Tins paper is intended as an effort at taking-stock of the reference group concept after nearly three decades of use, the latter two of which have been marked by its more than ample employment. Its popularity indeed has so frequently led to its serving as an all-purpose post hoc explanation of behavior that it has led to the wry definition, "Your reference group is a group that you behave like and you behave like them because they're your reference group" (Cohen, 1962: 104). The inconsistencies, lack of clarity, but also areas of agreement which have marked the varied formulations of the concept, will be apparent from the following review and commentary. The Final discussion indicates some of the matters still to be considered in the use of thin important but perhaps overworked concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goffman argues that individuals offer themselves to the group through well demeanored appearance for which they are granted deference. In this paper, I try to expand Goffman's insights by focusing directly on demeanor itself. From observations in Intensive Care Units, I find that demeanor is an achievement, a cooperative social accomplishment, and a form of deference. It is normatively a working ideal by which individuals gain acceptance as competent group members. A well demeanored appearance makes interaction more pleasant; it permits others to anticipate that one will try to conform to interactional norms; it facilitates whatever task is at hand; it validates the deference that an individual grants; and it is itself a form of deference. It does not remain the responsibility of the individual, and we must therefore examine how groups constitute individuals. From the analysis, I derive explanations of the level of demeanor in a given setting, and propositions predicting the behavior of individuals within a setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of the concepts of role and consensus has been so well documented that it can now be treated as an assumption by sociologists. Still, however, the measurement of role consensus is not without difficulty since the concept itself imposes a number of methodological problems. This paper represents a suggestion of an alternative measurement combining a number of innovations from our present body of sociological knowledge. In brief, this involves the merger of the following: (1) the problem of comparing intraposition with interposition consensus; (2) the utilization of dyadic consensus; (3) the application of a correlational measure based on ordinal assumptions; and (4) the possibility of furthering the concerns of both macroscopic and microscopic analysis. Our approach will be direct and somewhat abbreviated in terms of (1) a brief rationale; (2) a working hypothesis; (3) a description of the instrument; (4) measurement; and (5) discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades limited research attention has been given to those smallest population centers, beyond the individual farmstead, commonly referred to as hamlets. Alluding to this fact, the following statement made in 1943 by the geographer, Glenn T. Trewartha, is still indicative of the situation: "… one of the most numerous and widespread settlement types in the United States, the unincorporated hamlet, does not deserve the near oblivion that has been accorded it by geographers and other workers in the social sciences." The lack of research interest may be attributed partially to the dimunition of the farm population and rural institutions and the increasing significance of industrialization and urban development. Because of these and other changes, students of society may share the opinion that hamlets are rapidly disappearing and consequently not worthy of study. Various studies, however, are not in agreement concerning whether or not hamlets have increased or decreased in size and numbers. According to Fuguitt, the contradictory findings stem from the fact that previous researchers have not made "a clear distinction between (1) changes in population size categories over time, and (2) changes in individual places over time." In a study based on Census data, Fuguitt examined Wisconsin's incorporated small towns for the period 1880-1960. He simultaneously analyzed the two analytical components indicated above through the use of the Markov model. His general conclusion was: "While fewer small towns are being 'born' these days, they aren't 'dying,' but are growing up to be big towns, in some cases." Although it is possible, as Fuguitt also suggests, that small unincorporated places are declining in size and number, there is little reported data to suggest they are rapidly diminishing as a rural collectivity or settlement center in contemporary society. In general, the purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to our descriptive knowledge of hamlets. Initially, an effort is made to determine the main activity pursued by the principal family supporters within or near the hamlet area. Secondly, based on the major activity pursued by each resident family's primary income recipient, a statistically derived typology of hamlets is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research and theory relative to the lower class adolescent male peer group has focused largely on the culture and behavior of group members. Further, the focus has been on the different types of behavior characteristic of different groups. While this analysis has been quite fruitful, it has led us away from attempting to place all such groups on any single continuum which might involve structure as well as culture. Specifically, the concept of "gang" has either been used loosely to include all groups of lower class male adolescents or has been omitted altogether. This paper maintains that the concept of gang still has considerable utility as a category for research. This paper will be presented in five parts: (1) an analysis of the concept as used in the past into a set of empirical variables; (2) a description of a method used to get data on these variables; (3) a presentation of data relative to these variables; (4) an analysis of the correlation of these variables; and (5) an attempt to place gangs on continue representing variables found in small groups in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the determinants of neighborhood satisfaction for a population of older persons. Here neighborhood satisfaction is presumed to be the result of a complicated process involving: objective qualities in the neighborhood, the psychological and physical state of the person making the evaluation, as well as the person's own subjective definitions of the neighborhood. The intent of this research is to weigh the significance of these objective neighborhood conditions, subjective definitions, and the individual's level of environmental docility for the determination of neighborhood satisfaction among the elderly. To investigate this issue a random sample of 1,185 respondents 60 years and older was interviewed in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York SMSA. The data suggest that while all three general factors are significant in the production of neighborhood satisfaction, mental portraits of the neighborhood are the most significant source of neighborhood satisfaction. This finding indicates support for a synthesis of symbolic interactionist and traditional ecological models of environmental response. Clearly, for this sample, older persons sharing the same neighborhoods do not necessarily occupy the same environmental worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on population density and infrastructure has generally used an ecological/economic model to identify the determinants of the distribution of infrastructural resources. While this approach has been fruitful, a political-economic approach suggests the importance of an alternative set of determinants of resource distribution: the needs of elites. This paper operationalizes both political-economic and ecological/ economic explanations and compares their efficacy in predicting infrastructural development in the provinces of Thailand. Overall. our data suggest that the distribution of infrastructural resources is primarily a function of two ecological-economic variables--gross provincial product and density, and the political-economic factors of presence of governmental and non-governmental elites in the province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students of neighborhood satisfaction have traditionally regarded the individual as the appropriate unit of analysis. In this present paper we break with tradition, proposing that satisfaction can also be viewed as a property of populations. Data from the 1974-76 U.S. Annual Housing Surveys are employed to test three alternative explanations of variation in aggregate levels of satisfaction across 60 metropolitan areas. Consistent with the urban-scale hypothesis, a negative relationship is found between metropolitan population size and the percentage of residents who rate their neighborhoods "excellent." Further analysis reveals that variables representing the compositional and quality-of-life perspectives affect satisfaction in the expected directions as well: the more residents who are incentive or resource-deficient and the more residents who perceive local conditions as problems, the lower the level of neighborhood satisfaction tends to be. In terms of relative explanatory power, the quality-of-life variables appear dominant, although the persistent effects of the urbanscale measure may prove of greatest theoretical interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a large number of empirical studies showing blacks to have higher levels of self-esteem than whites, no adequate explanation for this difference has been developed. This paper proposes a theory dealing with differences in self-process and, in a related manner, self-esteem between blacks and whites, utilizing the concept of selective credulity (i.e., having relatively more faith in others' opinions of us who are relatively positive). Specifically, it is hypothesized that because blacks (as compared to whites) are more likely to focus on interpersonal relations and less likely to focus on internalized standards of comparison for purposes of self-enhancement, (a) blacks maximize the rewards of their interpersonal relations more so than whites (reflected by differences in selective credulity), and (b) levels of self-esteem between blacks and whites are no different when controlling the differential impact of selective credulity on self-esteem. Utilizing data from 1,560 high school students, evidence is presented which provides some initial support for the proposed theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Costner (1965) showed that many of the most commonly used measures of association may be conceptually interpreted as indicating proportional reduction in prediction error. But because it is verbally cumbersome, and conceptually complex for some measures, the proportional reduction in error interpretation has not been widely incorporated in research reports where appropriate. Instead, measures of association continue to be interpreted in abstract terms distinguishing between broad levels of strength. This paper demonstrates that all proportional reduction in error measures of association may be alternately interpreted as indicating the percent of variation explained. Because this interpretation is conceptually meaningful in a manner highly relevant for scientific investigation, more convenient to apply in research reports, and already familiar to most social scientists, it is argued that it be standardly applied to all proportional reduction in error measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the perceived structure of parent-adolescent relations for its effect on intellectuality in young adulthood. In addition, position in the wider societal structure and integration into a supposed intellectually oriented subculture are considered for their effects on this personality characteristic. The data reported are based on a questionnaire survey of 181 Jewish men age 22-29 residing in metropolitan St. Paul. There is a clear association between the perception structure of parent-child relations and later intellectuality. On the other hand, integration into the Jewish subculture neither leads directly to intellectuality nor is associated with the relationship between perceived family structure, and intellectuality. Position in the wider social structure, however, is important in the development of intellectuality both directly and in terms of its effect on perceived family structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late 1960s saw the emergence of a few "super gangs" whose political and economic activities attracted much attention. More recently, gangs apparently similar to those of the 1950s have become newsworthy again in several major cities. This paper surveys these developments against the background of a variety of macro- and microsociological processes. Research conducted in Chicago and elsewhere during the late 1950s and early 60s suggests that delinquent gangs were rather "innocent" participants in the broad social trends of the times and that most gang members were relatively unaffected by the ideological currents associated with them. The primary effect on gangs was indirect, by changing the perceptions and attitudes of others toward gangs, and their behavior in relation to them. Gang life for most members of most gangs, individually and collectively, appears to have changed little in recent years. The prospects for channeling the energies of gangs into socially constructive programs seem bleak, because of the operation of group processes, and the limited experiences and social abilities of most gang members. Basic structural limitations on opportunities for the poor and the powerless to achieve economic and political power provide the framework within which these processes operate today as in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests a new way of applying "Proportional-Reductions-in-Error" related measures (i.e., Gamma, dyx, dxy, and Kendall's Tau's) to link logical forms of hypotheses to types of ordinal measures of association. First, the basic form of associations for ordinal data are examined. Second, the analytical properties of "P-R-E" related measures are investigated. Finally, it is proposed that "P-R-E" related measures be used in testing the logical form of the relationship between variables implied in a hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is intended as an effort at taking stock of the reference group concept after three decades of use in sociological research. The inconsistencies and some areas of agreement shared by social scientists are presented. Throughout its history, the phenomena of the reference group have been described by the idea of social groups, namely in-groups and out-groups, primary groups and significant others. The crucial problem in the reference group theory is stated as that of "ascertaining how a person defines such a situation, which perspective he uses in arriving in a definition, and who constitutes the audience whose responses provide the necessary confirmation and support for his position." The value of the reference group concept in specifying the types of others "represents a vast simplification and fairly sharp specification of the idea of the other" and the idea that groups other than one's own may serve to shape one's frame of reference is economically articulated by the concept.

Small group research has dealt at some length with the phenomena of competition and cooperation. Task performance and, to a lesser extent, group structure have been examined under different conditions of competition and cooperation. The two group-types most frequently encountered in the literature are the intra-competitive group in which the members of a group compete with each other for a reward which only one of them may obtain, and the intra-cooperative, inter-competitive group in which the members are competing as a unit against another group. In the course of a recent experiment, the behaviors and attitudes of two additional group-types have also been studied. One of these types, the Intra-Aud-Inter-Competitive Group shall be the focus of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proprietors of a society, in order to gain their ends, frequently resort to the use of force and violence. An important tool is the organization of violence. Massive violence is instituted by these organizations and at the behest of the societal proprietors as a means of goal attainment. One of the consequences of this massive violence is the disruption of the experience of everyday life and the imposition of another experience upon the actor. The organization, as a result of its own action, creates problems which must be solved in order that action may be continued. The organization must make combat action meaningful by making it relevant; it must devise strategies for successfully moving individuals from one reality to the other; it must define the parameters of the most relevant action, i.e., violence; it must socialize men into violence; it must devise strategies to constrain, channel, and direct the actions of men socialized into violence; it must, in short, construct a social reality designed to cope with the exigencies of the battle-moment. A discussion of some of the factors relevant to the success or failure of this project has been the subject of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, then, we investigate the extent to which persons using leadership styles of interaction in small groups adhere to a Machievellian approach, and the extent to which a Machiavellian approach may be successful outside the small group. The two hypotheses guiding the present research are as follows: 1) A Machiavellian orientation toward others is positively correlated with a leadership style of interaction, such as a greater amount of participation in discussion, and higher rates of asking for information, and making suggestions for action. 2) A Machiavellian orientation is correlated with successful implementation of a team plan within the community at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a more systematic study of the relationship between fraternity membership and mobility aspirations. Controls for relevant social background variables (income, education, and religious identification) are added so that a better indication of the true relationship between aspirations and fraternity membership can be made. Based on the findings of Levine and Sussmann and those of Jackson and Winkler, it is hypothesized that the higher one's mobility aspirations, the more likely one is to join a fraternity. A caveat must be interjected here. It is not assumed that only social mobility aspirations determine whether or not one joins a fraternity. Related research by the author indicates that other variables, especially peer and familial pressures, are very important in determining membership in fraternities. What is attempted here is an analysis which focuses on one small part of the membership process so as to shed some light on a hitherto neglected research area, viz., the relationship between mobility aspirations and fraternity membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the ubiquitous trends in social behavior is the formation of comprehensive systems of interaction known as communities. Everywhere in the world and throughout man's existence on earth, the formation of communities has been evident, from the primitive tribe to the contemporary nation-state. Among the exciting developments within the more complex communities of mankind, such as cities and nations, is the emergence of subcommunity forms which both complement and contest the arrangements of the larger society. Status communities and ethnic communities of many sorts belong among the contemporary sub-communities. It is instructive to apply this concept of sub-community formation to areas of behavior such as the worlds of art and jazz, when that behavior can be shown to approach closure and completeness with respect to a distinctive way of life. This paper deals with two major tasks: (1) the development of a special theory of the jazz community as an unique form of status community, and (2) a judgment as to the validity of referring to the social world of the jazz musician as a community. It should be mentioned that while this formulation is conceived in terms of the jazz subculture, it also has widespread application elsewhere in the area of social deviance. Since the concept of status group has its roots in the general theory of community, we shall briefly outline that concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instrumental-expressive differentiation, employed extensively by Talcott Parsons, has been applied to the field of voluntary associations by several writers. Thus, Lundberg, Komarovsky, and McInery wrote of instrumental, mixed, and leisure associations in an early study, and Rose concerned himself with two types of associations, the social influence group and the expressive group. This means of classifying voluntary associations has appeared recently in at least one introductory sociology textbook. A recent impetus to the use of the instrumental-expressive categorization in this field was the publication by Gordon and Babchuk of a typology of associations utilizing this concept. They define the ideal type of instrumental association as differing from the ideal type of expressive association in the following three ways. (1) The member of the expressive association achieves immediate and continuing gratification from taking part in the organization's activities. The instrumental association member may even find the group's activities distasteful, but he will get satisfaction from the knowledge that they help to accomplish certain long-range goals. In other words, personal gratification is more remote (in terms of time) from participation in the group's activities for the member of the instrumental group than the member of the expressive group. (2) The activities of the instrumental association tend to be externally oriented, whereas those of the expressive association are focused inward. Expressive organizations "perform a function primarily for the individual participants through activities confined and self-contained within the organization itself…. In contrast, the major function and orientation of the instrumental organization are related to activities which take place outside the organization." (3) The activities of members of expressive associations represent ends in themselves, while, for instrumental association members, participation in the group's activities is seen as a means of accomplishing external, long-range goals. The major questions raised in this paper are whether members of instrumental associations differ predictably from members of expressive associations regarding (1) the manner in which persons become members of associations and (2) their involvement in primary group situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of the present paper are as follows: Replication. It will be recalled that Chapman and Volkmann utilized a sample of 88 university students, randomly assigned to four groups. Each group was assigned the task of responding to a fifty-item test of acquaintance with literature. All groups received the same general instructions and two illustrative questions. Individuals in one group (A) received no further information. Group B was informed that authors and literary critics had taken the test and had made an average score of 37.2. Group C was told that students "like themselves" had scored an average of 37.2 on the test. Group D was informed that WPA workers had achieved the same score. Members of all groups were then asked to indicate how they expected to perform on the test (i.e., how many questions they expected to answer correctly). The task assigned to the respondents in the present study was also a fifty-item test of acquaintance with literature. The instructions, methods of randomization, and reported achievements of other groups were similarly managed. A slight modification was introduced regarding the information given group D. They were informed that a group of tenant farmers had achieved an average score of 37.2. This modification was prompted by a desire to maintain currently relevant groups as points of reference. In this study, the number utilized in the total sample was 239 (all social science students at a Midwestern state university), almost triple the original N of 88. With randomization into four groups (as in the original design) the increased N in the present study not only permitted more confidence to be attached to the results of the statistical tests at issue in the replication but permitted as well control of relevant variables without exhausting subsample N's to points where statistical tests in other aspects of the research would not be meaningful. Elaboration and extension. The increased N of the present study made possible the introduction and statistical control of variables which we felt might serve to enhance the predictive power of the principle at issue. The fact that the means of the various experimental groups order themselves as they do is both interesting and significant. This ordering of means says nothing, however, about the equally interesting and perhaps equally significant question of why some respondents expect to perform above the means and other respondents below. We anticipated that measurement of certain attitudinal variables which seemed to be theoretically relevant might serve as one possible means toward predictive refinement. These variables include the following: (a) self-evaluation, (b) occupational self-designation, and (c) negative others. The matter of relevance and operationalization of each of these variables will be briefly summarized below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exclusion and inclusion constitute the formation of social groups and their boundaries. Historically, middle- and upper-class African Americans formed social organizations to engage in racial uplift and status enhancement. Recent work suggests the purposes of such organizations have shifted from status enhancement toward preserving intra-racial ties. Drawing on nearly four years of participant observation and 29 in-depth interviews with members of a middle-class Black men's social club, this article analyzes the tensions imbued in maintaining solidarity amid class-based divisions. Beyond providing social respite from the white gaze, this Black space offers escape from the Black gaze, or the burdens of racial uplift. Studying Black social clubs and symbolic boundary formation is richly informative for understanding boundary maintenance and group solidarity within racialized organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major objective of the research reported here is to investigate the significance and meaning of the contextual effects of communities on individuals' opportunities for socioeconomic attainment. A model which incorporates both individuals and their communities is proposed and tested. The empirical test was done by using samples of the Israeli labor force population. The findings demonstrate that community has significant effects on individuals' attainment. Community seems to be an additional factor that affects social mobility and as such an important dimension of the stratification system. Characteristics defining the social context of the community as an opportunity structure are identified and their significance discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparisons of factor analytic results based on a matrix of total (individual) correlations and three matrices of between-groups (ecological) correlations revealed fundamental differences in factor patterns when the unit of analysis shifted from individuals to aggregates. The major difference involved the marked tendency for a highly individualistic General Ability Factor derived from the matrix of total correlations to become more and more sociological in content as individuals were aggregated. Results are discussed in terms of their bearing on the problem of determining the "appropriateness" of a given unit of analysis, individuals vs. aggregates, for certain levels of inquiry, i.e., psychological vs. sociological. It is concluded that whether the researcher should heed the traditional warning about the use of aggregate data relationships as a basis for making inferences concerning individuals ought to depend in part on whether his interest is in psychological or sociological propositions about individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general purposes of this study were to investigate the group and organizational affiliates of reputed community leaders in a rural community. The specific hypotheses were that the higher one is ranked as a reputational leader, (1) the more exchange influence he will likely have accumulated through occupying economic, kinship, occupational, ownership, and political-governmental positions which are reputedly influential in the community, (2) the more likely he is to be au active participant in formal and/or informal coordinative interstitial groups in the community, and (3) the more likely he is to be au active participant in those formal coordinative groups which are reputed to be influential over community affairs. The hypotheses were tested by comparing the sets of rankings of twenty-eight reputational leaders with (1) their rankings in terms of exchange positions scores, (2) their rankings in terms of social participation scores, and (3) their rankings in terms of weighted social participation scores. The results of the study tended to support the hypotheses, as stated, for the community involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reported declining significance of gay neighborhoods has raised questions about the role of gay enclaves as a locus for community building. Using Wellman and Leighton's community 'lost,' 'saved,' and 'liberated' frameworks, we examine the degree to which gay enclave residence and network socializing are associated with experiences of gay community among men in the New York City area. Multilevel models indicate that enclave residence is neither directly nor indirectly associated with perceived community cohesion or community attachment. Increased socializing with gay men and heterosexuals were, respectively, positively and negatively associated with our community outcomes. Increased socializing with lesbians was associated with greater community attachment, while socializing with bisexuals was associated with greater perceived community cohesion. Our findings lend support for a 'gay community liberated' perspective; experiences of gay community are shaped principally by network relations rather than residential proximity to gay institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feeling that you belong in a group is an important and powerful need. The ability to foster a sense of belonging can also determine whether groups survive. Organizational features of groups cultivate feelings of belonging, yet prior research fails to investigate the idea that belief systems also play a major role. Using multilevel data (U.S. Congregational Life Survey, ), this study finds that church members' traditional beliefs, group-level belief unity, and their interaction associate positively with members' sense of belonging. In fact, belief unity can be thought of as a 'sacred canopy' under which the relationship between traditional beliefs and feelings of belonging thrives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social capital is generally recognized as the positive outcome of sociability and social connection and, more specifically, as the capacity to realize economic benefits through social connections. Limited attention has been paid to understanding the potential of social capital at the intersection of socioeconomic disadvantage. The first part of the article examines assumptions of class and gender in the theoretical literature on social capital. The second part explores the influence of class and gender contexts on social networks among women living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Victoria, Australia. The analysis reveals the ways in which social network assets are conditional on socioeconomic and gender circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in network exchange theory and status characteristics theory that distinguishes power from influence has proven productive, but leaves open the question of whether a causal relationship exists between these two central, sociological concepts. Past research has found that structural power in exchange increases expectations for competent performance of the power user on a sub- sequent cooperative task. However, once the power advantage has been removed, previous research has failed to find increased influence of power users, perhaps because those subjected to power use react negatively to perceptions of the high-power actor as selfish or greedy. In society, the results of power used on relatively few people can be observed by many who may not react negatively to the power use because they are not directly exploited. Thus we predicted that observers of power processes would form high expectations for the competence of, and be influenced by, power users. An experimental study supported the predictions: A partner who had been in a high-power position had more influence over observers than did a partner who had been in a low-power position. An interaction was found such that the high-power partner had more influence over observers of power in strong-power networks, but not in weak-power networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to traditional error theory, sentiment measurements vary unsystematically from individual to individual. However, we find some patterned deviation in sentiments that characterize subsets of respondents within a seemingly homogeneous population. After demonstrating the existence of such patterns, we report an exploratory study aimed at identifying social characteristics of people with different patterns of sentiments. People embedded in multiple social networks have exaggerated sentiments that contour cultural patterns, and people with few social associations have attenuated sentiments conveying cultural detachment. In addition, people with disciplinary parents and romantic privation have some distinctive sentiments, depending on their gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents some findings of a five year study of the neighborhood stabilization movement since 1956 in 15 urban communities across the U.S. This movement, an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, is the organized effort to maintain racial diversity in U.S. urban neighborhoods. Based on field research, historical review, and census data, the study offers three analytical models representing success, failure, and conditional efforts in this movement. Internal and external factors of success and failure are discussed and nine inductive hypotheses serve as speculative conclusions about the probability of success in maintaining neighborhood diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender differences in neighboring are investigated using survey data from respondents in 81 Nashville neighborhoods. Of primary concern is why women neighbor more than men. Secondarily, the effects of life-cycle stage and socioeconomic status (SES) on neighboring are explored. Of these three, gender most strongly predicts neighboring activities, even with full and part time employment controlled. Life-cycle stage and SES are about equivalent in strength, although they significantly influence different neighboring measures. Findings suggest that the definition in American gender roles of women as bearers of emotional and social responsibilities accounts for their more extensive neighboring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on community structure as a network of interorganizational linkages, with an eye toward (1) generating new conceptual schemes to study the community as a social network and (2) developing a methodology to measure new dimensions of community structure. An analysis of structurally equivalent roles is performed in two communities for three organizational resource networks: money, information, and moral support. Global dependencies on resource generator, consumer, and transmitter roles for the money network are analyzed using loglinear models. Local dependencies within the money network are also examined. Finally, the study examines the perceived influence of organizations in community affairs as a function of the organizations' global positions within the community network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research is consistent with the idea that socioeconomic deprivation leads individuals to be more religious in certain ways. The related perspectives of exchange theory and cognitive behaviorism imply that such deprivation also leads people to place more importance on religion—a virtually unexplored issue. This study examines the effects of education, occupational prestige, and income on "religious salience" among residents of the Raleigh, North Carolina, metropolitan area. Occupational prestige and—among respondents who were not church members— education are found to have the hypothesized negative effects on salience. However, income has no effects when education and occupation are controlled, and an argument by Rodney Stark that these effects would hold true only for church members is contradicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Michel's notion of the inevitable and ironic transformation of groups with egalitarian intent into groups with oligarchical practices is examined through an analysis of thirty-four role playing partisan groups. Each group is a triad with an extended shared history or a history of equality that comes with friendship. Each group differentiated itself by selecting a representative to confront another student who played the role of a university dean. In nineteen of the groups the constituents obtained a news report of the outcome of those negotiations independent of their representative's report. In the other fifteen groups the constituents had to depend on their representative's report. In those groups that relied solely on their representative's report, oligarchical interrelations emerged. This contrasts with the news report groups who maintained egalitarian relationships while developing a political standpoint toward each other, the opposition and the future. We conclude that Michels' statement on organizational oligarchy is illuminated further by a consideration of an emergent monopoly of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading sociologists have warned that sociology in the United States faces an internal crisis of diversity. Diversity is defined as the splintering of sociology into a multitude of theories, specialities and interest groups. While many professional associatinos remain viable, they have been described as suffering from 'intellectual paralysis.' The author takes issue with the assumption that diversity weakens sociology. He believes that diverse viewpoints among sociologists can serve them well in light of increasingly complicated social arrangements. Therefore he posits that it is shortsighted to argue that sociologists ought to abandon this diversity and adopt a single point of view.

Past research has documented the fact that status characteristics organize group interaction. Freese and Cohen (1973) specified a condition under which a performance characteristic would eliminate the effect of a differentiating diffuse status characteristic. The present research extends the Freese-Cohen theory to specify a condition under which a differentiating diffuse status characteristic will eliminate the effect of a performance characteristic. Predictions derived from the formulation are (a) in situations where actors are differentiated by a diffuse status characteristic and a totally inconsistent performance characteristic, influence rates will be a function only of diffuse status and (b) it is the strength (0) of a totally inconsistent performance characteristic, rather than the number of traits comprising the characteristic, that determines its effect. These predictions are contrasted with those of other expectation states formulations (i.e., Berger et al., 1977). Laboratory experiments generally support our formulation while providing some disconfirming evidence for the other formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent national data were used to examine the impact of individual and institutional level variables on the ability of race and sex groups to complete a four-year college promptly (i.e., within three to four consecutive years) versus six to seven years after having entered college in 1972 or 1973. The results showed that black students were less successful than whites in prompt and in subsequent four-year college completion. In addition, males were far less successful than females in completing college on schedule, Initial race and sex differences favoring whites and females remained when examining subsequent college graduation rates. The magnitude of the race and sex disparities was reduced, however, when taking these rates into consideration. In addition, the proportion of blacks and males completing their B.A. degree increased substantially when college re-entry rates were examined. This finding indicates the importance of including college re-entry rates when describing the educational attainment of students. College grade performance was a major determinant of prompt and subsequent college completion for all race and sex groups. In addition, high school rank was an important determinant of prompt graduation for white males and prompt and subsequent graduation for black females. Attending a private college had a significant positive effect on prompt college graduation for white and black males but no significant effect for females; however, attending a selective college did not have a significant effect on prompt or subsequent graduation for any of the four race/sex groups examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several theorists have suggested the use of social circles in studying patterns of interaction among artists. Crane has proposed that artistic circles approximate circles found among scientists. Kadushin feels that a particular type of circle—the movement circle—characterizes art. Research on the emergence of various artistic groups— the American Artists' Congress, American Abstract Artists, and the surrealist movemerit—indicates that these two frameworks are not adequate for understanding all artistic circles. What becomes clear is that artistic circles vary along a number of dimensions. First, there is variation in what brings artists together. At times it is the propagation of an aesthetic faith. At others it is a similar political orientation or issue. Finally, artists come together as a result of the practical concerns of making a living. Secondly, there is a wide variation in the types of structures around which these circles drape themselves. These may range from highly instituted structures, such as the federal government art projects, to a club or a bar. Finally, the linkages between these circles, unlike the invisible colleges in science, are individuals characterized not by their belongingness to a particular circle, but rather by their marginality to those circles. Simmel's social type, "the stranger," is suggested as characterizing this type of individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulk of sociological theory is based on a notion of "state": mechanical-organic solidarity, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, folk-urban, and so forth. We propose a theory that social systems consist of actors and groups in constant motion. Further, we propose that the duality of actor and society generate a system that can be understood by using the concepts of complementarity, indeterminacy and the principle of relativity. Such a system is defined and the issue of social change is addressed. Basically, change is defined as an alteration in the motion of actors relative to the motion of groups. As the number of groups increases relative to the number of actors, the velocity of actors increases and the velocity of groups decreases. The increasing disparity of these velocities indicates greater social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of the growth of metropolitan communities, drawing primarily on ecological theory as represented by Burgess' concentric zone model of the metropolis, have highlighted the effects of distance from the city center on community development. Using data from one major suburban region, we show that a more complete examination of Burgess' ecological life-cycle theory should deal also with the effects of initial development pattern, age of housing stock, minority and low-income presence, and social heterogeneity. In addition we argue that the latter three variables also can be interpreted as measures of the potential for collective action of residents to restrict development, and show that an explicitly political characteristic—incorporation—has a significant impact on one dimension of succession. We conclude that rather than limiting attention to the effects of distance (simplifying Burgess' model to central place theory), studies of growth should address more directly the interaction between ecological processes and the socio-political framework within which they operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from 23 alcoholism halfway houses are analyzed to assess the relationship of four aspects of organizational size to three levels of organizational functioning. As identified by Kimberly (1976), the dimensions of size are (1) personnel, (2) inputs/ outputs, (3) physical capacity, and (4) amount of discretionary resources. The three levels of organizational analysis are (1) internal (reflecting social control issues), (2) external (organization-environment relations), and (3) socio-technical (core technology issues). The amount of discretionary resources, followed closely by personnel size, is the dimension of size most relevant to all three aspects of organizational operations. Contrary to expectations, input-volume (or number of residential clients) was related negatively both to a more differentiated internal structure and to supportive organization-environment relations. Also unexpected, client-size had little relationship to the programming or staffing aspects of the core technology. Physical capacity (number of client beds) was the least significant aspect of size for this sample of organizations. Additional analyses of size as a multi-dimensional concept and refinement in theories relating size to the structure and operations of residential service organizations are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the earliest writings in social science there have been lively debates over the extent to which societies are dominated by elites. Recently, empirical data have been considered for elite backgrounds, elite interlock, elite unity, and elite influence on public policy, but interpretation of the data continue to be problematic. The findings are often confusing and conflicting mainly because of differing methodologies, definitions and indicators of elite status. Focusing on the four areas of quantitative research listed, we compare the findings in an attempt to explain some of the conflicts. When possible, we have prepared summaries of the consistent findings, which tend to show, with respect to these issues, greater support for elite theories as opposed to pluralist theory. Finally we discuss some of the major questions in the debate that current research is unable to answer, and outline future research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on teacher militancy report associations between various personal background and organizational variables and attitudinal militancy. These relationships arc frequently interpreted by the post hoc application of social psychological concepts. A causal model is developed that incorporates relevant personal and organizational variables and the social psychological variables that presumably mediate the relationship between these and attitudinal militancy. Research designed to test the model shows the model is supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between athletic achievement and educational aspiration is explored for black and white males. Results indicate that athletic behavior facilitates the association of white athletes with a college-oriented peer group, producing an indirect influence on aspiration. In contrast, athletic behavior for black athletes is unmediated, indicating that other intervening social-psychological factors may be relevant. The theoretical significance of these results are discussed and suggestions are provided for future research on the consequences of interscholastic athletics for educational aspiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classifying styles of scientific thought is a necessary prelude to many further projects in the analysis of theory and in the sociology of sociology. Numerical techniques such as those presented here can supplement less formal insights. To illustrate I have classified twenty five works (representing a diversity of well known theory approaches) by the presence or absence of forty-two traits (drawn from ideas about the logic-of-science). The procedures detailed here group these familiar works into "sensible" types based on social structure, social perceptions and positivistic methods. The classification also exposes underlying dimensions of individual versus group-based observations and theory-building versus theory-confirmation strategies. Having demonstrated the system can produce sensible results with familiar works, I can use it to identify atypical works, to compare social groups of theorists with types of thought, and to explore the nature of common, underlying dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ethnic community and compensatory theories of Black social participation are compared by analyzing affective correlates (political efficacy and self-esteem) of participation for 712 residents of Nashville, Tennessee in 1969. The instrumental-expressive typology of participation is utilized in addition to total participation. Participation and the affective variables are significantly correlated for Blacks, but only weakly correlated for Anglos, lending support to both theories. The relationship between participation, the affective variables, and the controlled background factors is briefly discussed, and problems and directions for future research are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greer's theory of opportunity structure attempts to explain variations in neighborhood intimacy within the urban community. The present study describes how fifty-five residents of a luxury apartment house complex in a highly urban area defined the neighbor role and interacted with each other. The results tend to support Greer's theory. Few respondents had a high degree of intimacy associated with their neighboring interaction. This was also reflected in the definition given the neighbor role. In addition, some evidence is presented that individual characteristics such as long residence, being unmarried, living alone, and frequent participation in other formal and informal groups, were associated with high neighborliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship of interviewer characteristics to the responses of their interviewees in a survey in a relatively sensitive area—drinking practices. Generally, respondents seem to have reacted to easily ascertainable characteristics of the interviewers, such as sex, status (as measured by education, occupation, and clothing), and religion. The attitudes of the interviewer toward his interviewing were also related to respondents' reported drinking. It is concluded that interviewing is a social relationship of brief duration in which the respondent's performance reflects norms that tend to emerge based on the information each of the participants is able to learn about the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists have become aware of the correlation between socio-cultural variables and the development of types of scientific knowledge. Until recently, the systematic study of the importance of these relations for knowledge in the social sciences has been more or less overlooked. To be sure, there was speculation about the impact of social and cultural factors upon the works of previous researchers. Some changes are taking place. Recently, the number of studies has increased and further evidence of increasing interest in the area has been reflected in the publications of several symposia which focus on sociological self-analysis. Furthermore, some lines of inquiry in the study of the discipline are examined.