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The sociology of the South, as a substantive area research interest, emerged during the 1800s as a means to rationalize and preserve the cultural norms of slavery era whites who would soon experience seismic social shocks including the Civil War and emancipation of enslaved blacks. The person singularly cited as the architect of this area of study is Howard W. Odum. Although Odum is identified as the person most responsible for the development of this field, archival data indicate that W. E. B. Du Bois and the men and women of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory were its first practitioners. In this paper evidence is offered to show that Du Bois's Atlanta University efforts predated Odum's North Carolina research program. Additionally, an explanation for Du Bois's marginalization in the existing sociology of the South literature is offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the issue which gives emphasis on both the plenary and the presidential addresses presented at the 1985 annual meeting of the Mid-South Sociological Association held in Little Rock, Arkansas. The success of the meeting was made even more so by these two extremely timely and thought provoking papers from Bill Catton and Marsha McGee. Both not only reflect the introspective nature of sociology and sociologists at this time, but also provide direction for the discipline. Hence, it is hoped that the quality of both the 1985 plenary address and the 1985 presidential address serves as an encouragement to those who would like to attend the 1986 annual meeting in Jackson, Mississippi.

Harry Alpert (1912-1977), the US sociologist, is best-known for his directorship of the National Science Foundation's social science programme in the 1950s. This study extends our understanding of Alpert in two main ways: first, by examining the earlier development of his views and career. Beginning with his 1939 biography of Emile Durkheim, we explore the early development of Alpert's views about foundational questions concerning the scientific status of sociology and social science more generally, proper social science methodology, the practical value of social science, the academic institutionalisation of sociology, and the unity-of-science viewpoint. Second, this paper illuminates Alpert's complex involvement with certain tensions in mid-century US social science that were themselves linked to major transformations in national science policy, public patronage, and unequal relations between the social and natural sciences. We show that Alpert's views about the intellectual foundations, practical relevance, and institutional standing of the social sciences were, in some important respects, at odds with his NSF policy work. Although remembered as a quantitative evangelist and advocate for the unity-of-science viewpoint, Alpert was in fact an urbane critic of natural-science envy, social scientific certainty, and what he saw as excessive devotion to quantitative methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines a strategy for reconstructing and visually documenting social change after the change is already largely completed. The example used is the pulp-logging industry in Ontonagon County, Michigan, in which change occurred slowly until 1970-1985, when a profound transformation took place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contrasts the use of ethnographic research procedures in the study of schools in Great Britain and the U.S. It also reflects on differences between the anthropology and the sociology of education. In the course of this exploration the authors also hope to draw together much of the literature from the respective countries and disciplinary fields. There is an obvious and striking difference between British and U.S. school ethnography. Whereas the U.S. research on schools and classrooms has been conducted primarily by applied anthropologists, that in Great Britain has been done overwhelmingly by researchers who see themselves as sociologists. It is noticeable that several researchers working as sociologists were trained as anthropologists or began work in anthropology departments. Where British research has looked to North America it has been to U.S. sociology in genera--especially symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology. The article also attempts to establish that the Atlantic really does divide school ethnographers into differing traditions. It establishes the truth of the authors' claim that school and classroom ethnography in the U.S. and Canada is predominantly anthropological in orientation, while that in Great Britain is more sociological.

The article presents a discussion on the growth and development of American sociology of sport. Sport has experienced a virtual explosion in the publication of empirical investigations, and some attempts at theory generation and model building. Several literatures have focused on the description, explanation, and prediction of sport. The article also discusses the changes and the dominant value orientation current within sport sociology. The investigative paradigms used by sport sociologists are also examined.

The author discusses and uses survey results from students and members of the North Central Sociological Association (NCSA) about important current issues in the U.S. The aim of this article is to illustrate some of the problems experienced by sociologists in teaching about social issues in our society. The purpose of the survey is to compare the attitudes of NCSA members compared to those of students about a variety of public opinion issues. The NCSA members are concerned more about race relations and the availability and affordability of health care while students are concerned more about crime, violence, and hunger. The data in this study also have implications for the understanding of gender relations. The results of this study suggest that the society is becoming more accepting of homosexuals; however, students are still leery about homosexuals serving as members of the clergy or as elementary school teachers. The author suggests several things that will help narrow the gap between the students' views and the sociology teachers' conceptualization of problems.

Discusses the impact of the job crisis in higher education on sociology in the U.S. Statistic on the decline in undergraduate enrollment; Employment profile of sociology academics and doctorates; Earnings of sociologists and anthropologists.

Using a 1978 national Gallup poll, we test the hypothesis that social marginality is a predictor of belief in paranormal phenomena. Being female and not being married generally correlate as hypothesized with paranormal belief, but age, low education, being Black, and being unemployed generally do not. The marginality hypothesis has a questionable theoretical foundation and fails to predict a variety of beliefs consistently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]