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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]

Sociologists have given insufficient attention to the influence of structural properties on the process of socialization. This paper sets forth a set of typologies which is expected to place limits on, but not necessarily determine, the behavioral alternatives within socialization systems. The outline can be used as a heuristic device for comparative analysis of socialization research and for the design and evaluation of socialization programs. Three aspects of the structure of socialization systems are discussed--the novice-agent relationship, the setting, and the target roles. Novice-agent relationships are characterized by four dimensions: 1) specification, 2) relative anomie, 3) incumbency of the target role, and 4) role repetition. Variations in types of setting are: 1) formality of setting, 2) individual or group socialization, 3) serial and disjunctive socialization. Target roles may vary along six dimensions: 1) voluntary, involuntary or semi-voluntary entrance, 2) time boundaries of roles, 3) valuation of roles, 4) socialization into social group or social category, 5) degree of institutionalization of roles, and 6) relation of role to novice's identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tested experimentally the relationship between group cohesiveness, defined as the willingness of individuals to stay in their group, and power, and acceptance. Power was defined as the ability to satisfy needs and acceptance as to the willingness to do so. A division of groups into three categories was suggested. In an instrumental group people seek to receive power and acceptance; in a mutual acceptance group people join having in mind to give and to take power and acceptance; in a vectorial group the aim of the people is to give power and acceptance either to some individuals or to an ideal. It was found that cohesiveness is better correlated to power than to acceptance in the instrumental and vectorial groups, and better correlated to acceptance in the mutual acceptance group. When all three groups were exposed to stress, cohesiveness has suffered most in the instrumental group and least in the vectorial group. All these findings are tentative and more experiments are forthcoming in order to corroborate the data obtained in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the proposition that law can also provide a clue to normative arrangements at the micro level since societies often codify rules which are common to inter- personal relationships and are especially likely to embody rules thought to have positive moral value in their legal codes. In this paper the author tries to do three things. First, the author points to deficiencies in the exchange theory model of interpersonal interaction which have not been elaborated on by recent critics. Second, the author develops a theory of "norm-making" which suggests a mechanism by which parties can attach social guarantees to highly particularized modes of inter- action. Third, the article draws on American contract law to specify the conditions which must be fulfilled if attempts by parties to introduce particularized norms into their relationship are to be successful. Contractual agreements are one kind of agreement in which parties endeavor to create norms which will govern their future relationship. The process of creating such norms, while analogous to the more widespread norm-making which occurs in informal social relationships, is in many ways different from what occurs at the informal level.

The article introduces research papers included in the December 1954 issue of the journal "American Sociological Review." In this issue fourteen articles are published which place a central emphasis on the nature and consequences of lace-to-lace interaction. These articles, which might ordinarily have been spread through several issues, are collected into a special issue in order to direct attention of members of allied disciplines, like anthropology, and psychology, to the variety and extent of sociology's present commitment in the small group field. Within the ranks of sociology it is hoped that this issue may help to capture the minds and talents of members who have not previously concerned themselves with small group research. There is every prospect that authors of articles in the present issue, with their average age in the low thirties, will for many years be deeply involved in the development and clarification of small group thinking. The case for the study of small groups will be most satisfactorily resolved if their enthusiasm can be sustained, their work criticized, and their ranks increased.

Utilizing replies from a selected sample of contributors to the literature of symbolic interactionism, this paper examines the nature and extent of institutional ties among respondents holding similar views as to appropriate methodology in sociology. The specific institutional ties examined are those as: (1) fellow graduate students, (2) teachers and students, and (3) departmental colleagues. The methodological differences between the Chicago and Iowa schools, described in other studies, manifest themselves in the present sample, as do other views not neatly classifiable within either of these schools of symbolic interactionism. The more unconventional the conception of methodology held by a respondent, the more likely is the respondent to have been a fellow graduate student, a departmental colleague, and/or involved in a teacher-student relationship with other symbolic interactionists favoring the same conception. Respondents preferring the more orthodox methodological stances in modern sociology are less likely to have shared in such institutional flea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disability of the breadwinner has serious consequences for the family. In addition to severe economic problems, such families experience a disruption of roles and strained interpersonal relations. This paper is concerned with the variations in structure of families with a disabled breadwinner. Family types were constructed utilizing age, sex, and marital status of the disabled person in addition to presence and age of children and generational factors as important dimensions. The distribution of a disabled population of breadwinners among these family types is presented. Factors believed to bear an influence upon family structure are introduced: sex, age, race, size of community of residence, and severity of disability. This paper is a step toward bridging the gap in research between theoretical models of family structure and empirical reality. [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]

Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article explores the idea of social networks, which have been becoming increasingly popular among both social anthropologists and sociologists as one way of understanding behavior, particularly in larger scale complex or less structured societies. It reviews several literature related to the topic including those that were regarded as the most effective treatment for the subject. Furthermore, it concentrates on the developments that have taken place after the discoveries made by these related literature. It discusses a range of topics that include the question of the network theory, structural and transactional perspectives, network concepts, data collection, and finally, it presents an analysis of the social networks.

This paper examines the community situation of shipyard workers on Tyneside, certain aspects of their orientations to work and general social perspectives, and the relationship of these to each other and to the structure of social relations at work. In terms of their community situation shipyard workers would seem to come close to Lockwood's traditional proletarian type of worker. There is evidence to suggest, however, that these workers' social perspectives are not at all clearly traditional proletarian. The explanation for this is found, at least m part, m the much greater complexity of social relations at work than are accounted for in the model of traditional proletarianism. The paper suggests that existing typologies of the orientations and social perspectives of workers need to be refined by more detailed studies of the structural and relational aspects of both work and community situations. The paper concludes with a brief examination of changes in both industry and community and the likely effect of these on the social perspectives of shipbuilding workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IN A RECENT paper Mr. Runciman concludes by inviting replies to his argument that it is logically and conceptually useful to employ the tripartite distinction between `class' `status' and `power' in the analysis of social stratification. Mr. Runciman does not, of course, deny the existence of links between these three dimensions, but suggests that such links must be seen contingent empirical relationships and not necessary logical ones. I hope that the following paper will provide such a reply. It must be clear that the following criticism is directed, in the main, to those parts of the paper in which Mr. Runciman is concerned with the logical and conceptual problem. The essay in question also contains a clear and valuable assessment of the problems encountered in any attempt to measure the three types of inequality. In the first part of the paper I propose to give a critical assessment of certain central aspects of Mr. Runciman's argument and, in the second part, I will put forward a very brief formulation of what I consider to be a more meaningful alternative view of the relationships between class, status, and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some years ago the author rejected out of hand a sociologist colleague's argument that the use of analogies or models is characteristic of insecure individuals operating in immature disciplines. This paper essays an explanation that justifies a reversal of judgment concerning the utility of analogies in sociology and social psychology. It is well to recognize, before continuing with the case against analogical analysis of sociological data, that only an extremist would argue that the very persistence of a conceptual scheme is an argument for its functional nature. The reality of these rewards makes it difficult for those employing an analogy to discern whether it has actual heuristic pedagogical value or its continued use is merely a function of rationalization designed to preserve these subjective rewards. Although not unknown in earlier periods of time, mechanistic models or analogies became much more prevalent in the seventeenth century in response to the remarkable gains of the period in mechanics, physics, and mathematics.

The use of systems of simultaneous equations to describe social behavior, extensive in econometrics, appears to have promise for explaining behavior in other social sciences as well. Two problems that may arise with the use of such equations are (1) identification, and (2) estimation. This paper considers the problem of identification and extends the methodology to include a description of the Theil-Basmann method of estimation. A specific model concerning the diffusion of technical innovations is formulated and tested. The results suggest that variables in the model represent an interdependent system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is intended to serve a dual function. First, to point up the need for a different theoretical approach to the specific problem of predicting or explaining the level of worker productivity, and second, to view this specific problem as an example of a general difficulty in sociological theory-building and to offer some suggestions for dealing with this difficulty. As the title indicates, this general problem is the need for "systemic" theories and organic models in sociology. Studies of worker productivity can be said to have focused generally on four kinds of independent variables—internalized factors (what the worker brings to the work situation), task-generated factors (what the worker must do), organizational factors (the formal structural limitations on how the job is done), and interpersonal factors (the worker's informal relations with others on the job). In summary, this paper has been an attempt to indicate that the current state of ordering of the problem of worker productivity is less than adequate.

The importance of early parent-child relational patterns for subsequent husband-wife relationship in marriage has been generally accepted in the fields of psychoanalysis, psychology and sociology. In studying the dominant, equalitarian and submissive roles of husband and wife in marriage, the influence of early affectional interaction to parents, therefore, will be taken into consideration. While different disciplines may have different conceptual systems in regard to the relation between early interactions and later marital roles, it seems to be of interest to find out statistically such association in a group of 589 married couples.' This paper will report the results of an investigation on the relation between young couple's conflict-attachment relationship with their own parents before marriage on the one hand, and their dominant-equalitarian-submissive role in marriage on the other. It is assumed that positive associations exist between "presence of conflict" with parents and the dominant role, and between "absence of conflict but presence of attachment" to parents and the equalitarian role in marriage.

This paper concerning the intelligence of marriage partners adds something to our general knowledge of assortative mating, homogamy, social selection or preferential mating. Such studies have simply sought to determine the amount of similarity of marriage partners in intelligence, as measured by coefficients of correlation or other devices, but they have several implications for sociologists. Preferential mating has some bearing on problems of marital adjustment, supposedly tending to increase marital harmony; it is important for inheritance studies and to eugenics, to the extent that intelligence test performance is accounted for by heredity and it is indirectly related to segregation and class cleavage in society, since people not only to some extent select marriage partners on the basis of similarity of intellectual status, but they also select friends in the same way. The new data available for report at this time consist of 433 marriages of University of Kansas students taking entrance intelligence tests during the period from 1925 to 1938, whose marriages were reported to the Alumni Office. In each case, intelligence scores were available for both husband and wife. During the entire period covered by the study, tests officially accepted by the American Council on Education were employed.

This article focuses on factor analysis as a technique of social research. If it is supposed that there are ten numerical data on each of one thousand individuals, this gives ten thousand different numbers with which to deal and in spite of the simplification introduced, the mass of data has become very unwieldy. It is therefore attempted to simplify matters by calculating all the 45 possible intercorrelations between these ten variables. Since even this simplification may leave one unsatisfied especially if the number of variables is large, the final step is to perform factor analysis. By applying the method of factor analysis, the ten variables, with their intercorrelations are reduced still more. For example, four factors with their intercorrelations are observed and these four factors are considered a satisfactory substitute for the original ten variables. The process of simplification involves the formation of three constructs. It starts with an indefinitely large number of distinguishably separate acts of social behavior. It is approximated by a construct which consists of number of quantitative measurements, say, in the ten thousand scores of one thousand individuals on ten measurements.

This paper reports on the first of a series of investigations we are attempting on this topic. Because games are social in nature, we assume that they mediate and shape the mutual socialization which is occurring in peer groups. Hence the type, frequency, and social context in which games are played may be important for understanding differential socialization outcomes. Given that there are important differences in the socialization process within racial groupings, it was decided to ask whether similar differences occur with regard to games. [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]

Unidimensional conceptions of socioeconomic status require that alternative indicators of one's position in the stratification system have similar elects upon the consequences of socioeconomic level. We show herein that different indicators of social participation and psychological well-being are in fact associated with different indicators of socioeconomic status. Thus, any attempt to combine these indicators—educational attainment, occupational pursuit, family income, or occupational origins—into a single index of socio- economic status will prove unsatisfactory because its component parts have different consequences for the same variable. We also show in this paper precisely how certain formulations of the effects of inconsistency and mobility are wholly redundant and only represent a logically possible way of interpreting the linearly additive effects of the variables used to define inconsistency and mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article overviews the historical and logical trends in the field of industrial sociology as of 1957. The field has been divided by J. B. Knox into three rather convenient areas. The locus of study may be human relations in the industrial plant, or relationships between industry and the community, or relationships between industry and society. The series of ideas relating to the concept of cooperative social process points to the growth of a general theoretical framework in industrial sociology. The development of the theory of industrial cooperation is partly due to the historical fact that social scientists chose progressively more complex social situations for examination. In addition to its sociological relationship, the concept of cooperative social process in industry has a relation to the goals of Catholic social philosophy.

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A number of different experimental methods have been evoked for following the pattern of verbal interaction towards consensus in small groups. Naturally enough all of these have their shortcomings, but U.S.-based sociologist R. F. Bales' Interaction Process Analysis remains the most popular. Briefly this analysis consists of a series of logically exhaustive classifications, twelve in number, into one of which each contribution may be placed. Bales has claimed that none of these categories are of residual nature and in support of this he quotes correlations between recording observers ranging from .75 to .95. While work on this particular paper suggested a clouding of boundaries between Categories 5 and 4 and between 4 and 3, there is little doubt that the reliability is quite high. The verbal interpretation of these results is daunting. While there are some obvious conclusions to be drawn, these are so self-evident that the reader might wonder why such complex analysis has been necessary. At the same time there are some equally obvious relationships which have not been proven and the explanation of these failures is not easy.

Sociology can be claimed, as unique among the social sciences in that it can be pan of its own subject matter. Sociological organizations may be studied by sociologists like all other organizations. Sociological knowledge may be treated like any other body of fact, theory, speculation and ideology, examined by sociologists of knowledge. This paper has attempted a brief sketch of how this may be done as a case in point, but the implications are wider still. In terms of scientific procedures, concern for the relationship between facts and value, and intellectual workmanship generally, sociologists often show themselves scientifically introspective to the point of irresolution. Yet such introspection has rarely been systematically applied to their own behavior. At a time when students are demanding that sociologists should look the world's problems squarely in the face, a sociology of sociology would be an invaluable first step in not only understanding the world but in showing how to change it.

Changing environmental attitudes from an economic to a moral orientation are discussed in terms of the activation of moral norms to guide and evaluate behavior. In controlled experimental situations, increasing levels of two variables (awareness of the negative interpersonal consequences and ascription of responsibility) increased the likelihood that moral norms influenced behavior. Changes in the social system are discussed which have increased both our awareness of, and the actual adverse consequences stemming from, a strict economic approach to the environment. Other modifications have made decision-makers responsible for these consequences. These changes have fostered the current moral fervor concerning the natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a research to assess the construct validity of the two leadership dimensions, which are Job-centered and Employee-centered, as well as assess the measure of group climate frequently used by professor of social psychology Klaus Fiedler and his associates. Three sources of rating these behaviors were used--leaders, observers, and members--and three constructs were evaluated--task-related behavior, interpersonal behavior, and group atmosphere. The major purpose of this study was to examine the reliabilities, and relative construct validities of certain measures used in current research on leadership. The results presented indicate that the variables under consideration had relatively low reliabilities and an almost complete lack of relative construct validity. There is also evidence that the member and observer ratings of the same stimulus were more similar to each other than they were to the ratings made by the leader. It is apparent that different methods of observation produced different ratings at least for American subjects in the setting described.

The article presents the author's comments on an article on humanism by American historian Arthur M. Schlesinger. Schlesinger in his article states that, as an aid to the understanding of society and man, quantitative social research is admirable and indispensable. As a guide to the significance of problems, is misleading when it exudes the assumption that only problems acceptable to quantitative solution are important. As a means of explaining human and social behavior, it is powerful but profoundly incomplete. As a source of the theory of human nature and the universe, it is but a new formulation of an ancient romantic myth. According to the author, Schlesinger acknowledges his indebtedness to sociology and modestly expresses his awareness of the epistemological and methodological shortcomings of history. He does not deny that the quantitative method has value. The author criticizes Schlesinger's line of argument in two parts: (1) his sins of commission, and (2) his sins of omission. He suggests that in order to achieve the objectives of science one must strive for predictability along with explanation.

Quantitative methods in sociology have been under serious development chiefly during the four decades 1920-1960, which corresponds roughly to the professional career of William F. Ogburn. The principal issues regarding quantitative methods which engaged sociologists during that period were: (1) philosophical controversy arising from the assumption (a) that some phenomena are intrinsically and inherently quantitative (e.g., such as most of the subject matter of demography), while (b) other phenomena are intrinsically qualitative. The contrary view regarded quantitative and qualitative aspects of phenomena not as a characteristic of phenomena but purely a matter of what method of observation and recording is adopted. Another issue was (2) the controversy over the relative merits of the "case study" versus the statistical method, especially as regards objectivity, prediction, and other purely scientific objectives, as contrasted with diagnostic and therapeutic objectives. Perhaps the principal problem of quantification was reflected in (3) the controversy over attitude scales and techniques of studying verbal behavior and public opinion, and the relationship of such data to other types of social behavior. All of these developments greatly stimulated interest in sampling techniques, mathematical models, information theory, and machine techniques of processing data. The implications of these developments for sociology as a science are impressive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is addressed primarily to the consideration of an old ghost in new sheets—what constitutes the sphere of relevant phenomena for the discipline of sociology. The current research and publications on factors in mate selection provide one of several growing collections of data which pose a central question in this regard. The fascination of the biological orientation for sociological explanations is well known. It is an attractive explanation for man's behavior because man is after all a biological organism and what he does must be understood at least in part on this basis. It is the social phenomenon of mate selection which will be utilized here to demonstrate the departure of certain sociologists from analysis of social reality in their search for explanations of social behavior. Personality needs constitute another important factor in mate selection. This refers to needs which the person wants fulfilled and at the same time are most likely to be satisfied within the context of married life. The person chosen as a marriage partner is viewed as the one who, in the estimation of the chooser, is most likely to satisfy these needs.

It is one that the newspaper can help along to recognition in the local community. It is one to which my paper has been glad to give its cooperation in its own community. Only a beginning has been made, but it has been so helpful that we feel that with due credit to its achievement, it will move along under its own power in the future. That the Negro leaders of Danville were able to make an outstanding contribution to the solution of relief problems among their own people was due to the work of the Danville Interracial Commission. Negroes chosen to do work of social case investigation were college graduates and exceptionally well equipped for the work for which they volunteered. There were Negro ministers, a physician, and the principal of a Negro high school. All had an intimate knowledge of the type of problems to be solved among their people and where they were to be found. Despite the mechanical processes of modern journalism, the newspaper is today less mechanistic in its outlook than ever before and playing a more helpful role in the solution of social problems.

The article offers news briefs related to sociology, and also presents several announcements related to conferences. The International Sociological Association (ISA) is exploring the possibilities of international cooperation in the field of sociology, for which it is collecting a number of proposals for international research. UNESCO has released a report on Social Tensions research. The Second International Gerontological Congress will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, during September 9-14, 1951. Annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations will be held during August 27-31, 1951, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

The contemporary social problems may be regarded as the result of an inadequate degree of organic integration in the larger social units which today attempt to function as independent societies. That is to say, present societies are inadequately integrated and organized for the environment in which they have to live. One of the principal characteristics and values of science is the general applicability of its concepts. The great value of such terms as mass, force, and energy, is that they are defined in terms which apply with equal validity to widely disparate particular cases. Economists, in turn, have found that in describing the phenomenon of interpersonal behavior of human beings in the exchange of commodities and services, measurable forces of supply and demand differential and opposite forces of human desire maintain a certain moving equilibrium in economic transactions. There is no longer any argument as to whether, under these circumstances, the use of the word "equilibrium" in biology, economics, or sociology is "figurative," and is illegitimately based on analogy. One of the essentials for a society's successful functioning in the social world today is an adequate technique of delayed response, the capacity to take into consideration aspects of the environment relatively remote in time and space.

The thesis of this paper is that if sociology is to develop into a useful discipline it must combine the type of knowledge and understanding which is derived by use of the most rigid technique of science and by the type of knowledge that is known among practical men as common sense. The combined knowledge derived from these two sources will not, and cannot be pure science, but it will not lack the validity of science in that it will be trustworthy in both its capacity to validate its findings and to predict social behavior. Its genius is that it is largely qualitative and adaptive. In some cases scientists are able to arrange this same knowledge into logical constructs and even reduce it to quantitative symbols of expression and convert it into precise scientific generalizations. Such generalizations do not, however, completely convert common sense into science because the generalizations are almost certain to be so abstract as to leave out some of the subtle arid useful understanding contained in the adaptive knowledge of common sense. This is due to no technical shortcoming on the part of the social scientist. It is due to the nature of the phenomena with which sociological generalizations deal and the necessity of abstraction in arriving at generalizations.

This article provides the author's view concerning the relation between sociology and psychology. I use the term psychology for the science which deals with mental phenomena, conscious and unconscious. Passing now to the meaning I attach to the term sociology, the first point to notice is that just as it is possible to describe any of our daily actions as individuals without any reference to the motives which prompt these actions, so is it possible to describe the actions of human beings as members of society without reference to motives. It will, I trust, have become evident that the distinction I seek to make between sociology and social psychology is essentially one of method. To me, as to most students of the subject, the final aim of the study of society is the explanation of social behaviour in terms of psychology. The other reason which justifies the sociologist in using psychological terms in his definitions is that the sociologist has taken into his vocabulary a number of terms in general use which have definite psychological implications. It is evident that the logical processes involved in this study of social behaviour as a step towards the discovery of psychological laws is far from simple.

Although communication may take place more easily among people who share similar attributes and have similar attitudes and beliefs, such communication may be in large measure redundant: no new information enters the system, For the diffusion of new information, the existence of some "heterophilous" relationships seems to be a structural prerequisite. The following article offers evidence bearing on this proposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the empirical research of dialect perception, a branch of person perception. Person perception is an area in social psychology that deals with the perception of human social attributes. The author re-evaluates the concept of dialect perception as defined by some professors in communication. He also re-examines the dependent measures used in dialect perception experiments and seeks to establish that the scales used are not accompanied by evidence of validity and reliability.

In this article, the author comments on political scientists addicted to philosophy. The political scientist sees little sense in measuring interrelations between variables. It is more important to estimate the importance of variables. The recent study by sociologist Richard Centers on the psychology of social classes is an example of measuring interrelations. These measurements are all very well as far as they go, but they mean very little to political scientists when it comes to understanding those conditions under which group consciousness develops and becomes politically significant. In short, opinion research should be designed to test categories of interpretation that fit the political process, not simply to measure the distribution of opinion on political subjects. As a political scientist, the author asked certain questions which, have not been answered by the social psychological and sociological approach to opinion research. Social psychologists seem to be saying that individual motivations can be carried over to group behavior.

The article presents information on a workshop related to university and non-university research. The tendency to conceptualize social phenomena in dichotomous categories is deeply embedded in Western social thought. The theme of the workshop is "University and Non-University Research" or "Pure versus Applied Research in Sociology" and it reflects such a tendency. As one traces the evolution of sociology from its very beginning, the relations of pure and applied sociology appear as a recurring theme. In fact, sociology was conceived by many 19th century thinkers as providing the theoretical foundations for a comprehensive applied science. Such views were especially prevalent in France where the idea of a natural science of society was transmitted from the encyclopedistes through Saint-Simon and others to Comte, who believed that sociology-as the summation of positive science-could establish universal laws of social behavior by reference to which all disputes about social policy might be settled. The anarchy of opinions would then come to an end in social matters, as it had done in the case of natural phenomena.

The article explores the causes of competition between creative artists. The author points out that the concept of a creation-space is envisaged as a mathematically more precise and general form of the common notion of a field or area of activity in which the artist has the nature for contribution. Then, the second reason that competition occurs is the notion that no two individuals will occupy the same point in this creation-space, and indeed that when there are many creative artists in a field they will tend to move as far apart as possible so as to fill every corner of the field accessible to them. Finally, the pressure of past excellence on the artist, forcing him to do something outside these filled creation sites, can lead him to wild explorations and distortions.

Focuses on the suggestion of the authors that the least adequate definitions in social psychology are those real definitions which state the essential nature or attributes of some entity or theoretical construct. Emphasis on the concept of altruism; Suggestion that the necessary components for a complete description of an intentional act include what the actor wanted, what he knew, what he knew how to do, his performance, and the actual achievement of his behaving; Problem on the explanation of the development and maintenance of altruistic behavior.

The article reviews family sociology literature which is based on demographic or population data to base certain conclusions. The author discusses three reasons for the growing interest in family sociology and demography; those reasons include the theory that family units utilize natural interpersonal communication, interest in the observable effects of family dynamics on population growth and trends, and the growing amount of sociological literature on the family life cycle. The author provides several sources for further research into family sociology.

In the context of analyzing social structures through the use of graph theory, some binary matrix operations for valued graphs are presented. These operations are demonstrated in the analysis of social network data presented by Kapferer. Further examples of where the procedures should prove useful are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social-psychological perspective, used in the analysis of three cases of nonviolent direct action, combines the ‘exchange theory’ of Homans and the two and three dimensional approaches for the analysis of interpersonal behavior suggested by Leary and Bales. The three dimensions are: dominance-submission, positive-negative, and goal oriented-deviant. Once the behavior of a nonviolent actor has been identified in this three dimensional space. the expected behavior of his opponent can be predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article present an exploratory overview of the reciprocal relations between uniformation and language. Uniformation means a set of related processes whereby uniformity and similarity of practices in the various social relationships are established in time and space. And a language is a culturally contrived and socially established system of standardized and conventionalized symbols. Uniformation bears a direct relationship to language. In general, if social uniformation is occurring, it involves language; and if linguistic uniformation is occurring, it affects social processes and social structures. The uniformizing factors are so much a part of a sociocultural milieu, so omnipresent, so inherent in so many of people's daily social situations and experiences, that many of them are unaware of the degree to which they exist, the degree to which people are conditioned and controlled by them, and the degree to which forms of uniformation are voluntarily and involuntarily exemplified in their behavior.

A recurrent theme in sociological literature is that relationship become attenuated in the urban as compared to the small town or rural society. With the little empirical study that delves with the urban-rural differences in social relations, this study compares the kin and friendship in a small community and a medium-sized city. To make the information in this study comparable, author selected a subsample of 74 married, middle-class respondents from the Hillsboro sample. Information on these subjects were then compared with 39 spouses from Lincoln, one representing each pair and selected at random then interviewed. As a result of the comparison of the social relationships between the two communities, the author suggest that the assumption that urbanization leads to isolation from affective relations is in need of substantial revisions. The findings of this data indicates that extended family relations continue to be important to the urban dwellers. Moreover, the findings also connotes that the urbanite is also not isolated from friends. In fact, the urbanites often develop greater number of close friends than those small-town resident. The small number of friendship between small-town residents can be attributed to kinship.

This article was based on the fact that rural-urban behavioral differences have not been adequately conceptualized in terms of sociological theory. A relatively new approach is followed which defines roles as parts of social positions, which in turn make up situses, which in turn make up stations (the sum total of an actor's status positions within a community setting). Action systems made of roles dedicated to an institutional function are viewed as the key to behavioral differences. These systems are construed as varying in character depending on the structural qualifies of the roles. Seven of these qualities are identified, each providing a range of structural alternatives which account for patterns of social relations. Societies can thus be classified according to the structural alternatives to behavior which characterize their makeup. The role theory approach outlined may provide a more precise set of conceptual tools for delineating and understanding rural-urban differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extension work in rural sociology, carried on under the Smith-Lever Law enacted in 1914. is relatively new; the earliest efforts predated the enactment of the Law, however. Efforts under the law began earliest, probably, in New York Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Administrators are now lacing problems in human and group relationships as they never have before; the more specific and concrete the help offered by the rural sociologists, the more their assistance will be sought and used. Problems faced by extension rural sociologists (1) relate to the development of a program which will ñt into the terms of the Smith-Lever Law, (2) include efforts to reinterpret and make of practical use subject matter from the held of sociology which calls for judgment as to what subject matter to use, and (3) pertain to relating the work in rural sociology to other fields of extension work. The interests of the extension rural sociologist differ in degree only from those of the research worker or teacher; there is need for placing values upon findings so that they may be applied to practical situations in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes main forms of relationship between various culture traits, characteristics and complexes to outline culture-integration. In each culture complexes, individual components of the total mass of culture object and traits bear a functional relationship to one another and to the whole and the entire complex is thus functionally integrated. There are various forms of integration which differ fundamentally from one another. The numerous interrelations of various elements of culture can be reduced to four basic types. These factors are spatial or mechanical adjacency, association due to an external factor, functional or causal integration and internal or logico-meaningful unity. Spatial or mechanical adjacency means any conglomeration of cultural elements in a given area of social and physical space, with spatial or mechanical concurrence as the only bond of union. All these objects drifted together and spatial proximity is the only bond uniting them. A culture area is often nothing more than a spatial adjacency of the traits and complexes of the area in question.

The article presents a study on social psychology of opinion formation. According to the author, an individual may change his manifest personality, his whole pattern of behavior and values, as he shifts from one "group self" to another because opinions on social issues, are primarily group products. The opinion of an individual is a function of his group affiliations. The business man on Monday, for example, is traditionally very different from the church-goer of Sunday, though both are maintained in the same carcass. Herbert H. Hyman's article "The Psychology of Status," published in the journal "Archives of Psychology" was perhaps the first to show quantitatively the way in which the judgment of the individual shifts as different reference groups are evoked. It has been observed that a number of valid membership groups is actually functioning as the reference group for the individual and people are often referring themselves to groups of which they are not members and of which, even, they may never become members.