Concept Of Reference Group Research Articles

REFERENTNE GRUPE KAO PERSPEKTIVE

In spite of ambiguity, reference group has become an increasingly popular concept, utilized in hypotheses concerning a variety of social pehnomena. The restriction of this concepts to a single referent, namely, group whose perspective is used as a frame of reference by the actor, will increase its usefulness as an analytic tool. Shared perspectives arise through participation in common communication channels, and the cultural pluralism of modern mass societies arises from the easy accessibility of a multiplicity of channels. The concept of reference group, if defined with greater precision, can greatly facilitate research on the manner in which each actor’s orientation toward his world is structured. Key Words: Group perspective, Reference frame, Channels of communication, Social worlds

Theories of reference group and revolution: general theoretical matrix of relative deprivation

The article is an overview of the first stage in the development of relative deprivation theories during the 1940–1970s: theories of reference group and revolution. The concepts of “relative deprivation” and “reference group” appeared in 1949 and 1942, respectively. Further specification of reference group concept statements by H. Hyman, R. Merton, W. Runciman, R. Williams contributed to the formulation of relative deprivation theory. The definition of the forms of reference objects (individual, collective, social category), types of comparisons, essence and functional types of reference groups (comparative, normative, identification, and audience) allowed to describe types of relative deprivation, its essence, content (cognitive and affective), and also it’s levels: individual and group. However, reference group theorists have also identified a lot of problematic issues requiring further scientific development. One such issue, problems of relative deprivation formation, is considered within the framework of the theories of revolution through the analysis of social changes. Within the theories of revolution of the 1960s–1970s two approaches of understanding the essence of relative deprivation have emerged: theories of frustrationaggression (T. Gurr, J. Davies, D. Lerner, I. and R. Feierabends) and status inconsistency (J. Urry, C. Johnson, E. Hoffer). Works of the adherents of the first approach have made it possible to expand the field of relative deprivation study, but also they have become the subject of wide criticism. Focusing on the reference group theory and problems of collective identity research J. Urry’s approach was better integrated into the tradition of relative deprivation studying.

Supply chain scheduling and routing in multi-site manufacturing system (case study: a drug manufacturing company)

PurposeThis study aims to propose a new genetic algorithm for solving supply chain scheduling and routing problem in a multi-site manufacturing system. The main research question is: How is the production and transportation scheduled in a multi-site manufacturer? Also the sub-questions are: How is the order assigned to the suppliers? What is the production sequence of the assigned orders to a supplier? How is the order assignment to the vehicles? What are the vehicles routes to convey the orders from the suppliers to the manufacturing centers? The authors’ contributions in this paper are: integration of production scheduling and vehicle routing in multi-site manufacturing supply chain and proposing a new genetic algorithm inspired from the role model concept in sociology.Design/methodology/approachConsidering shared transportation system in production scheduling of a multi-site manufacturer is investigated in this paper. Initially, a mathematical model for the problem is presented. Afterwards, a new genetic algorithm based on the reference group concept in sociology, named Reference Group Genetic Algorithm (RGGA) is introduced for solving the problem. The comparison between RGGA and a developed algorithm of literature closest problem, demonstrates a better performance of RGGA. This comparison is drawn based on many test problems. Moreover, the superiority of RGGA is certificated by comparing it to the optimum solution in the small size problems. Finally, the authors use real data collected from a drug manufacturer in Iran to test the performance of the algorithm. The results show the better performance of RGGA in comparison with obtained outputs from the real case.FindingsThe authors presented the mathematical model of the problem and introduced a new genetic algorithm based on the “reference group” concept in sociology. Robert K. Merton is a sociologist who presented the concept of reference groups in society. He believed that some people in each society such as heroes or entertainment artists affect other people. The proposed algorithm uses the reference group concept to the genetic algorithm, namely, RGGA. The comparison of the proposed algorithm with DGA and the optimum solution shows the superiority of RGGA. Finally, the authors implement the algorithm in a real case of drug manufacturing and the results show that the authors’ algorithm gives better outputs than obtained outputs from the real case.Originality/valueOne of the major objectives of supply chains is to create a competitive advantage for the final product. This intension is only achieved when each and every element of the supply chain considers customers’ needs in every function of theirs. This paper studies scheduling in the supply chain of a multi-site manufacturing system. It is assumed that some suppliers produce raw material or initial parts and convey them by a fleet of vehicles to a multi-site manufacturer.

Fuzzy-GA modeling in air quality assessment.

In this paper, the authors have suggested and implemented the defined soft computing methods in air quality classification with case studies. The first study relates to the application of Fuzzy C mean (FCM) clustering method in estimating pollution status in cities of Maharashtra State, India. In this study, the computation of weighting factor using a new concept of reference group is successfully demonstrated. The authors have also investigated the efficacy of fuzzy set theoretic approach in combination with genetic algorithm in straightway describing air quality in linguistic terms with linguistic degree of certainty attached to each description using Zadeh-Deshpande (ZD) approach. Two metropolitan cities viz., Mumbai in India and New York in the USA are identified for the assessment of the pollution status due to their somewhat similar geographical features. The case studies infer that the fuzzy sets drawn on the basis of expert knowledge base for the criteria pollutants are not much different from those obtained using genetic algorithm. Pollution forecast using various methods including fuzzy time series forms an integral part of the paper.

Attitude Change in College Students

The link between reference group theory and the study of college students dates back to the initial development of the reference group concept. Though Hyman has been widely credited with first introducing the concept of reference groups in 1942, one of the most widely cited studies that illustrates the normative effect of reference groups is Newcomb's (1943) study of Bennington College women during the late 1930s. This pioneering study explains the observed change in political attitudes of women at Bennington as the function of their acceptance of and orientation to the college as a positive reference group (Newcomb, 1947). Follow-up studies of these women suggest that the changes attributed to the reference group are likely to persist over time (Newcomb, 1968; Alvin, Cohen, & Newcomb, 1991). The idea of peer and/or reference group effects is a theoretical cornerstone of many of the studies of college impact beginning with Newcomb in 1943 and continuing in to the late 1960s. However, during the decade of the 1970s, this area of intellectual inquiry seems to have fallen from vogue in the study of higher education. Weidman's (1979) study of the impact of college on students' values is a notable exception. Using longitudinal student data and data gathered from faculty at the same institutions, these analyses examined the relative importance of student background characteristics, normative and interpersonal characteristics of college departments, and students' involvement in curricular and extracurricular activities in predicting changes in undergraduates' values. While the study findings confirmed the primary role played by students' background characteristics in studies of college impact, they also indicated that the normative environment created by faculty at the departmental level influences the values of students during their time in college (Weidman, 1979). Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s (e.g., see Dey, 1988, 1991; Milem, 1992/1993, 1994), we see renewed interest in the study of peer and reference group effects. Astin's (1993) recent major work may signal the beginning of an era of revitalized interest in the study of the effects of peer groups on various student outcomes. One of the strengths of this new series of peer group studies is that they attempt to study peer and reference group effects through analyses of data collected at the multi-institutional level. The goal of this study is to continue to enhance our understanding regarding the efficacy of peer groups and faculty reference groups in the socialization process of college students. It examines the relative impact of peer groups and faculty reference groups at the institutional level in changes in student attitudes and personal goal orientations across two related dimensions. Specifically, it examines changes in students' views regarding: (1) the belief that the wealthy should pay more taxes and (2) the personal importance of the goal of being very well off financially. These dependent variables were chosen because of the belief that each sits at opposing ends of two related continua that are of consequence in the study of college impact. The first continuum relates to the sociopolitical attitudes of students (Astin, 1993; Feldman & Newcomb, 1969; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). The first item represents a more liberal point of view, whereas the later item is characteristic of a more conservative viewpoint. The second continuum that is represented by these items involves the extent to which students have an orientation toward others as compared to an orientation toward self (Levine, 1980; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). The first item suggests a greater orientation toward others, whereas the second item indicates a greater orientation toward self. Hence, given the divergent relationship that these measures have with each other, the measures of the peer and faculty normative climates included in this study are expected to relate to each of these dependent variables in opposite ways. …

Standard English: The Only Target for Nonnative Speakers of English?

An implicit assumption of most research on the acquisition of English as a second language is that standard English is the only target for nonnative speakers of English. The study reported in this article demonstrates that black English served as a target for Hispanic boys acquiring English as a second language in the New York City metropolitan area. In addition, the study shows that extensive peer contact with blacks was a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acquisition of two features of black English, negative concord and distributive be, and that choice of blacks as a reference group played no role in the acquisition of these two features. However, since contact did not account for all the variation and subjects made comments indicating that they had affective responses to input, the study suggests that the concept of reference group should be revised rather than abandoned.

The Reference Other Orientation: An Extension of the Reference Group Concept.

First introduced to literature in 1942 by Herbert Hyman in his famous study The Psychology of Status, the group concept has enjoyed extreme popularity and has been employed in a great number of sociological writings, though unevenly and not without criticism of its applicability to many solutions.This new work on theory carries Hyman s work forward and provides first synthesis of group literature. It may be definitive work on subject.To facilitate his synthesis Schmitt employs term reference other, which he carefully defines and applies to his implementation of theory. Through emphasizing sociological social psychology, and employing a distinctly theoretical form, author finds much in theory that is concretely applicable.

Reference Groups as Perspectives

In spite of ambiguity, reference group has become an increasingly popular concept, utilized in hypotheses concerning a variety of social pehnomena. The restriction of this concepts to a single referent, namely, group whose perspective is used as a frame of reference by the actor, will increase its usefulness as an analytic tool. Shared perspectives arise through participation in common communication channels, and the cultural pluralism of modern mass societies arises from the easy accessibility of a multiplicity of channels. The concept of reference group, if defined with greater precision, can greatly facilitate research on the manner in which each actor's orientation toward his world is structured.