Sociological Propositions Research Articles

A Frame of Reference for Social Behavior in Homans' Sociological Theory

What is the reason Homans' advocacy of behavior-reductionism, psychological-reductionism, is not popularly accepted among the sociologists? Considering the fact that his assertion is one of the pioneer attempts to advance the level of sociology from descriptive-taxonomic one to propositional-theoretical one, such a state is, I think, unfortunate for sociology. We should say that, in part, Homans himself is responsible for the state. Because, in advocacy, he is limited to draw the reductionism as a necessary logical conclusion, without making effort to eliminate any misunderstanding and detestation of the reductionism. Accordingly, our first task is to eliminate misunderstandings and detestation of the reductionism, and our next task is to advocate adopting psychological reductionism by emphasizing the significance of exercising it. To perfom our task, main accounts would draw upon the following points. 1. To grasp the essential ideas which constitute the basis of his assertion of psychological reductionism. a) Reduction, in his use of the word, is considered as a kind of deduction. What distinguishes his deduction from others is the point that the relation between explanante and explicandum is not from perspective of generarity-specificity but from perspective of elementality-collectivity, more universalityless universality. b) There is two kinds relations of explicandum and explanante. Sociological propositions have a double role : they are in one case explanantes, and in another case explicanda. Sociological propositions, structural proposition, become explanantes when they explain the occurence of social phenomena, and become also explicanda when they are explained by psychological propositions. 2. To appreciate the significance of the psychological reduction in new light. To recognize the complementary role of the psychological propositions in explaining social phenomena by sociological propositions. In other words, to recoghize the necessity and significance of adding the explanation by psychological proposition to the explanation by sociological proposition. To give further explanation to sociological propositions in order to accomplish the sociological, efficient-cause, explanation of the social phenomena. I will try to make clear its necessity and its significance by citing an example of the origin of the institution of unilateral cross-coussin marriage. 3. Three difficulties of his theoretical system. a) The impression that his explanation is ad hoc. It is due to the arbitrariness in determining the givens which is used in the deductive system. b) The impression that his explanation make only a commonplace remark. It is due to the jump of steps in his reasoning from explanante to explicandum. Two difficulties given above seem to be gradualy eliminated as many sociologists share Homans' explanatory principles. c) The impression that his explanation is speculative. Although, when the value-proposition, or cost-proposition, is used as explanante, the fact that some reinforcers are felt as valuable, or costly, by the actor should be objectively proved, his explanation lacks this operation. The impression of speculativeness is due to the lack of this operation.

Economy, Society, and Government in Medieval Italy: Essays in Memory of Robert L. Reynolds

Hugh Myddleton, goldsmith and financier, investor in silver and lead mining, and projector of ambitious New River scheme for improving London's water supply. Biographical information of this kind is laborious to compile, and it is useful that an expert of Mr. Gough's rank has put so much of it together in this book. choice of individuals to include in this gallery of entrepreneurs was to some extent arbitrary, being governed by availability of information (7), and Mr. Gough very fairly points out that The men whose careers have been sketched . . are indeed only a selection of those whose names might have been included, and whose achievements might, with more research, have been (286). His principles of selection have sometimes worked in an unfortunate way. For example, Sir Arthur Ingram is admitted because, besides being a financier, he was interested in alum industry; whereas Sir Lionel Cranfield is excluded because he is rated a financier, not an entrepreneur. A definition that excludes Cranfield from a book about entrepreneurship in this period must be open to criticism, especially as there is no lack of information about Cranfield's career. Moreover, little attempt is made by Mr. Gough to generalize from his individual case-studies, or to suggest on basis of this evidence what characterized and differentiated entrepreneurs as a class. Professor Lawrence Stone, in a not dissimilar context, has described the futility of quoting individual examples to demonstrate a sociological proposition (Social Change and Revolution in England 1540-1640, p. xvi). phenomenon of rise of entrepreneur cannot be adequately explained by collecting examples of entrepreneurs at work in latesixteenth and early-seventeenth century England.

On Homans' Psychological Reductionism*

George Homans' numerous claims that sociological propositions could be reduced to psychological propositions are examined in terms of the various ways Homans has used the word “reduction” and in terms of the development of Homans' reductionist position over the course of his career. Attempts to answer Homans” reductionism are reviewed and Homans” challenge to his critics is presented. A general sociological proposition is then presented as an answer to Homans' reductionism and to his challenge. It is then shown that the sociological proposition is not less general than psychological propositions, cannot be deduced from psychological propositions, and cannot be analyzed without residue into the behavior of individual men. It is shown that psychological variables may be used as independent or intervening variables in such a proposition but that such an inclusion of psychological variables would not constitute psychological reduction. Some implications of a distinctive sociology are then discussed.

The Conception and Measurement of Asymmetric Monotonic Relationships in Sociology

Theoretical propositions in sociology are frequently stated in a form such as greater the A, the greater the B, which implies only monotonic relationships. Appropriate indexes are seldom used to test this type of propositions since those available are either too stringer (linear correlation, for example) or they ignore monotonicity altogheter (e.g.,x). This paper discusses two types of asymmetric monotonic indexes using a proportional reduction in error logic; one based on and one based on the correlation ratio. Weak, intermediate, and strong forms of the -type indexes are developed (two of which are currently in the literature), a general equation for the three is provided, and criteria for choosing relatively weak or strong measures are discussed. The index based on the correlation ratio agrees closely with the -type indexes (for ordinally treated interval level data) but possesses the advantage of relating directly to analysis of variance significance tests. The form of tests for all indexes is i...

Reform Judaism: The Origin and Evolution of a "Church Movement"

* I am indebted to John Lofland and Rodney Stark who collaborated with me in formulating the theoretical distinctions outlined in the first section of this paper. I am also grateful to Neil Smelser for his helpful criticisms of an early draft. This is Publication Number A-41 in the series of the Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley. 1 Students of religion have tended either to avoid consideration of Judaism or to treat it as a special area of study presumably unrelated to theories concerning Christian religion. Theorists who have studied church and sect have been especially remiss in applying their generalizations to the Jewish case. Current theory, in short, is limited not only to particular historical conditions, as Benton Johnson suggests, but also to a particular religious type. Examination of Judaism, then, will at a minimum test the comprehensiveness of accepted sociological propositions. In addition, because of the singularity of the historic relation between the Jewish community in the Diaspora and the accommodating societies, such an investigation promises to yield new insights and in this way prove fruitful for our understanding of religious movements in general. doxy, is a sectarian movement, analytically indistinct from Christian sects that arise out of schisms within established religious bodies. Yet certain elements usually associated with sects, such as literal adherence to Biblical teachings and apocalyptic ideological tendencies, are conspicuously absent. Of greater significance, while most religious movements seek to modify or transform societal norms and values, the Reform Movement is striking for its attempt to bring its norms and values into greater conformity with those of the larger society. This apparent ambiguity provides a useful point of departure for analysis of the Reform Movement, and a possible basis for the reformulation of theory. To state the question simply-is Reform Judaism a church or a sect? This issue has been raised many times in terms of criticism of the church-sect typology as it was first formulated by Troeltsch and unsuccessfully redefined by subsequent sociologists. In a recent paper Benton Johnson offers a clear statement of the problem:

The Miniature Replica Model and Its Use in Laboratory Experiments of Complex Organizations

This paper represents an extension to the search for methods more appropriate to exploration and testing of sociological propositions about organizations. This search has focused recently on the use of simulated organizations in laboratory experiments. Based on their experiences with a unique laboratory experiment on organization, the authors suggest that the advantages which normally accrue to experimentation cannot be generalized easily to experimentation with the miniature replica model of organizations. Following a report of the structure of their laboratory experiment, the authors attend to four critical problems associated with this form of experimentation: (1) the nature and combination of properties considered to constitute the miniature replica of an organization, (2) instituting system and measurement controls, (3) the provision of structural proof, and (4) randomization.