Sociological Purposes Research Articles

Action-based explanations as a basis for the analysis and design of the social world.

In sociology, the question of what it means to explain social phenomena and how this relates to the purpose of the social sciences is important but nowadays rarely asked. This article elaborates on this question and provides an answer by outlining the program of "explanatory sociology" as a branch of the modern social science approach. It is shown that, in this framework, to explain means to uncover cause-effect relationships based on models of individuals who are assumed the central force in social life. This idea is taken further to uncover specific challenges that individuals face in social life and how and why they establish and manage (or do not) social forms that help to organize the world from the viewpoint of their abilities and needs. Such action-oriented explanations have been presented and developed in sociology since its very beginning. Two main forms or logics to construct action-based explanations are outlined and developed due to the form and function of the used action theory or model. The article contributes to the discussion about the form and task of sociological theorizing by presenting action-based explanations as a form of sociological theorizing that defines a clear task in exploring challenges in social life and assessing possible forms of coping with them from the perspective of individuals. By doing so, two main ways of broadening explanations are considered and compared in light of what the purpose of sociology might be.

Modes of existence, capitalism, and lived socio-ecological struggles: Whither actor-network theory in a world in crisis?

In response to the forum article ‘What Next for Actor-Network Theory?’, this piece takes up the suggestion that a fruitful way forward for actor-network theory (ANT) would be to engage with ideas ‘originating from elsewhere’, such as from other theoretical traditions. Examining this, I suggest that the version of ANT brought into such dialogue matters, and that – contrary to the suggestion of the forum article – Latour's late ‘modes of existence’ project is not the most conducive for this purpose. I then assess the prospects for a productive cross-fertilisation between a less meta-ontological articulation of ANT and other theoretical repertoires, identifying an obstacle to this in the tendency of ANT to use other traditions of social thought largely as a foil against which to define itself, which mitigates against proper engagement with the strengths of those traditions. Taking a lead from the examples discussed in the forum article, I flesh this out by highlighting some of the shortcomings of ANT, relative to political ecology for instance, as a way of understanding socio-ecological relations and conflicts, in part because of its habitual disdain for certain sorts of ‘grand abstractions’, in particular, ‘capitalism’. I argue conversely that such abstractions not only speak to the lived realities of historically embedded structural violence and dispossession at the heart of socio-ecological struggles, but are crucial for situating people's lives in the context of wider relations and processes, something one might well deem a key purpose of sociology.

POLLSTER APPROACH VERSUS SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO CONDUCTING ELECTORAL RESEARCH

The purpose of the study is to consider the advantages and disadvantages of pollster and sociological approaches to electoral research.The article shows that conducting electoral research in modern election campaigns is carried out equally by pollster (for purely political purposes) and sociological (for scientific and sociological purposes) technologies. It has been proven that optimal results can be achieved by combining pollster and sociological approaches to electoral research. It was determined that today the organization of an effective election campaign requires equally sociologists-pollsters and sociologists-analysts, the result of whose work is respectively collected empirical data and an analytical product, scientific expertise.It has been demonstrated that pollster and sociological approaches to conducting electoral research differ not only in the concepts of public opinion and the styles of its research, but also in the subject field. The electorate as a subject of electoral research acquires different content for different approaches. The pollster approach is more likely to understand the electorate as a circle of voters who vote for one or another party or candidate for an elected position and, in fact, are supporters of a certain political force or personality, while representatives of the sociological approach mostly consider the electorate as a collection of all citizens who vested with the right to vote and who exercise or do not exercise it under specially created conditions. It is argued that the integration of the subject fields of electoral polling and electoral sociological research will allow more effective and productive use of analytical potential in the election campaign, since such an organization of patronage work will help not only to record the results of electoral research, but also to predict the trends of electoral choice, the flow of votes, the reactions of electoral groups to specific political events. The availability of systematic ideas about the types of voters and their personal profiles will help to meaningfully approach the understanding of the electorate.

Sociology and predicting the future of religion

The question of future of religion has always been topical in sociology of religion since its founders (Durkheim and Weber). A number of current global processes taking place in modern society have added sharpness and relevance to the question of future of religion and it became one the most debatable issues.  The purpose of sociology of religion, as the scientific discipline studying religion, is seeing its subject in its perspective and prognostication of future, especially when situation concerning religion today is rather alarming.  It is a generally approved fact and there is no novelty that mankind is in postclassical epoch and that means devaluation of classical values. Precursor of the beginning of this process was Friedrich Nietzsche. He was one of the first who proclaimed “Death of God” to the mankind. “Death of God” also meant the “Death of Man”, but mankind obsessed by luxury, comfort and everyday trifles of life did not pay proper attention to it. But at the end, everything finished with “God murdered” mankind “killing the Man”. If the XX century is stigmatized by “Death of God”, for the XXI century such a stigma will be “Death of Man” (existing reality is so pessimistic and terrible, that even the greatest pessimist Shoppenhauer would be envious of living is such an epoch). Without dramatizing of given reality, it can be said that everything this is very painfully reflected on future of religion.

The Problem of Definition of Christian Sociology

This article suggests that different definitions of sociology follow from the different interpretations of its essence. The article points out also that a common flaw of many definitions of sociology is that they omit the intention and purpose of sociological science. Thereby, definitions of sociology by R. Kocharyan and A. Jijyan are presented, which explicitly mention the intentions and purposes of sociology. On the above basis, a preliminary definition of Christian sociology is suggested. Aimed at further elaboration of the subject, the authors consider the position of the Christian church regarding capitalism and socialism, the problem of free will, and certain aspects of Christian socialism related to the emergence of the social state in developed countries. This brings to a new understanding of the highest goal of the Christian religion – the salvation of the human soul – in the realities of the modern world. Accordingly, a definition of Christian sociology is presented with a detailed expression of its intention and purpose.

Measuring What Matters at Morbidity and Mortality Conferences: A Scoping Review of Effectiveness Measures.

Efforts to study morbidity and mortality conferences (M&MC) are hampered by the lack of rigorous instruments to assess the effectiveness of the conferences for the purpose of quality improvement and medical education. This might limit further advancement of the practice. The aim of this scoping review was to determine commonly used effectiveness measures of M&MC in the literature. A scoping review was performed of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies of M&MC, using databases from PubMed, Emcare, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library. Studies were included if an outcome was described after a general evaluation or an intervention to M&MC. Study quality was assessed with the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs. A total of 43 articles were included in the review. The majority used a quantitative (n = 23) or mixed (n = 17) design, with surveys as the most frequent method used for data collection (n = 29). The overall Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs scores were modest (64%). Outcome measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of M&MC were clustered in the following categories: "participant experiences," "characteristics of the meeting," "medical knowledge," "actions for improvement," and "clinical outcomes." This review found a wide variety of effectiveness measures for M&MC. Rather than using isolated measures, approaches that combine multiple effectiveness measures could offer a more comprehensive assessment of M&MC. Although there was a preference for quantitative metrics, this fails to seize the opportunity of qualitative methods to yield insights into sociological purposes of M&MC, such as building professional identities and safety culture.

Methodology for cognition of digital society

Digital sociology is a computational social science that uses modern information systems and technologies, has already formed. But the conflict with traditional sociology and its research methods has not yet been resolved. This conflict can be overcome if we remember that there is a common goal – the knowledge of the phenomena and processes of social life, which is primary in relation to the methods to be agreed upon. Digital transformation of sociology is essential, since 1) traditional sociological methods do not solve the problem of providing voluminous, reliable empirical data qualitatively and in a short time; 2) the transition from contact research methods to unobtrusive ones is in demand. The adaptation of four modern information technologies-cloud computing, big data, the Internet of things and artificial intelligence – for the purposes of sociology provides a qualitative transition in the methodology of knowledge of the digital society. Cloud computing provide researchers with tools, big data – research materials, Internet of things technology aimed at collecting indicators (receiving signals) in large volume, in real time, as direct, not indirect evidence of human behavior. The development of “artificial intelligence” technology expands the possibility of receiving processed signals of the quality of the social system without building a preliminary hypothesis, in a short time and on a large volume of processed data. Digital transformation of sociology does not mean abandoning the use of traditional methods of sociological analysis, but it involves expanding the competence of a sociologist, which requires a revision of University curricula. At the same time, combining the functions of an expert on the subject (sociologist) and data analyst in one specialist is assessed as unpromising, it is proposed to combine their professional competencies in working on unified research projects.

The Discursive Politics of Education Policy in China: Educating Migrant Children

AbstractThis article explores the discursive functioning of education policies, bringing into consideration community perspectives regarding policy enactment in contemporary China. With the intention of building upon ongoing discussions surrounding both the conceptions and purposes of policy sociology, we critically analyse policies directly related to the education of migrant children living in and around China's largest urban centres, with a specific focus on those implemented in Beijing. We emphasize two important aspects that previous studies of China's education policies have tended to underplay given their focus on social-economic perspectives. The first argument is that education policies have an underlying agenda that extends beyond that of simply addressing the educational needs of migrant children – evidenced through the discursive functions of policy texts. The second argument is related and seeks to raise questions about who is best served by these policies and for whom these policies are intended.

What Is Digital Society? Reflections on the Aims and Purpose of Digital Sociology

What Is Digital Society? Reflections on the Aims and Purpose of Digital Sociology

The Sage and the Demos: The Intellectual within Athenian Cultural and Social Landscape of the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BCE

The Athens of the Classical period saw the emergence of a new social group — the intellectuals. This article looks into their socialisation process, focusing on a part of Plato’s Apology (21а‑22е). In it, Socrates lists three groups of Athenians that compete with the intellectuals in shaping young minds: politicians, poets and artisans. It is these groups that ended up bringing charges against Socrates. The fact that Socrates does not include farmers into his list of the essential estates is analysed separately. The passages discussed here are quite representative for the purposes of historical sociology of intellectual culture, illuminating the way the intellectual conceptualised the role and the place of his social group within the larger polis while entangled in a social conflict of Classical Athens. An intellectual is both unnecessary and inconceivable in the context of the utopian Age of Cronus (Statesman) or the rustic first city (Republic). He does not belong in the classical city either, but can only be found there. The awareness of the conflict inherent in the intellectual’s existence in Athens and the description thereof is one of the manifestations of Plato’s dialectics

Sociology and Digital Culture

The society increasingly based on digital culture is already an unavoidable reality. This paper aims to contribute, in a preliminary way, to understand several of the implications in Sociology that this propagation of digital culture involves through a bibliographical review. We analyse several implications in dimensions such as the very purpose of Sociology (highlighting digital literacy and the level of democracy) and social research (addressing issues raised by the big date, the interdisciplinary dialogue between Sociology and other scientific areas, and new ethical dilemmas). We conclude that there are profound implications both in the research object and in the research processes of Sociology, which we will develop in later phases of the dissemination of this research. As a major implication, the reflective capacity of sociological knowledge is central to the preparation for this new reality, but, at the same time, also to a well-founded critical understanding of digital society.

My unexpectedly militant bots: A case for Programming-as-Social-Science

This article examines bots – software applications that automate web-based tasks, and which often mimic human interaction and communication – to consider sociological responses to software design and computer programming. Leveraging design methodologies for critical sociological purposes (a) allows us to envision programming as a means of opening up ‘black boxes’ by engaging more directly with the code through which software applications are executed, and (b) indicates the potential for sociology practitioners to design software ourselves – to build applications that fulfil the radical promise of sociology by intervening in social processes. To concretise these ideas, this article presents two stories about social media bots developed by the author: ‘Philbot’ (a Facebook random status generator) and ‘ @_Zen_Bot_ ’ (a Twitter service that provides mock lifestyle advice to users). On the basis of this demonstration, the article proposes a near-future vision of sociology where Programming-as-Social-Science features as a core research method/skill/tool.

The Organizational and Methodological Aspects of Remotely Researching the Issues Arising from the Digital Transformation of Regions with Different Levels of Social and Cultural Modernization. Part I

This is the first part of an article that will discuss digital transformation issues in Russian regions that differ by social and cultural modernization level, as well as the population’s willingness to accept digital transformation in life and at work. Today’s main digital transformation tools and regulators are regional governance systems, along with the relevant official bodies that are responsible for the design and implementation of strategic solutions for territorial development. In response to the associated issues, we interviewed experts in 17 Russian regions that differ by the aforementioned modernization level. We used the data collected during the interviews to: determine how prepared the regional organizations and enterprises are for digital transformation; evaluate the resources currently available for “breakthrough projects”; discover the public attitude towards the introduction of the Russian Federation Digital Economy national project. The article focuses on the research rationales and cognitive procedures that have been developed for the purposes of management sociology, and applies them to studying the issues that arise out of digital transformation and the introduction of “smart” governance on the regional level, based on the optimization of digital transformation through the involvement of the so-called stakeholders — specially assembled activist teams that contribute to the controlled implementation of digital technology in the region in a variety of ways, from research to applied solutions.

On repetition in the work of Zygmunt Bauman

Some texts appear more than once across the corpus of Zygmunt Bauman’s work. This has led to accusations of self-plagiarism and a lack of scholarly rigour. This paper is an explanation of why texts reappear. It pays attention to a number of frequently overlooked texts from the 1970s which are of fundamental importance for any understanding of Bauman’s work. It is contended that if: (a) there is an understanding of the stakes and purpose of sociology as it is framed in Bauman’s work; and (b) attention is paid to the argument of Hermeneutics and Social Science; then (c) the repetition of texts across the work becomes explicable and unproblematic. The paper argues that dealings with Bauman’s work need to be more aware of the less well-known texts. They also need to be alert to different – and incommensurable – ways of practising sociology.

'The expertness of his healer': Diagnosis, disclosure and the power of a profession.

Diagnosis is one of medicine's most important tools. It structures the relationship between patient and diagnostician, organises illness and provides access to resources. In this article, I reveal how the manner in which a serious diagnosis is revealed creates a kind of 'epistemic posture' reinforcing the power of medical knowledge, and contributing to medical authority. To achieve this, I explore historical material written by and for doctors about the disclosure of difficult diagnoses. Using historical data for sociological purposes follows Zerubavel, who asserts that phenomena should be studied across eras, media and cultures. I have chosen to focus on how diagnostic disclosure, as described by mid-19th to mid-20th century doctors, serves to promote the profession of medicine. The means of revealing a diagnosis served as a demonstration of, and a means for deflecting threats to, medicine's esoteric nature. The historical data provide a novel approach for understanding how diagnosis operates, even today, to confirm the professional status of the doctor.

Attitude towards marriage, sexual adjustment and performance of married working women

ABSTRACT : Marriage is not a mere convention, but an implicit condition of human society. It is an adjustment between the biological purposes of nature and the sociological purposes of man. Its success only depends on the way it is worked. The present study was planned to investigate the attitude towards marriage, sexual adjustment and performance of working women from different organized sectors. A sample of 300 working women was selected purposively. Forty six per cent respondents were strongly agreed about registration of marriage. A substantially high proportion (58.7%) of respondents strongly disagreed with the statement of having sexual relations without marriage. College teacher and clerk had more favorable attitude towards marriage. A small proportion of husbands and wives were unfaithful to their counterparts in sexual matters. Fifty-three per cent working women were able to manage their dual roles satisfactorily.

Concepções político-ideológicas e didáticopedagógicas dos participantes do IV ENESEB

The article presents the results of a survey conducted with the participants of the 4th National Meeting on the Teaching of Sociology in Basic Education (ENESEB) held in 2015. The analysis includes the profile of the participants, pedagogical as well political and ideological conceptions, perceptions about the purpose of sociology in high school, and the difficulties and challenges for the qualification of the discipline. The results point to the existence of a heterogeneous profile, as well as significant differences in educational and political views among teachers of Basic Education and Higher Education, as well as students of Social Sciences. Major difficulties that were highlighted are the lack of teaching materials and their unsuitability for the teaching of the discipline as well as the lack of legitimacy vis-a-vis traditional disciplines; on the other hand, the low percentage of teachers with a university degree in Social Sciences and the need to qualify the teaching of the discipline appear as major challenges. Finally, despite the heterogeneous profile and different pedagogical and political views that were mapped, particularly the pragmatic and emancipatory ones, the survey reveals the existence of a consensus on the important role of the National Curriculum Guidelines (OCNS) for the qualification of the teaching of sociology as a discipline. Keywords: teaching sociology, high school, didactic and education.

Truth, Fact and Value: Recovering Normative Foundations for Sociology

Can sociology have normative presuppositions? Is the purpose of sociology to study society as it is or how it ought to be? Can we task sociology with serving moral and ethical ends? If so, are there universal categories by means of which we can define what constitutes a good society? Or are all such categories in the end but particular constructs unique to particular cultures and traditions, and hence bound by relativism? The history of the social sciences has proven these to be profoundly formidable questions to answer. In fact, far from providing a systematic conceptual framework, contemporary social theory in its current state consists of diverse and often contradictory theoretical standpoints and ethical presuppositions that make any single approach to normative foundations of social science appear to be limited, partial and ultimately untenable.

English

  A philosophical exploration is presented that considers entities such as atoms, electrons, protons, reasoned (in existing physics theories) by induction, to be other than universal building blocks, but artifacts of a sociological struggle that in elemental description is identical with that of all processes of matter and energy. In a universal context both men and materials, when stressed, struggle to accomplish/maintain the free state. The space occupied by cognition, inferred to be the result of the inequality of spaces, is an integral component of both processes and process interpretation; arbitration space, ubiquitous throughout nature, occurred to a vast number of vastnesses, a manifestation of the existence of time dependent mass/number/amount, is argued to be located to the same judging criteria with which principles are determined for sociological purposes: the processes of mind are determined (excuse the pun) to occur as a free state that is reflectively equal to what is construed by the intellect as universe. Scientifically determined states are not free states. Key words: mind matter form and energy, observation interpretation and common causes, the concept and physical parallels, sociological and scientific process, legality arbitration and nature, social equality and mathematical inequality, the transcendental object.

Twitter n-gram corpus with demographic metadata

Social media is a natural laboratory for linguistic and sociological purposes. In micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter, people share hundreds of millions of short messages about their lives and experiences on a daily basis. These messages, coupled with metadata about their authors, provide an opportunity to understand a wide variety of phenomena ranging from political polarization to geographic and demographic lexical variation. Lack of publicly available micro-blogging datasets has been a hindrance to replicable research. In this paper, I introduce Rovereto Twitter n-gram corpus, a publicly available n-gram dataset of Twitter messages, which contains gender-of-the-author and time-of-posting tags associated with the n-grams. I compare this dataset to a more traditional web-based corpus and present a case study which shows the potential of combining an n-gram corpus with demographic metadata.