Sociological Explanations Research Articles

"I Love You to Death": Social Networks and the Widowhood Effect on Mortality.

Research on "the widowhood effect" shows that mortality rates are greater among people who have recently lost a spouse. There are several medical and psychological explanations for this (e.g., "broken heart syndrome") and sociological explanations that focus on spouses' shared social-environmental exposures. We expand on sociological perspectives by arguing that couples' social connections to others play a role in this phenomenon. Using panel data on 1,169 older adults from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, we find that mortality is associated with how well embedded one's spouse is in one's own social network. The widowhood effect is greater among those whose spouses were not well connected to one's other network members. We speculate that the loss of a less highly embedded spouse signals the loss of unique, valuable, nonredundant social resources from one's network. We discuss theoretical interpretations, alternative explanations, limitations, and directions for future research.

Harry Braverman on the working class and structural transformations of twentieth century society

This article is devoted to the work of the American scientist Harry Braverman. The relevance of the article is due, firstly, to the transformation of the system of social stratification occurring in American society in the middle of the twentieth century, as well as the search for relevant approaches for its study. Secondly, the fact that Russian sociology does not pay enough attention to Braverman’s unique contribution to the development of the theory of social structure, his active participation in the current scientific discussion on the working class. The American sociologist investigated the problems of transformation of the working class, its place in the system of stratification and its role in the development of society. Braverman is often called a Marxist, and interest in his work is often interrupted. His vision of the social structure of American society is distinguished by originality and is based on extensive personal work experience. An American sociologist studied labor relations, which he observed directly in the labor process. One of the tasks set by the author of the article is to consider the heuristic potential of one of the approaches known in world sociology to the study of social stratification. Harry Braverman significantly contributed to the fact that the sociological explanation of the system of social stratification is transformed in the second half of the twentieth century. He took part in a scientific discussion on structural transformations taking place in the middle part of the stratification system of American society. Braverman criticized the emerging theories of the “new middle class”, contrasting them with his concept of the “new working class”. Braverman to a certain extent developed K. Marx’s theory of alienation, supplemented it taking into account the current stage of the development of capitalism. The author of the article made an attempt to trace the research logic of the American sociologist, as well as to show his success in carrying out an accurate and detailed revision of the production process at the time of its next acute crisis, which was certainly a great contribution to the development of Marxist theory, taking into account modern realities, which made it possible to move forward.

Sociological Explanation of Factors affecting Women's Approach to Body Management (Case study: Women of districts 1 and 17 of Tehran)

Sociological Explanation of Factors affecting Women's Approach to Body Management (Case study: Women of districts 1 and 17 of Tehran)

Understanding social upheavals: beyond conspiracy theories

Sociological explanations frequently serve as a counter point to popular conspiracy theories. Historically, sociology evolved as a subject that tried to prove that social reality cannot be reduced to the separate actions of the individuals who make up that society, such individual motivations or what was understood as the standard way persons think and behave in given situations being the dominant analytical frameworks in other social sciences like economics, psychology, and political science. A key founder of sociology, Frenchman Emile Durkheim tried to identify the social as external to and in some ways imposed from outside upon the individuals who are included in the social reality. In his unique way, he demonstrated the validity of the social by explaining how even a deeply personal and emotional matter such as suicide must be seen as a socially determined phenomenon. Of course,these views have been interrogated by many critics over the years for his single-minded preoccupation with the social by deemphasizing its natural linkages with the psychological and for his denial of the agency of human beings.

Advanced Placement Gatekeeping and Racialized Tracking

Racialized tracking is central to sociological explanations for racially stratified educational outcomes. However, school officials’ decision-making is of debated importance for explaining racialized tracking. We contribute to this literature by examining the effects of schools’ enrollment policies for Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Using a unique combination of school survey data and administrative data from Wisconsin, we examine what happens to racial inequality in AP participation when school officials enforce performance-based selection criteria, which we call “course gatekeeping.” We find that course gatekeeping has racially disproportionate effects. Although racialized differences in prior achievement partially explain the especially large negative effects among students of color, course gatekeeping producesBlack-white and Hispanic-white disparities in participation even among students with similar, relatively low prior achievement. We further find that course gatekeeping has longer-run effects, particularly discouraging Black and Asian or Pacific Islander students from attending highly selective four-year colleges.

Urban–ruraljustice

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Social Action Explanation and Intentions in Sociology and Social Sciences

Social Action Explanation and Intentions in Sociology and Social Sciences

Progress of Science

A study of the relationship of trends towards specialization and universalization of scientific knowledge is most fruitful when sociological and epistemological methods are compared. Sociological methods describe the growth of scientific knowledge quantitatively as an increase in volume, whereas epistemological methods do it qualitatively in terms of an increase in the level of generalization. The sociological explanation of the specialization of researchers is based on the limited resources of the study time, the epistemological explanation of the differentiation of disciplines is in the ontological differences of the objects of research. On the contrary, epistemological universalization – the formulation of generalizing theories is conditioned by the social need to ensure the connectivity of the network of technical practices. The history of the development of natural sciences shows a tendency towards absorption of the less developed paradigms by more developed ones. In other words, scientific knowledge increases cumulatively both in quantitative and qualitative terms.

Sociological explanation of the use of information technology and the feeling of social security among young people in Tabriz

Background and Aim: Throughout human life, security is considered one of the main human needs and its importance has increased in the modern era to such an extent that according to some experts, the special and unique work of governments in today's modern world is to establish Security is due to the importance of security and the feeling of security, the present research has investigated the level of feeling of social security and the recognition of the most important factors related to it. Methods: This research was conducted by survey method and using questionnaire technique. The statistical population of the research is all young people aged 20-35 living in Tabriz city, and the sample size was calculated using Cochran's formula of 400 people. They were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. Results: The data analysis indicated that, if communication and information technology is used correctly, it can be used as an empowerment tool for the development of more comprehensive social security. The correlation coefficient between the amount of use of information technology with the social security feeling variable is equal to (0.115) and its significance level is (0.021), which indicates that there is a significant and direct relationship between the two variables. Among the dimensions of feeling of social security, the lowest feeling of security is related to the dimension of moral security and the highest feeling of security is related to the dimension of personal security. Conclusion: The findings indicated that there was a significant and direct relationship between the amount of information technology use and the feeling of social security.

Sociological explanation of factors affecting family violence with the grounded theory approach

Aim: The purpose of this research was to explain the sociological factors affecting family violence with a grounded theory approach. Methods: The current research method has studied the factors and consequences of violence against women in the family with a qualitative approach and using grounded theory. In order to collect information and select the participants, the purposeful sampling method was used and with the progress of the study, the sampling of desirable cases was done until reaching the theoretical saturation with 21 women who have been subjected to violence who have referred to the social emergency center of Nahavand city, a semi-structured interview. The finding was carried out. After analyzing and reviewing the content of the interviews, 202 primary concepts were open-coded and 20 major categories and finally one central or core category were extracted in the axial coding. Results: The results of this research show that factors such as husband's addiction, personality problems and disorders, forced and early marriage, patriarchal attitude in the family, lack of family support, lack of socialization and social education, and unfavorable economic conditions are among the major and effective factors in increasing and the occurrence of violence against women in the family are considerable. Conclusion: According to the results and findings obtained from this qualitative research, holding workshops, life skills sessions and pre-marital counseling to increase the awareness and recognition of couples and dealing with each other, especially early in life, in order to deal with and reduce the phenomenon of violence. It is suggested against women.

Understanding Religious-Organizational Marketization: The Case of the United States Mainline

AbstractPast decades have witnessed an accelerating proliferation of managerial and market-associated discourses and imperatives across the traditional religious-organizational field. Based on theoretical perspectives on marketization, this article outlines a general analytical framework by which to approach, empirically investigate, and understand processes of organizational marketization as they unfold in contemporary religious-organizational settings. As illustrated by more recent developments among the Protestant mainline denominations in the United States, the article (1) provides a general sociological explanation for the primary reasons why processes of organizational marketization have been set in motion within the US mainline; (2) outlines the main ways and means by which such processes have tended to unfold; and (3) accounts for their main practical effects on current mainline organizational cultures and working routines.

Online Trolls: Unaffectionate Psychopaths or Just Lonely Outcasts and Angry Partisans?

The main objective of the article is to attempt to provide a more sociological explanation of why some people attack and insult others online, i.e., considering not only their personality structure but also social and situational factors. The main theoretical dichotomy we built on is between powerful high‐status and low‐on‐empathy “bullies” trolling others for their own entertainment, and people who are socially isolated, disempowered, or politically involved, therefore feel attacked by others’ beliefs and opinions expressed online, and troll defensively or reactively instead of primarily maliciously. With an MTurk sample of over 1,000 adult respondents from the US, we tested these assumptions. We could confirm that there are two categories and motivations for trolling: for fun and more defensive/reactive. Further, we checked how strongly precarious working conditions, low social status, social isolation, and political as well as religious affiliation of the person increase or decrease the probability of trolling as well as enjoyment levels from this activity. We controlled for personality traits, social media use and patterns, as well as sociodemographic factors. We could confirm that political identities and religiosity increase the likelihood of, but not the enjoyment of trolling; however, socio‐economic factors do not have the same differentiating effect.

Science under Fire: Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America

Science under Fire: Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America

A Critical Literature Review of New Party Success in Central and Eastern Europe

The paper offers a critical literature review of existing explanations for new party success in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of communism in 1989. The paper presents the strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, arguing that the historical analysis, the sociological explanation, and the institutional framework can provide sources of changes in party systems, and set constraints to political party leaders, but fail to elucidate variations in individual parties. The paper then continues to reflect on `the agential approach and the party-specific factors such as partisanship and organization, stating that while the partisanship approach is not appropriate for the study of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe due to the region’s short time scope of merely three decades of democratisation so far, the choices and crafting of party leaders as well as the party organization development are crucial to spelling out why some new parties endure, while others are short-lived.

Thesis on sociology of the diplomacy

The establishment of the sociology of diplomacy as an independent discipline is of particular interest to the social sciences. This may occur through more detailed scientific research of diplomacy at the sociological level. To achieve such a goal we need a sociological explanation of the phenomenon of diplomacy and the necessary scientific research procedures, theoretical and empirical, that are based on hermeneutic methods. Through scientific research in the sociology of diplomacy, there can be obtained empirical data relevant to the processes of communication, negotiation, war, peace, agreements, and disagreements can serve as a basis for guidance for a state representative. The hermeneutic method of description, understanding, and explanation of the sociological phenomenon of diplomacy creates a good basis for formulating the thesis of a theory of the sociology of diplomacy.

Sociological Explanation of Women’s Values ​​and Actions in Districts Three, Seven and Nineteen of Tehran

Introduction: In recent years, we have seen differences between women’s values ​​and their actions. Some women have actions according to their values ​​and others express actions completely different from their values. Women’s values ​​are influenced by various factors that are mentioned in this article, and Robert Merton’s theory of pressure has been used to identify women’s actions and in general, and women’s actions in three districts of Tehran were compared. Method: This research is quantitative, it and has been done with a survey technique and a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population includes women living in three areas of Tehran in the north, center and south of the city. The statistical sample includes 390 people out of which 130 people were selected by random sampling. Findings: Factors of fear and anxiety, gender discrimination, social rejection, attachment to the family and the weakness of religious beliefs and the decline of moral values ​​affect the actions of women. Besides, these factors have led to the formation of four types of women’s actions: concordant actions, innovative actions, formative actions, and anomic actions. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between value variables and types of women’s actions. Discussion: The results of the test of research hypotheses show that in some cases there are similarities and differences between the values and actions of women in the three districts of Tehran. In fact, the actions of women under the influence of their values can manifest as one of these four forms. In the affluent region of Tehran, most of the actions were morphological and anomic, while in the central region of Tehran, the actions were innovative and formative in nature, and in the southern region of Tehran, the actions were consonantal and innovative in nature. Some differences were found in the four actions in all areas, and this reflects a change in women’s values.

Governing value(s) and organizing through standards

Standards are strongly intertwined with values in economic contexts, which goes far beyond economic value. Standards’ diversity is expressed in local spaces where standards are made, put into action, circulate and commensurate. In these mutually linked and globally distributed spaces, we can analyze the ways in which standards and value(s) encounter each other and what consequences this brings for individuals, organizations, communities, and societies. Examining different settings of food production and organization brings new insights into the sociological explanations and understandings of how standards are guided by values and create value(s). These insights highlight new tensions between global and local social dynamics and offer two ways forward for the sociology of standards. First, is the importance of intermediation between the values of the standards and the governance effects of these same standards. Second, is the relevance of valuelessness, where the prioritization of some values devalues others or loses them completely.

KORUPSI MELALUI JUAL BELI JABATAN DI PEMERINTAH DAERAH DALAM PERSPEKTIF SOSIOLOGI

The sale and purchase of positions as a form of corruption in the selection process for local government positions in Indonesia is a violation of law and public morals. Corruption is a complex social phenomenon that requires an objective study and can be studied from various fields, one of which is sociology. This study aims to explain the sociological perspective on buying and selling positions as a form of corruption in local government. The method of this study is a literature study with seven steps based on the Cornell University model. This study helps to understand corruption through selling and purchasing positions from a sociological perspective. So far, corruption studies have been mostly from a legal and political perspective. Based on the study conducted, there are three theories to explain this reality, namely social exchange theory, rational choice theory, and Weber's theory of bureaucracy. Social exchange theory sees the phenomenon of corruption as a form of the exchange relationship between actors involved in buying and selling positions that tend to be corrupt. The rational choice theory sees the buying and selling of positions and corruption as models of human behavior are the results of the selfish preferences of individuals. Weber's model explains the sale and purchase of positions and corruption as a form of deviation from public officials in the legal-rational system (bureaucracy). Based on the explanations of the three theories, the sociological explanation of corruption through the sale and purchase of positions in local government may contradict the legal and political explanations.Keywords: Corruption, Buying And Selling Positions, Sociology Perspective

Global Disorder: A Blind Spot or Distinct Concept of the International Society Approach?

AbstractThe international society approach to the study of international relations has advanced a distinct understanding of international order in world politics. Does this approach therefore also implicitly have a distinct understanding of disorder in world politics, too? From a close reading of this literature, and the writings of Hedley Bull in particular, I argue that a “purposive” understanding of disorder in world politics is evident, as well as a set of sociological explanations of it, including hierarchy conflict, political value conflict, and the structural contradictions of international society. I suggest that this approach is more insightful and promising for studying increasing manifestations of disorder in world politics than alternative realist approaches. Finally, I make the case that this concept's analytical utility and theoretical role in this approach is the assessment of the continued viability of international society as a path to order in world politics.

Genre work: ‘How’ vs ‘what’ questions in the sociology of music culture

The established conceptual frameworks in the sociology of music largely name forms of social collective, albeit emphasising different characteristics. ‘Scene’ and ‘neo-tribe’ are the principal contemporary examples of this. In this article, we describe scene and neo-tribe as conceptual responses to what questions (What kind of sociality is this? What kind of cultural context is this?). We engage critically with scene and neo-tribe, and with the underlying logic of sociological explanation which posits and then answers what questions about social collectives as the best means of accounting for social practices around music. We do this to advocate sociological enquiry into music via how questions, suggesting that such questions have a specific sociological trajectory which presents underexplored opportunities for the sociology of popular music. To this end, we introduce and describe the concept of ‘genre work’, to investigate how musical development and social groups are co-constituted through the same social processes and dynamics. We argue that scene and neo-tribe tend to background the empirical processes (and the music) around which their respective research agendas are oriented. Genre work and similar approaches, in contrast, seek to document and analyse the discourses, interactional forms and mediated and co-present activities by which genres and the social groupings interested in them are mutually cohered.