scholarly journals Have Schemas been Good to Think With?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanina Leschziner ◽  
Gordon Brett
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Cultural Sociology ◽  
Public Culture ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Explanatory Concept

Schemas are one of the most popular explanatory concepts in cultural sociology, and are increasingly used in sociology more broadly. In this article we ask the question: have schemas been good to think with? We answer this question by analyzing the ontological, epistemic, and methodological bases of schemas, including the conceptualizations, claims, assumptions, and methods that underpin the use of schemas in sociological inquiry. We show that sociologists have developed two distinct, contradictory, and often conflated perspectives on schemas, what we refer to as culturalist and cognitivist perspectives. We suggest that schemas have acquired a polysemic character in sociology, and that they have become a (more narrow and consequently more scientifically legitimate) proxy for Culture, and that these features have (paradoxically) facilitated the popularity of schemas within the discipline. Sociologists have recently begun to make the necessary advancements to turn schemas into a more useful explanatory concept, through both analytical improvements (by distinguishing schemas from both public culture and other forms of nondeclarative personal culture), and methodological innovations (for better deriving schemas from survey data, texts, and experiments). Yet, some challenges remain, and the analytical value of schemas remains promissory. We conclude by offering some guidelines for making more specific and measured claims about schemas in sociological research.

Human Rights as an Ideology? Obstacles and Benefits

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea David
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Liberal Peace ◽  
Accepted Practice ◽  
Blind Spots ◽  
Successes And Failures

Sociology has an important part to play in understanding human rights. In this article, I trace obstacles within sociology to theoretically conceptualize human rights as an ideology. These impediments, I suggest, demonstrate the need to recognize the blind spots within sociological research. However, instead of trying to persuade readers why human rights qualifies as an ideology, I attempt to demonstrate why it is beneficial for sociological inquiry to conceptualize human rights as an ideology. Instead of following the widely accepted practice of understanding human rights as a desirable set of values designed to promote a liberal peace, I propose conceptualizing human rights as an ideology which, through its institutionalization, produces coercive organizational and doctrine power. The question of whether its organizational and doctrine power is capable of value penetration in micro-solidarity groups opens up a new prism through which sociologists can assess the successes and failures of human rights ideology on the ground.

Meta-analysis in Sociological Research: Power and Heterogeneity

2019 ◽  
pp. 004912411988247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangyu Tong ◽  
Guang Guo
Keyword(s):  
Random Effects ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Random Effects Models ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fixed And Random Effects ◽  
Study Heterogeneity ◽  
Analysis Models

Meta-analysis is a statistical method that combines quantitative findings from previous studies. It has been increasingly used to obtain more credible results in a wide range of scientific fields. Combining the results of relevant studies allows researchers to leverage study similarities while modeling potential sources of between-study heterogeneity. This article provides a review of the core methodologies of meta-analysis that we consider most relevant to sociological research. After developing the foundation of the fixed- and random-effects models of meta-analysis models, this article illustrates the utility of the method with regression coefficients reported from two sets of social science studies. We explain the various steps of the process including constructing the meta-sample from primary studies, estimating the fixed- and random-effects models, analyzing the source of heterogeneity across studies, and assessing publication bias. We conclude with a discussion of steps that could be taken to strengthen the development of meta-analysis in sociological research, which will eventually increase the credibility of sociological inquiry via a knowledge-cumulative process.

scholarly journals The sociology of ecologically unequal exchange, foreign investment dependence and environmental load displacement: summary of the literature and implications for sustainability

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew K. Jorgenson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Environmental Load ◽  
Unequal Exchange ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Transnational Civil Society ◽  
Load Displacement ◽  
Sociological Approaches ◽  
Structural Theories

The article begins by summarizing sociological approaches to (1) ecologically unequal exchange, and (2) foreign investment dependence and environmental load displacement. These areas of sociological inquiry consist of structural theories and cross-national statistical analyses that test hypotheses derived from both approaches. It concludes by briefly describing sociological research on global civil society and the environment, with a focus on the world society approach to environmental change. This area of theory and research provides some insights on ways in which global and transnational civil society groups, such as environmental international nongovernmental organizations, can partially mitigate the environmental harms caused by ecologically unequal exchanges and environmental load displacements.Key words: ecologically unequal exchange, environmental load displacement, foreign investment dependence

scholarly journals La competencia partidista en las elecciones generales de 2015: factores contextuales y anclajes ideológicos

2019 ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Irene Delgado Sotillos
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Electoral Studies ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Political Scene

Este trabajo se sitúa en el contexto de los estudios electorales. Loscambios acontecidos en el escenario político español tras las elecciones generalesde 2015 demandan un análisis de los factores individuales del voto que han guiadolas orientaciones de los electores. Partiendo de un marco teórico explicativo generaly con análisis de datos de encuestas del Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicastratamos de aislar los determinantes de carácter contextual y el peso de los anclajesideológicos que han orientado el voto a los principales partidos de ámbito estatal.Los resultados muestran que tanto los factores a corto plazo como factores estructuraleshan sido tomados en consideración por los votantes para apoyar a las formacionespolíticas, generado una fuga de votos de los partidos tradicionales hacialas nuevas formaciones políticas, dentro de la estructura del marco ideológico.In the context of electoral studies, this article explores the changesthat took place in the Spanish political scene after the general elections of 2015.The analysis of the individual voting factors that guided the electoral behaviorstarts from a general theoretical framework, and examine survey data from theCenter for Sociological Research. It tries to isolate the determinants of contextualcharacters and the weight of the ideological anchors that have dominated the votefor the main parties. The results show that combination of both the short-termfactors and the long- term factors, where the ideology plays an important role,have conditioned the support to the new political formations generating an importantchange in the preferences of the voters but conditioned by the ideologicalframework.

scholarly journals Kultura mezi materialitou a diskursem: případ Higgsova bosonu a „božské částice“

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Jan Váňa
Keyword(s):  
Higgs Boson ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Cultural Sociology ◽  
Material Surface ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Cultural Discourses ◽  
Strong Program ◽  
The Aesthetic

The article discusses the neglect that cultural sociology pays to the sciences and technology.Even though the “strong program” in cultural sociology claims that cultural meanings exist in every socialfact, its research focuses mainly on culture in a narrow sense, e.g. ethics, aesthetics, politics, memory, religionetc. I overcome this shortcoming by development of two approaches: 1) ethnography of a scientific facilitybased on science and technology studies (STS); and 2) cultural-sociological analysis of symbols, discoursesand narratives related to the research of a subatomic particle called the Higgs boson. Re-interpretingethnographic studies conducted at CERN and sociological research focused on quantum physics, the articledemonstrates that media and popular-cultural discourses on the Higgs boson are tightly related to its materialaspects. While the strong program traditionally presumes the arbitrariness of symbolic structures, the“iconic turn” in cultural sociology stresses the importance of the aesthetic material surface in the resultingmeaning. Conceiving the Higgs boson as a “secular icon”, we can see that the practically oriented actions ofresearchers at CERN relate to cultural meanings that reach far beyond the “laboratory” of quantum physics.

scholarly journals Identity of the city: Views of local actors in four urban centers

Sociologija ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
Vera Backovic ◽  
Ivana Spasic
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Project Characteristics ◽  
The City ◽  
Research Faculty

The paper analyzes the identities of four cities/towns in Serbia: Kragujevac, Novi Pazar, Sabac and Uzice, as seen by their inhabitants and other local actors. The identity of a city is defined as a set of unique features ensuring its continuous recognizability and distinguishing it from any other city. The analysis is based on quantitative and qualitative data collected in 2013 within the project ?Characteristics of Territorial Capital in Serbia? of the Institute for Sociological Research, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade. The views of citizens are documented by representative survey data (Kragujevac N=379, Novi Pazar N=299, Sabac N=346 and Uzice N=322), and those of other actors by semi-structured interviews (Kragujevac N=15, Novi Pazar N=14, Sabac N=12 and Uzice N=17).

Case Studies of School Desegregation and Resegregation: How Can We Pursue External Validity?

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110332
Author(s):  
Toby L. Parcel
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
School Desegregation ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Sociological Inquiry

Case studies form a vital part of sociological inquiry. Despite their important strengths, they often fail to pursue issues of external validity or replication, an important direction for social science generally. In this article, I begin with the premise that at least some case studies can and should contribute to a growing body of research within sociology aimed at replication and promoting external validity. I first discuss how qualitative case studies have handled issues of external validity in the past. Then I outline three dimensions of external validity that are particularly relevant for sociological research: the degree to which qualitative case study findings generalize or replicate to: (1) a larger population, (2) across social contexts, and (3) over time. I set my overall arguments within the larger literature of case studies in sociology but focus specifically on case studies dealing with school desegregation and resegregation. I show the current challenges in pursuing external validity using a set of case studies investigating school desegregation and resegregation in the United States. I argue that quantitative methods can assist in providing evidence regarding the generalizability of individual case studies. I conclude by noting the limitations to such an approach, which signal some of the challenges our discipline faces when pursuing the external validity of case studies.

scholarly journals Changes in Work Orientations in Postsocialist Serbia

Südosteuropa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-364
Author(s):  
Dunja Poleti Ćosić
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Spatial Mobility ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe subject of this study is work orientations, their change over time, as well as their distribution among the economically active citizens of Serbia. Particular attention is paid to work-motivated spatial mobility. The aim of this study is twofold: firstly, to determine which work orientations have been the most important for economically active individuals in the period of consolidation of the capitalist system in Serbia and to explore and explain the changes in their choices that have occurred since 2000; and secondly, to examine whether there are differences in prioritizing work orientations among actors with various social characteristics. The method of comparative analysis used in this paper was possible due to survey data collected during longitudinal research conducted by the Institute for Sociological Research in Belgrade over the last twenty years.

Multiple Secularities: Toward a Cultural Sociology of Secular Modernities

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 875-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Wohlrab-Sahr ◽  
Monika Wohlrab-Sahr ◽  
Marian Burchardt
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Cultural Sociology ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Multiple Secularities ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract For more than two decades sociological debates over religion and secularization have been characterized by a confrontation between (often American) critics and (mostly European) defenders of secularization theories. At the same time, there was a remarkable rise in public debates about the role of secularism in political regimes and in national as well as civilizational frameworks. Against this backdrop this paper presents the conceptual framework of “multiple secularities” with a view to refocusing sociological research on religion and secularity. We will demonstrate that it can stimulate new ways of theorizing the relationship of religion and secularity in a variety of modern environments. Arguing for a reformulation of this relationship within the framework of cultural sociology, we conceptualize “secularity” in terms of the cultural meanings underlying the differentiation between religion and non-religious spheres. Building on Max Weber we distinguish four basic ideal-types of secularity that are related to specific reference problems and associated with specific guiding ideas. Finally, we illustrate the use of the concept with regard to selected case-studies.

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