Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Publication Africa on My Mind: Encounters in the Field(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Burgess, ElainePublication A Question of Priority: Small at Chicago or Blackmar at Kansas?(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Sica, AlanPublication The Teaching Relationship: A Hypothesized Mental Model and Its Consequences(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Storer, Norman W.It is proposed that people share a "mental model" of the student-teacher relationship, out of which develop unexamined expectations and attitudes that may be responsible for some long-standing problems of higher education. The model assumes that 1) a knowledge-differential is central to the relationship; 2) the relationship is voluntary, so that both participants must find it rewarding; and 3) both participants are able to play their roles successfully. The first assumption leads to an emphasis on the teacher's expertise and accounts for the importance of research as the chief measure of academic virture. The second allows either participant to assume that the other has initiated the relationship, often leading to frustrated expectations. The third complements the first, implying that "anybody who knows something can teach it," and accounts for both teachers' dissatisfaction with under-prepared students and the widespread failure to recognize differences in teaching skills. Surverydata arepresented on teachers' opinions ofwhat makes students satisfying to teach, providing evidence for the reality of the model's second assumption.Publication A Metatheoretical Analysis of Socioeconomics(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Ritzer, GeorgeA good portion of the current debate over socio-economics and economic sociology has been framed in metatheoretical, particularly paradigmatic, terms. Having done a good deal of work in metatheory in general (Ritzer 1988, 1989b, 1990c), and paradigm analysis in particular (Ritzer 1975, 1981), I would like to address the current work in socio-economics, especially Amitai Etzioni's (1988) The Moral Dimension: Towarda New Economics, from those points of view. Such a metatheoretical examination should allow us to better understand these works, their objectives, and their strengths and weaknesses.Publication Notes From the History of American Sociology: Frank Blackmar's Last Years at KU(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Fritz, Jan M.Frank Wilson Blackmar (1854-1931) has been described as "one of the master builders of the University of Kansas" and "an outstanding figure in the world of the social sciences." Despite Blackmar's many accomplishments, he is not well known by contemporary sociologists. This article briefly reviews his work as an academic and practitioner and then focuses on Blackmar's unsettling last years at the University of Kansas. This account of Blackmar's retirement is based on letters and memos found in the university archives.Publication The Looking Glass Self: Introductory Notes on Anorexia Nervosa(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Wax, Murray L.; Cassell, JoanPublication Mid-American Review of Sociology, Volume 14, Number 1&2 (WINTER, 1990): Book Review(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Field, Karen L.Publication You Are What You Eat: Some Thoughts on Consumption and Marxist Class Theory(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) McNall, Scott G.Publication Conflict and Order: Implications for a Research Agenda(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Eitzen, D. StanleyMysociological activities may appear to the untrained eye as scattered and unfocused. The subjects investigated have included status inconsistents, youth, terrorists, athletes, coaches, racial minorities, governments, multinational corporations, banks, and universities. I have written textbooks for introductory sociology,social problems, criminology, family, and sport. And,I have penned essays on ethics, values, violence, crime, the Superbowl,the Olympics,and the structural transformation of the economy. Despite the seeming disparity in these topics and the variety of social categories studied, there is a strong theoretical thread that brings coherence to these works--the conflictparadigm. This paper examines the implications of this paradigm that guide my current research agenda.Publication It's Just as Easy to Marry a Rich Man as a Poor One! Students' Accounts of Parental Messages About Marital Partners(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Prather, Jane E.What's happening in the 1980s concerning marital choices? Parents of today's college students were themselves seeking marital partners in the 1960s when traditional sexual norms were challenged including "living together" and innovative weddings. How are these parents responding to the dating choices and practices of their children? This paper presents some exploratory research on the mate selection socialization process as recalled by college students.Publication Solving the Bargaining Problem(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Schellenberg, James A.The bargainingproblem is here conceived as determining a point of final agreement in bilateral bargaining situations where there is an overlap in the interests of the parties. Several formal models for describing how persons may solve the bargaining problem (in particular, those of Nash, Kalai and Smorodinsky, and Felsenthal and Diskin) are briefly reviewed, and three experiments are described which seek a comparative test of these models. Experimental results fail to provide clear support for any of these formal models, but they do lead to a more generaldescription of how bargainers tend to arrive at cooperative agreements. This is expressed in terms of the three central considerations of (1) prominence, (2) social efficiency, and (3) equity.Publication Mid-American Review of Sociology, Volume 14, Number 1&2 (WINTER, 1990): Book Review(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Martin, BillPublication Profit Seeking Organizations: Accumulation, Irrationality; Politics, and Organizational Change(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Prechel, HarlandThis essay is critical of traditional conceptions of organizations, which attempt to develop models and propositions that apply to all kinds of organizations, employ nomothetic ahistorical methods, or assume that organizational change is an outcome of rational managerial decisions. In contrast to these mainstream perspectives, the theoretical framework herein is anchored in the Marxian and radical Weberian traditions in organization theory. This essay suggests that the need to accumulate capital and the emphasis on cost accounting principles, to determine its income yielding power, distinguishes profit seeking organizations from other kinds of organizations. Moreover, the tendency of mainstream organizational theory to assimilate Weber's distinction between substantive rationality and formal rationality conceals the profoundly political nature of strategic decisions, and the effects of irrationalities on organizational change.Publication The Uninvited Researcher in Indian Country: Problems of Process and Product Conducting Research Among Native Americans(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) John, RobertThis paper discusses what a researcher can expect when doing qualitative research in an American Indian community. Despite an attempt to adequately prepare for fieldwork, the author found that the research process differed in imponant respects from the qualitative methods literature. The paper chronicles key differences concerning gatekeepers and the research bargain, establishing rapport and gaining acceptance, the roles assigned to the researcher, the role of key informants and brokers, and several uniquely Indian processes the author experienced. The paper concludes with a summary of salient characteristics of research among American Indians and argues that such research takes longer, the research bargain is a matter of constant negotiation, gatekeepers are ubiquitous within the community, and the researcher needs to be prepared to make some accommodations to his or her hosts.Publication Research Examining Impacts of Attempts to Change Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Related Behaviors(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01) Dodder, Richard A.; Hughes, Stella P.Publication Mid-American Review of Sociology, Volume 14, Number 1&2 (WINTER, 1990): Front Matter(Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 1990-01-01)