Various social, psychological, and linguistic explanations for language variation are examined from the perspective of a fundamental principle that seems to underline interaction, language, and society. That principle lies in the paradigm "same and different." The dialectic resulting from this paradigm is at the basis of the notions of…

Suburban middle class American situation comedies of the 1950s and 1960s idealized the postwar family ensemble with its unproblematic achievement of quality family life. The homemaker as portrayed in these sitcoms was positioned at the center of the postwar consumer economy by the consumer product industry, which built its economy on defining the…

Current trends in psychological research stress the role of family members in developmental studies, and this trend may be applied to the study of divorce and child custody in Japan. Japanese families are influenced by other social systems, including neighborhood and religious groups, and traditionally these systems have combined with relatives to…

The paper describes a computer-based project designed to help college instructors teach introductory sociology. The project combines a variety of orientations to expose students to basic sociological concepts, classic theories, and the breadth of the discipline. Two traditional methods of teaching sociology include relying on different instructors…

This paper places race relations theory within the general theory of human behavior which combines behaviorist psychology and Marxist theory. It argues for a revisionist theory of race relations where a situation or condition leads to a behavior pattern (discrimination) which in turn leads to an attitude (racism or prejudice). This…

Procedures package includes (1) general introduction, (2) director's handbook, and (3) three exercise--in pull-out format.

Macrocosmic and microcosmic perspectives are employed in this ethnographic study of a La Leche League mothering/breastfeeding group in Buffalo, New York, in order to place the group in its historical perspective and cultural context and to describe its structure as a small cultural system. The first section provides an historical overview of…

Sex and ethnic differences in the use of social power were investigated using role theoretical and attributional perspectives. Performance and self-attribution processes of power usage were related to ascribed versus achieved role characteristics. One hundred and sixty subjects, equal numbers of Chicano and Anglo males and females, participated as…

THIS ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT CONTAINS FIVE ARTICLES, EACH DEALING WITH QUESTIONS OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY. THE FIRST EXPLORES CHARACTERISTICS, PROBLEMS, AND OPPORTUNITIES INHERENT IN THE CONSTRASTING ROLES OF STUDENTSHIP, AND MEMBERSHIP, AND CALLS FOR A BALANCE BETWEEN THE TWO ROLES. A SECOND ARTICLE POINTS TO THE NEED TO…

A general theoretical framework, group conflict analysis, can be applied to the study of cultural plurality in higher education. Basically, the conflict perspective views society as a conglomerate of interest groups competing for dominance in and of society. Once a group gains dominance it will monopolize resources in an attempt to maintain and…

As expressed in this essay, the basic aim of pedagogical research on teaching methods should be to describe existing practices and to work out theories which will allow researchers to explain the causal relationships leading to extant teaching practices, which in their own turn reinforce the existing educational pattern. Research in the area of…

Discussed are some sociological theories about instability in black ghettos, the Negro social class structure, and some policy implications derived from such analyses. The point of departure for this document is Norton Long's theory that ghetto unrest is a result of the absence of a black middle class. The consequent lack of Negro middle class…

Though the adjustment of domiciliary residents has been studied with personality inventories derived from personality theory and from psychiatric classification systems, there is a need to study the adjustment of residents with instruments derived from organizational theory. Gordon reported that domiciliary residents had high scores on the Work…

The purpose of this report is to document and describe the origin, procedures, and progress to date of the longitudinal study of students from James Coleman's "The Adolescent Society" study. The organization of this report follows chronologically the sequence of events that were initiated by Coleman. A historical account of Coleman's…

Process oriented educational research has failed because it has relied too heavily on scientific method and has neglected "unscientific" but important questions. Educational research should study the society and how social forces influence teaching practices. Teachers can not be expected to change at will. They are constrained by pre-existing…