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Social Self-Organization
by Dirk HelbingWhat are the principles that keep our society together? This question is even more difficult to answer than the long-standing question, what are the forces that keep our world together. However, the social challenges of humanity in the 21st century ranging from the financial crises to the impacts of globalization, require us to make fast progress in our understanding of how society works, and how our future can be managed in a resilient and sustainable way. This book can present only a few very first steps towards this ambitious goal. However, based on simple models of social interactions, one can already gain some surprising insights into the social, ``macro-level'' outcomes and dynamics that is implied by individual, ``micro-level'' interactions. Depending on the nature of these interactions, they may imply the spontaneous formation of social conventions or the birth of social cooperation, but also their sudden breakdown. This can end in deadly crowd disasters or tragedies of the commons (such as financial crises or environmental destruction). Furthermore, we demonstrate that classical modeling approaches (such as representative agent models) do not provide a sufficient understanding of the self-organization in social systems resulting from individual interactions. The consideration of randomness, spatial or network interdependencies, and nonlinear feedback effects turns out to be crucial to get fundamental insights into how social patterns and dynamics emerge. Given the explanation of sometimes counter-intuitive phenomena resulting from these features and their combination, our evolutionary modeling approach appears to be powerful and insightful. The chapters of this book range from a discussion of the modeling strategy for socio-economic systems over experimental issues up the right way of doing agent-based modeling. We furthermore discuss applications ranging from pedestrian and crowd dynamics over opinion formation, coordination, and cooperation up to conflict, and also address the response to information, issues of systemic risks in society and economics, and new approaches to manage complexity in socio-economic systems. Selected parts of this book had been previously published in peer reviewed journals.
Social Simulation for a Crisis: Results and Lessons from Simulating the COVID-19 Crisis (Computational Social Sciences)
by Frank DignumSimulating for a crisis is far more than creating a simulation of a crisis situation. In order for a simulation to be useful during a crisis, it should be created within the space of a few days to allow decision makers to use it as quickly as possible. Furthermore, during a crisis the aim is not to optimize just one factor, but to balance various, interdependent aspects of life. In the COVID-19 crisis, decisions had to be made concerning e.g. whether to close schools and restaurants, and the (economic) consequences of a 3 or 4-week lock-down had to be considered. As such, rather than one simulation focusing on a very limited aspect, a framework allowing the simulation of several different scenarios focusing on different aspects of the crisis was required. Moreover, the results of the simulations needed to be easily understandable and explainable: if a simulation indicates that closing schools has no effect, this can only be used if the decision makers can explain why this is the case. This book describes how a simulation framework was created for the COVID-19 crisis, and demonstrates how it was used to simulate a wide range of scenarios that were relevant for decision makers at the time. It also discusses the usefulness of the approach, and explains the decisions that had to be made along the way as well as the trade-offs. Lastly, the book examines the lessons learned and the directions for the further development of social simulation frameworks to make them better suited to crisis situations, and to foster a more resilient society.
Social Statistics
by Thomas J. LinnemanMany fundamentally important decisions about our social life are a function of how well we understand and analyze DATA. This sounds so obvious but it is so misunderstood. Social statisticians struggle with this problem in their teaching constantly. This book and its approach is the ally and support of all instructors who want to accomplish this hugely important teaching goal. This innovative text for undergraduate social statistics courses is, (as one satisfied instructor put it), a "breath of fresh air." It departs from convention by not covering some techniques and topics that have been in social stat textbooks for 30 years, but that are no longer used by social scientists today. It also includes techniques that conventional wisdom has previously thought to be the province of graduate level courses. Linneman's text is for those instructors looking for a thoroughly "modern" way to teach quantitative thinking, problem-solving, and statistical analysis to their students...an undergraduate social statistics course that recognizes the increasing ubiquity of analytical tools in our data-driven age and therefore the practical benefit of learning how to "do statistics," to "present results" effectively (to employers as well as instructors), and to "interpret" intelligently the quantitative arguments made by others. A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR... At a recent Charter Day celebration, author Tom Linneman was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, the highest award given to young faculty members at the College of William and Mary. The citation for his award noted that Linneman has developed a reputation among his students as a demanding professor - but one who genuinely cares about them.
Social Statistics: Managing Data, Conducting Analyses, Presenting Results (Sociology Re-Wired)
by Thomas J. LinnemanWith a clear, engaging writing style and fascinating examples using a variety of real data, this text covers the contemporary statistical techniques that students will encounter in the world of social research. It covers these techniques at an introductory level and carefully guides students through increasingly complex examples without intimidating them. Recurrent examples using four timely topics—health, immigration, income inequality, and everyday harassment—help students understand how the techniques fit together, and how to use the techniques in combination with one another. A superb author-created web resource accompanies the text. How to make clear presentations of research results is also a feature of the text. New to this edition: New research shows how the techniques has changed over time in the academic literature, showing students that social scientists really do use the statistical techniques the book teaches and giving them ample motivation to learn the techniques. Examples throughout the book use the most recent data from the General Social Survey. Four timely topics are threaded throughout the book: immigration, health, income inequality, and everyday harassment. Linneman uses these topics recurrently with different statistical techniques to illustrate how the techniques are related to one another. The new edition more explicitly emphasizes that the various techniques the students are learning are often used in combination with one another. After introducing a new technique and showing how to use it on its own, Linneman then systematically offers examples of how to combine that technique with techniques students learned in previous chapters. Most of the literature examples that end each chapter are new and use very recent research from top academic journals (three quarters from 2015 or later, nearly half from 2019). They feature research that covers timely topics such as Black Lives Matter, transgender health, social media, police behavior, and climate change. The SPSS demonstrations are completely redone, both in the book and on the website’s demonstration videos, using more recent data. Linneman applies his experience teaching his own students SPSS (knowing where students get confused) to clarify his explanations in these demonstrations.
Social Statistics: Managing Data, Conducting Analyses, Presenting Results (3rd Edition) (Sociology Re-Wired)
by Thomas J. Linneman<p>With a clear and engaging writing style and strong examples from the real world, this text covers current statistical techniques at an introductory level and emphasizes the clear presentation of results to a variety of audiences, making the course more useful to students and their careers. Interconnection features among chapters help students understand how all of the techniques fit together. Using varied data sets, the text features a highly rated companion website that includes videos of the author offering step-by-step explanations of how to carry out the techniques, interpret the results, and present them to varied audiences. <p>NEW TO THIS EDITION <p> <li>More inter-chapter connections have been added to improve students’ conceptual learning. <li>Several examples (on immigration, health, and civil rights) now permeate the text for easy comparison of techniques across chapters. <li>The section on managing data is considerably expanded to cover topics such as finding new sources of data, dealing with missing data, and how to combine data reliably. <li>Very current examples from the scholarly literature from criminology, education, and health show how researchers use each chapter’s techniques to tell compelling stories. <li>Instructors can choose from a variety of greatly expanded materials to enhance their lectures: engaging animations of key concepts; dynamic demonstrations of how statistics change in line with the data; short lectures on difficult-to-explain topics; and in-class exercises that will help students learn how to make sense of statistical results.</li></p>
Social Statistics for a Diverse Society
by Chava Frankfort-Nachmias Anna Y. Leon-Guerrero Georgiann DavisThe authors are proud sponsors of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop. The Ninth Edition of Social Statistics for a Diverse Society continues to emphasize intuition and common sense, while demonstrating the link between the practice of statistics and important social issues. Recognizing that we live in a world characterized by a growing diversity and richness of social differences, best-selling authors Frankfort-Nachmias, Leon-Guerrero, and Davis help students learn key statistical concepts through real research examples related to the dynamic interplay of race, class, gender, and other social variables. The text also helps readers develop important skills such as problem-solving (through a rich variety of exercises), use of statistical software (both SPSS and Excel), and interpreting research literature. Included with this title: The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.
Social Statistics for a Diverse Society
by Chava Frankfort-Nachmias Anna Y. Leon-Guerrero Georgiann DavisThe authors are proud sponsors of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop. The Ninth Edition of Social Statistics for a Diverse Society continues to emphasize intuition and common sense, while demonstrating the link between the practice of statistics and important social issues. Recognizing that we live in a world characterized by a growing diversity and richness of social differences, best-selling authors Frankfort-Nachmias, Leon-Guerrero, and Davis help students learn key statistical concepts through real research examples related to the dynamic interplay of race, class, gender, and other social variables. The text also helps readers develop important skills such as problem-solving (through a rich variety of exercises), use of statistical software (both SPSS and Excel), and interpreting research literature. Included with this title: The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.
Social Statistics For A Diverse Society
by Chava Frankfort-Nachmias Anna Leon-GuerreroToday's students live in a world characterized by a growing diversity and richness of social differences. In the seventh edition of Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, authors Chava Frankfort-Nachmias and Anna Leon-Guerrero continue to help students learn statistics through real research examples related to the dynamic interplay of race, class, gender, and other social variables. Focusing on the constant intersections between local and global social concerns and methods of inquiry and investigation, this new edition continues to emphasize intuition and common sense while demonstrating the link between the practice of statistics and important social issues. In addition, guides for reading and interpreting the research literature help students understand key statistical concepts, while SPSS demonstrations and a rich variety of exercises help them hone their problem-solving skills.
Social Stratification in an Aging Society with Low Fertility: The Case of Japan (Economy and Social Inclusion)
by Sawako ShirahaseThis edited book empirically discusses stratification in contemporary Japanese society. It is unique for its examination of social inequality in relation to declining fertility and an aging population. Japan is the most aged society in the world: according to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, people who are aged 65 and above comprised 29.1% of the country’s total population in 2021. Meanwhile, the fertility rate has continuously declined since the mid-1970s. Japan experienced a dramatic change in its demographic structure in a short period of time. Such fast change could be a major factor that generated social stratification. In her industrialization, Japan was thought to share a pattern of social stratification similar to that of developed European and North American countries but with a low degree of socio-economic inequality and a high degree of homogeneity. There is no clear support for this description of Japan, although the country does share a pattern and degree of social stratification similar to that observed in Europe and North America. The social stratification theory has been developed in close relationship to the labor market; however, it is necessary to further examine the social stratification of very aged societies in which a substantial number of the population—namely, retired persons—no longer have any ties to the labor market. In this book, the contributors explore the pattern of social stratification at three life stages: young, middle-aged, and elderly. Included are discussions of various aspects of stratification such as education, work, wealth, marriage, family, gender, generation, and social attitudes.
Social Systems Engineering: The Design of Complexity
by César García-Díaz Camilo OlayaUniquely reflects an engineering view to social systems in a wide variety of contexts of application Social Systems Engineering: The Design of Complexity brings together a wide variety of application approaches to social systems from an engineering viewpoint. The book defines a social system as any complex system formed by human beings. Focus is given to the importance of systems intervention design for specific and singular settings, the possibilities of engineering thinking and methods, the use of computational models in particular contexts, and the development of portfolios of solutions. Furthermore, this book considers both technical, human and social perspectives, which are crucial to solving complex problems. Social Systems Engineering: The Design of Complexity provides modelling examples to explore the design aspect of social systems. Various applications are explored in a variety of areas, such as urban systems, health care systems, socio-economic systems, and environmental systems. It covers important topics such as organizational design, modelling and intervention in socio-economic systems, participatory and/or community-based modelling, application of systems engineering tools to social problems, applications of computational behavioral modeling, computational modelling and management of complexity, and more. Highlights an engineering view to social systems (as opposed to a “scientific” view) that stresses the importance of systems intervention design for specific and singular settings Divulges works where the design, re-design, and transformation of social systems constitute the main aim, and where joint considerations of both technical and social perspectives are deemed important in solving social problems Features an array of applied cases that illustrate the application of social systems engineering in different domains Social Systems Engineering: The Design of Complexity is an excellent text for academics and graduate students in engineering and social science—specifically, economists, political scientists, anthropologists, and management scientists with an interest in finding systematic ways to intervene and improve social systems.
Social Trends in American Life: Findings from the General Social Survey since 1972
by Peter V. MarsdenChanges in American social attitudes and behaviors since the 1970sSocial Trends in American Life assembles a team of leading researchers to provide unparalleled insight into how American social attitudes and behaviors have changed since the 1970s. Drawing on the General Social Survey—a social science project that has tracked demographic and attitudinal trends in the United States since 1972—it offers a window into diverse facets of American life, from intergroup relations to political views and orientations, social affiliations, and perceived well-being.Among the book's many important findings are the greater willingness of ordinary Americans to accord rights of free expression to unpopular groups, to endorse formal racial equality, and to accept nontraditional roles for women in the workplace, politics, and the family. Some, but not all, signs indicate that political conservatism has grown, while a few suggest that Republicans and Democrats are more polarized. Some forms of social connectedness such as neighboring have declined, as has confidence in government, while participation in organized religion has softened. Despite rising standards of living, American happiness levels have changed little, though financial and employment insecurity has risen over three decades.Social Trends in American Life provides an invaluable perspective on how Americans view their lives and their society, and on how these views have changed over the last two generations.
Sociality, Hierarchy, Health: Comparative Biodemography
by Maxine WeinsteinSociality, Hierarchy, Health: Comparative Biodemography is a collection of papers that examine cross-species comparisons of social environments with a focus on social behaviors along with social hierarchies and connections, to examine their effects on health, longevity, and life histories. This report covers a broad spectrum of nonhuman animals, exploring a variety of measures of position in social hierarchies and social networks, drawing links among these factors to health outcomes and trajectories, and comparing them to those in humans. Sociality, Hierarchy, Health revisits both the theoretical underpinnings of biodemography and the empirical findings that have emerged over the past two decades.
Societal Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (Synthesis Lectures on Computer Science)
by Carlo LipizziThis book goes beyond the current hype of expectations generated by the news on artificial intelligence and machine learning by analyzing realistic expectations for society, its limitations, and possible future scenarios for the use of this technology in our current society. Artificial Intelligence is one of the top topics today and is inflating expectations beyond what the technology can do in the foreseeable future. The future cannot be predicted, but the future of some elements of our society, such as technology, can be estimated. This book merges the modeling of human reasoning with the power of AI technology allowing readers to make more informed decisions about their personal or financial decisions or just being more educated on current technologies. This book presents a model that sketches potential future scenarios based on a discussion of the expectations today, the analysis of the current gap in the literature, and a view of possible futures in terms of technology and use cases. Specifically, this book merges literature on the technology aspects, the sociological impacts, and philosophical aspects.
Socio-cultural Inspired Metaheuristics (Studies in Computational Intelligence #828)
by Kang Tai Suresh Chandra Satapathy Anand J. Kulkarni Pramod Kumar Singh Ali Husseinzadeh KashanThis book presents the latest insights and developments in the field of socio-cultural inspired algorithms. Akin to evolutionary and swarm-based optimization algorithms, socio-cultural algorithms belong to the category of metaheuristics (problem-independent computational methods) and are inspired by natural and social tendencies observed in humans by which they learn from one another through social interactions. This book is an interesting read for engineers, scientists, and students studying/working in the optimization, evolutionary computation, artificial intelligence (AI) and computational intelligence fields.
Socio-Inspired Optimization Methods for Advanced Manufacturing Processes (Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing)
by Apoorva Shastri Aniket Nargundkar Anand J. KulkarniThis book discusses comprehensively the advanced manufacturing processes, including illustrative examples of the processes, mathematical modeling, and the need to optimize associated parameter problems. In addition, it describes in detail the cohort intelligence methodology and its variants along with illustrations, to help readers gain a better understanding of the framework. The theoretical and statistical rigor is validated by comparing the solutions with evolutionary algorithms, simulation annealing, response surface methodology, the firefly algorithm, and experimental work. Lastly, the book critically reviews several socio-inspired optimization methods.
Socio-Spatial Dynamics in Mediterranean Europe: Exploring Metropolitan Structural Processes and Short-term Change (Spatial Demography Book Series #3)
by José María Feria-Toribio Ricardo Iglesias-Pascual Federico BenassiThis book analyses the most recent socio-territorial trends that are developing in the Spanish metropolitan space. The first part focuses on the most recent metropolitan dynamics and demographic changes in Southern Europe. The second part discusses the most important processes in metropolitan areas: the problems of increasing social and residential vulnerability and the problems of diversity management. The third part analyses some concrete cases of the main changes and complexity in the spatial dynamics of metropolitan areas in Southern Europe. Finally, the fourth and last part provides an overview on the instruments and the resources put in place by some Southern European cities for the development of governance and citizen participation as an instrument of reaction to the social, economic and COVID crisis. By discussing the main changes and uncertainties derived from the social scenarios after the pandemic, the dynamics of social dualisation of the city, as well as the necessaryinstruments for its analysis and the main challenges in urban governance with special attention of Southern European context, this book provides an interesting read for spatial demographers, human geographers, social scientists and spatial planners.
Sociocultural Research on Mathematics Education: An International Perspective
by Bill Atweh Helen Forgasz Ben NebresThis volume--the first to bring together research on sociocultural aspects of mathematics education--presents contemporary and international perspectives on social justice and equity issues that impact mathematics education. In particular, it highlights the importance of three interacting and powerful factors--gender, social, and cultural dimensions. Sociocultural Research on Mathematics Education: An International Perspective is distinguished in several ways: * It is research based. Chapters report on significant research projects; present a comprehensive and critical summary of the research findings; and offer a critical discussion of research methods and theoretical perspectives undertaken in the area. * It is future oriented, presenting recommendations for practice and policy and identifying areas for further research. * It deals with all aspects of formal and informal mathematics education and applications and all levels of formal schooling. As the context of mathematics education rapidly changes-- with an increased demand for mathematically literate citizenship; an increased awareness of issues of equity, inclusivity, and accountability; and increased efforts for globalization of curriculum development and research-- questions are being raised more than ever before about the problems of teaching and learning mathematics from a non-cognitive science perspective. This book contributes significantly to addressing such issues and answering such questions. It is especially relevant for researchers, graduate students, and policymakers in the field of mathematics education.
Sociodemographic Questionnaire Modules for Comparative Social Surveys (SpringerBriefs in Population Studies)
by Jürgen H.P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik Uwe WarnerAbove all, this book focuses on the application of sociodemographic survey questions. Based on theoretical foundations, it addresses the operationalization of variables and presents socio-demographic questionnaire modules for within- and across-country comparative survey research. The book pursues three main objectives: to provide a thorough and comprehensive overview of the survey instruments currently available for the measurement of sociodemographic variables in cross-national comparative research; to offer the reader a set of harmonized international demographic standards; and to show how these standards can be implemented by the various parties involved in international comparative surveys – from the central project coordinators, to the researchers on the national survey teams, to the fieldwork agencies and their interviewers, to respondents, and eventually, to the data processing experts preparing the datasets for comparative analysis. The book offers a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners and students actively involved in producing and analyzing sociodemographic survey data. The typical readers will be social science researchers, qualified consultants and professionals interested in the field of (comparative) survey research. The book can also serve as a useful supplement to introductory textbooks on survey methodology and is suitable for Bachelor and Master students of the social sciences.
Sociodynamics: A Systematic Approach to Mathematical Modelling in the Social Sciences (Dover Books on Mathematics)
by Wolfgang Weidlich"Highly recommended. . . . This is an important book in putting the burgeoning field of sociodynamics on a solid footing."--Journal of Artificial Societies and Social SimulationThis text deals with general modelling concepts in the social sciences, their applications, and their mathematical methods. The author's well-organized approach offers a clear, coherent introduction to terminology, approaches, and goals in modelling. Appropriate for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, it requires a solid background in algebra and calculus.The three-part treatment begins by addressing general modelling concepts, the second part provides applications, and the third discusses mathematical method. Topics include population dynamics, group interaction, political transitions, evolutionary economics, and urbanization. Guiding students through a series of practical applications that illustrate the methods' potential scope, the text concludes with a detailed look at mathematical methods.
Socioeconomic Inequality and Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Twenty Years of TIMSS (IEA Research for Education #5)
by Markus Broer Yifan Bai Frank FonsecaThis open access book focuses on trends in educational inequality using twenty years of grade 8 student data collected from 13 education systems by the IEA’s Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) between 1995 and 2015. While the overall positive association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and student achievement is well documented in the literature, the magnitude of this relationship is contingent on social contexts and is expected to vary by education system. Research on how such associations differ across societies and how the strength of these relationships has changed over time is limited. This study, therefore, addresses an important research and policy question by examining changes in the inequality of educational outcomes due to SES over this 20-year period, and also examines the extent to which the performance of students from disadvantaged backgrounds has improved over time in each education system. Education systems generally aim to narrow the achievement gap between low- and high-SES students and to improve the performance of disadvantaged students. However, the lack of quantifiable and comprehensible measures makes it difficult to assess and monitor the effect of such efforts. In this study, a novel measure of SES that is consistent across all TIMSS cycles allows students to be categorized into different socioeconomic groups. This measure of SES may also contribute to future research using TIMSS trend data. Readers will gain new insight into how educational inequality has changed in the education systems studied and how such change may relate to the more complex picture of macroeconomic changes in those societies.
Socioeconomic Segregation and Educational Inequality: Evidence from International Assessments (IEA Research for Education #15)
by Nathan A. Burroughs Jacqueline A. Gardner Dirk F. Zuschlag Craig Joseph Van VlietThis open access book uses multiple IEA Assessments to examine the relationship between socioeconomic segregation between classrooms and student outcomes. By examining Socioeconomic status (SES) segregation between classrooms as well as between schools, it produces a more accurate estimate of student sorting. Further, this study examines the differential impact of student sorting across subject areas and grades in order to explore whether school structure’s relationship to educational inequality exhibits content and longitudinal heterogeneity. This study employs time series, fixed-effect, random-effects, and synthetic-cohort methods to comprehensively investigate the robustness of the relationship between SES segregation and achievement inequalities. This project makes an important contribution to researchers’ understanding of student sorting’s impact using a comparative lens, while also providing important information to policymakers on the role of schools in mediating social inequalities.
Sociological Foundations of Computational Social Science (Translational Systems Sciences #40)
by Yoshimichi Sato Hiroki TakikawaThis book provides solid sociological foundations to computational social science (CSS). CSS is an emerging research field, and many books with those words in the title are on the market. However, CSS has not become mainstream in sociology, for which there are two reasons. First, CSS does not necessarily solve major research questions in sociology. Second, its sociological foundations are weak. These two reasons are interrelated—that is, CSS cannot solve major research questions because its sociological foundations are weak. Thus, even if it tries to solve those questions, its approaches seem to mainstream sociologists to miss the point. To resolve that shortcoming, this book fills the gap between CSS and sociology, shows that CSS can solve major research questions in sociology, and advances sociology by introducing to it theories and methodologies of CSS.
Sociology and Statistics in Britain, 1833–1979
by Plamena PanayotovaAt the beginning of the twentieth century, Britain stood at the forefront of science and statistics and had a long and respected tradition of social investigation and reform. But it still did not yet have a ‘science of society.’ When, in the early 1900s, a small band of enthusiasts got together to address this situation, the scene was set for a grand synthesis. No such synthesis ever took place and, instead, British sociology has followed a resolutely non-statistical path. Sociology and Statistics in Britain, 1833-1979 investigates how this curious situation came about and attempts to explain it from an historical perspective. It uncovers the prevalence of a deep and instinctive distrust within British sociology of the statistical methodology and mindset, resulting in a mix of quiet indifference and active hostility, which has persisted from its beginnings right up to the present day. While British sociology has thrived institutionally since the post-war expansion of higher education, this book asks whether or not it is poorer for having failed to recognise that statistics provides the foundations for the scientific study of society and for having missed opportunities to build upon those foundations. Ultimately, this important, revealing and timely book is about British sociology’s refusal to come to grips with a modern scientific way of thinking which no discipline that aspires to an effective study of society can afford to ignore.
Sociology as a Population Science
by John H. GoldthorpeJohn Goldthorpe is one of Britain's most eminent sociologists and a strong advocate of quantitative sociology. In this concise and accessible book, he provides a new rationale for recent developments in sociology which focus on establishing and explaining probabilistic regularities in human populations. Through these developments, Goldthorpe shows how sociology has become more securely placed within the 'probabilistic revolution' that has occurred over the last century in the natural and social sciences alike. The central arguments of the book are illustrated with examples from different areas of sociology, ranging from social stratification and the sociology of the family to the sociology of revolutions. He concludes by considering the implications of these arguments for the proper boundaries of sociology, for its relations with other disciplines, and for its public role.
Sociology of Aging and Death (International Perspectives on Aging #35)
by Jason PowellThis book presents a critical analysis and examination of the major theories and social issues in the social construction of aging and death. It is concerned with the impact of death and places how our experiences of death are transformed by the roles that truth and discourse about aging play in everyday life. A major element of the book is an examination of the way in which groups and individuals employ specific representations of mortality in order to construct meaning and purpose for life and death. To accentuate this, the book provides an investigation into the social construction of death practices across time and space. Special attention is given to the notion of death as a socially accomplished phenomenon grounded in a unique sociological introduction to the meaning of death throughout history to the present. The purpose of this book is to critically inform debates concerning the abstract and empirical features of death examined through the lens of sociological perspectives. This book explores the emergent biomedical dominance relating to ageing and death. An alternative is advocated which re-interprets ageing for Graduate schools. This innovative book explores the concept, history and theory of aging and its relationship to death. Traditionally, many books have focused on older people dying of 'natural causes', a biomedical explanatory framework. This book looks at alternative social theories and experiences with aging and relate to death in different countries, victims, crime, imprisonment and institutional care. Are these deaths avoidable? If so, what are the solutions the book addresses. This is one of the first books that re-interprets aging and its relationship of examples of death. It will be of essential reading for graduate students and researchers in understanding these different examples of aging and death across the globe.