SOCIOLOGICAL CONCENTRATIONS
With links to pages where you can find
more information
Demography
/ Economic Sociology
/ Environmental Sociology
/ Gerontology
Historical
Sociology / Phenomenological
Sociology / Political Sociology
/ Social Psychology
Sociology
of Art / Sociology of Crime
and Deviance / Sociology
of Cyberspace
Sociology
of Death and Dying / Sociology
of Development / Sociology of
Education
Sociology
of Everyday Life / Sociology
of the Family / Sociology
of Gender
Sociology
of Health and Illness / Sociology
of Industry and Work / Sociology
of Knowledge
Sociology of
Law / Sociology of Mass Media
/ Sociology of Medicine
/ Sociology
of Race and Ethnicity
Sociology
of Religion / Stratification
/ Urban Sociology
Site still under construction.
Economic
Sociology 
Economic sociology studies
the relations between the economic and non-economic aspects of social life.
The ideas and theories of Max Weber and Karl
Marx give the economy a central place in the understanding of society.
Economic sociology covers a wide variety of theoretical traditions and
areas of research interest. It has not yet become a distinct 'school' or
a narrowly limited area of research. However, some researchers have carved
out a niche within this sociological discipline by studying such things
as consumer culture
, poverty (IRP), and Economic
Development [OECD].
Links:
Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
"Commodity
Fetish and the Automobile" by Nikos Drakos
Comparative
Research Programme on Poverty from the International Social Science
Council, Norway
Economic
Beliefs and Behaviour -- downloadable discussion papers
"The
Economics of Despair" by A.M. Sum, N. Fogg, and R. Taggart
Government
Information Sharing Project {demographics, economics, education} ECONOMICS:
1969-1995 Regional Economic Information System; 1992 Economic Census: Discs
1I, 2A, and 4; Census of Agriculture: 1982, 1987, 1992; U.S. Imports/Exports
History: 1992-1996; Consolidated Federal Funds Reports: 1987-1996; Earnings
by Occupation and Education: 1990
"The
Job Ghetto" Katherine Newman and Chauncy Lennon
Poverty
Areas from the Census Bureau
The
Panel Study of Income Dynamics
Urban
Institute's Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the Issues
US
Panel Study of Income Dynamics
Environmental
Sociology 
Environmental sociology is
a relatively new field of sociological inquiry. Topics include such matters
as the impact of environmental factors on populations, the effects of population
and technology on the environment, and the interaction and contradictions
between the two.
Links:
Brazilian
Sociology and Politics from Rio, also available in Portuguese;
environment-related papers
EcoGopher
Project
EcoNet
Population
Organizations: Finder's Guide Wisconsin Center for Demography and Ecology
Gerontology
or the Sociology of Aging
Historical
Sociology
History(by
M. Kearl) and sociology have converged in terms of methodological
and empirical concerns. Historians have begun using quantitative methods
to analyze historical data. Others employ anthropological theories for
historical analysis. Likewise, sociologists often use historical studies
from one geographic area to build a picture of the development in another
area (such as in the study of industrialization). Since all sociology is
ultimately concerned with change, process and development of human populations,
one could say that, in a sense, all sociology is historic.
Links:
International
Institute of Social History
The
Times of Our Lives: Social Contours of the Fourth Dimension from Circadian
rhythms to the implications of historical ignorance
Political
Sociology 
Political sociology is the
study of politics, especially as it involves the institutions, organization
and social impacts of polity. Four main areas of research contribute to
this field:
political conflicts and struggles
between states
the nature and role of the
state within societies
the nature and organization
of political movements and parties, and
the participation of individuals
in politics, such as voting behaviors.
Links:
Access
Denied: Information Policy and the Limits of Liberalism - Grant Kester
Brazilian
Sociology and Politics from Rio, also available in Portuguese;
environment-related papers
Congressional
Information on the Internet
The House
of Representatives
The
White House
Social
Psychology 
Social scientists work to
understand the human condition, to understand and possibly predict both
the individual and collective behaviors of human beings. Within this broad
definition, the goals of sociology and psychology are the same. They differ,
however, in how they look at things, the questions they ask, the methods
they use, and what they do with the information they obtain.
Social psychology involves
both the social and mental processes which determine action. Work in this
area concentrates on analyzing
social interaction. The debate lingers as to which is more important
of the two -- sociology or psychology. Which side a particular researcher
leans to depends on perspective. Psychologists are likely to give more
attention to thought processes, personality characteristics, and their
changes during the life cycle. Sociologists are inclined to give more attention
to social settings and individuals' roles within these settings, seeking
to understand the relationship between group structures and processes.
Social psychology, thus, focuses
on the interactions between the sociological (the group) and the psychological
(the individual). Michael Kearl tours through Social Psychology from the
nature-nurture debate to the effect of history on generations with a sociological
emphasis.
Links:
Identity
and Deception in the Virtual Community - Judith S. Donath "The goal
of this paper is to understand how identity is established in an online
community and to examine the effects of identity deception and the conditions
that give rise to it."
Social
Cognition papers and abstracts
Wesleyan
Social Psychology Network
Sociology
of Art
Center
for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies Wonderful photo
gallery! where and how to obtain data for the study of art
Sociology
of Crime and Deviance
Links:
Addiction
Research Foundation of Ontario
American
Society of Criminology An organization for persons interested in the
advancement of the study of criminology.
The
Basics of Juvenile Justice
Canadian
Criminal Justice Resource Center
Child
Abuse Yellow Pages A site full of links and rolling photos of missing
children.
Correctional
Education Connections
Crime
Time Bomb: Seeking Solutions to Rising Juvenile Crime U.S. News, by
Ted Gest with Victoria Pope
Criminology
and Social Deviance SocioWeb
The
Critical Criminology Division of ASC
Dooms
Day Cults
Federal Bureau
of Prisons
Gangs
in Los Angeles County (United States)
Gray
Areas Magazine Gray Area exists
to examine the gray areas of life. they explore subject matter which is
illegal, immoral and/or controversial.
The Justice
Information Center provides information on crime
statistics nationwide. Data is also available at this site.
Kaleidoscope:
Stalking Situations by Matthew Klein Eight percent
of women and 2 percent of men have been stalked at some point in their
lives, according to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The Institute
estimates that this percentage translates into more than 10 million people
in the U.S. who have been victimized in this way.
Lamarsh
Centre for Research on Violence York U. in Toronto
Measuring,
Explaining and Confronting Crime
Natl.
Archives of Child Abuse/Neglect
The
National Institute of Justice
Police
and Policing
Sexual
Assault Information
Television
and Violence
Varieties
of Media Crime: Drugs, Alcohol, and Juvenile Delinquency
The
Witches' League for Public Awareness
The Witches'
Voice
The
Witches' Web is "witching" deviance or a religion?
Sociology
of Cyberspace 
The
Sociology of Cyberspace is
a relatively new, yet rapidly developing, field of sociology. What impact
does this intricate web of communication have on societies of the world?
Is
there a cyberspace community and, if so, how is this community the same
and different from geographically specific communities? What governs this
new medium of knowledge and values transmission? Are the new electronic
journals impacting scholarly communication?
Hart, in The
Impact of Electronic Journals on Scholarly Communication ,
argues that electronic journals are cited very infrequently in scholarly
journals and suggests that this means the impact is minimal. Others, such
as Dr. Michael Kearl at Trinity University, posit that the impact of cyberspace
goes way beyond journal citations. The transfer of ideas can contribute
to scholarly communication without concurrent citations. Any idea has the
ability to jump-start another idea and another and so on. Additionally,
web sites have the ability to "count" the number of "hits" on their pages,
something print journals cannot do.
Links:
An
Archeology of Cyberspaces: Community, Virtuality, Mediation, Commerce,
Shawn P. Wilbur, 1995
Center
for the Study of Online Community A collection of scholarly resources,
reports, papers, and syllabi dealing with the emergence of community and
other social institutions in and through networks.
Communications
for a Sustainable Future
"Constructing
the Virtual Campus " Unsworth, John. Text of a paper delivered at the
1994 Modern Language Association meeting in Toronto
Cultural
Formations in Text-Based Virtual Realities, Elizabeth M. Reid, 1995.
Cybernauts
of the Arab Diaspora: Electronic Mediation in Transnational Cultural Identities
- Jon W. Anderson
Cybernetic
Capitalism: Information, Technology, Everyday Life - Kevin Robins and
Frank Webster
Cybersoc
is an online resource for social scientists interested in the study of
the internet, cyberspace, computer mediated communication, and online (virtual?)
communities.
cyberspace-and-society
a research and academic list relevant to social sciences and related discipline
<cyberville>
and the Spirit of Community, by Roger Scime (30K)
Electronic
Signs - Jay David Bolter
Electropolis:
Communication and Community On Internet Relay Chat, University of Melbourne,
Elizabeth M. Reid, 1991.
"Envisioning
Cyberspace: The Design of OnLineCommunities" Anders, Peter. Paper
given at 5Cyberconf.
"Forsaken
Geographies Cyberspace and the New World 'Other'" Olu Oguibe, Originally
presented at the 5th International Cyberspace Conference, Madrid, June
1996
"Gender
Swapping on the Internet" Bruckman, A. 1993.
"help
manners: Cyber-Democracy and its Vicissitudes" Charles J. Stivale,
05/96
"Identity
Workshop: Emergent Social and Psychological Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual
Reality" Bruckman, Amy. April 1992
The
MediaMOO Project: Constructionism and Professional Community. Bruckman,
A. and Resnick, M. 1993.
The
Netizens and the Wonderful World of the Net: An Anthology. Hauben,
Ronda and Hauben, Michael.,1993.
Online
Community - Joe DeRouen's Home Page Online Community The following
originally appeared in the September 1996 edition of the Dallas/Ft. Worth
Computer Currents magazine
Paths:
Cyber Sociology
Quantitative
Study of Virtual Teaching in Higher Education: The New Intellectual Superhighway
or Just Another Traffic Jam? Jerald G. Schutte's "Contrary to
the proposed hypotheses, quantitative results demonstrated the virtual
class scored an average of 20% higher than the traditional class on both
examinations. Further, post-test results indicate the virtual class had
significantly higher perceived peer contact, and time spent on class work,
but a perception of more flexibility, understanding of the material and
greater affect toward math, at semester end, than did the traditional class."
A
Rape in Cyberspace or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two
Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society. Julian
Dibbell,
Research
on CyberSpanglish, a new language form in cyberspace. Yolanda Riva,
(Featured inWIRED magazine)
Resource
Center for Cyberspace Studies an online, not-for-profit organization
whose purpose is to research, study, teach, support, and create diverse
and dynamic elements of cyberculture
Technological
or Media Determinism - Daniel Chandler
The
Theory of the Virtual Class - Arthur Kroker and Michael A. Weinstein
Virtual
Communities: Abort, Retry, Failure? Jan Fernback & Brad Thompson,
May 1995
The
Virtual Community - Howard Rheingold
Virtual
Community: An Annotated Bibliography Emily Reich, Fall 1995 Term
Paper
"Virtuality
and its Discontents: Searching for Community in Cyberspace," Sherry
Turkle, The American Prospect no. 24 (Winter 1996): 50-57
Welcome
to America's Network Online: Capitalism on the Web
Sociology
of Death
and Dying
How do various cultures and
societies deal with the inevitable end to all life? Not all societies deal
with death with tears. What are the consequences of death on the living?
What do the rituals involved in death and dying tell us about the life
and social circumstances of a people? These are just a few questions of
interest in the sociology of death and dying. Major social issues include
the debate on the concept of the "right to die," which has been applied
to euthanasia, suicide, and abortion. Sociologists do not contribute to
this debate per se; rather, they study the demographics of
members on all sides of these issues. What are the social conditions and
social environments that contribute to people positioning themselves in
these debates?
Links:
Coping
with Death: Strategies for Children
DeathNET
-- an international archive specializing in all aspects of death and dying
- with a sincere respect for every point of view.
The
Demographics of Death, Marc Spiegler, May 1995, American Demographics
-- This article shows how funeral professionals can have misconceptions
about death rates.
The
Facts of Death, Brad Edmondson, American Demographics, April 1997 --
Abstract: "This tour of the average American's death says a lot about modern
life. When and where we die is largely up to medicine. But trends in how
we die and honor our dead depend more on social change, aging, and demographic
diversity." "Death has a contract on everyone, but 20th-century Americans
have renegotiated the deal. A baby girl born in the U.S. in 1900 could
expect to live 49 years; in 2000, she will expect to live almost 80 years."
Griefwork
and Coping
Information
for Widows
Sibling
Relationships and Grief
The premier tour: The
Sociology of Death and Dying
World
Abortion Policies: 1994 Article
Sociology
of Development 
Links:
Canadian
Council on Social Development
Center
for Urban Policy Research
National Science
Foundation
Science
and Technology Michael Kearl
Science
and Technology Studies Unit (SATSU)
Sociology
of Education 
In the 1950s educational sociology
focused on the effects of education on mobility and life chances, social
class differences in educational attainment and the explanations of these.
Since the 1970s, however, this field has expanded to include: descriptions
of the social systems in schools, including the significance of pupil-teacher
interactions, looking at schools as agents of cultural reproduction and
providers of a hidden curriculum, feminist sociology investigating the
role of schools in reinforcing gender stereotypes among youth, and research
into teaching methods which attempts to identify the effectiveness of different
teaching styles.
Links:
Causal
Model of Education's Role in Status Attainment loads slowly
Education
Policy Analysis Archives peer-reviewed journal; full text online 1993-1997
Government
Information Sharing Project {demographics, economics, education} EDUCATION:
School District Data Book Profiles: 1989-1990
National
Center for Educational Statistics [US] many free publications
National
Teaching & Learning Forum
Nebraska
Social Science Resource
Urban
Education Web from ERIC
U.S. Department
of Education
Sociology
of Everyday Life and Phenomenological
Sociology
The phenomenological school
of sociology developed from the philosophy of phenomenology. Research is
aimed at the analysis and description of everyday life. Phenomenologists
use a perspective that believes human beings create their own social world.
They argue that other disciplines neglect the meaning of human action.
Sociologists have not welcomed this field of study with open arms, criticizing
phenomenological studies for being purely descriptive, dealing with trivial
topics and neglecting the impact of social structure on human beings. How
trivial are cultural
encounters in their contribution to the process of self-definition
?
The sociology of everyday life
analyzes the practices, reciprocities and cultural arrangements of everyday
life. It critiques the anonymity, alienation and remoteness of large institutions
such as the state and the economy. Jurgen
Habermas describes a sharp contrast between life-world
and social system. The life-world is regarded as authentic, while the institutions
of the rationalized social system are false and manufactured. Pierre Bourdieu
developed the concept of habitus, which describes the everyday world as
a system of practices which embody our our fundamental preferences (tastes)
for objects, values and people. Our response to reality is determined by
the habitus which organizes preferences into a system of distinctions which
structure our social reality.
Links:
Bad
Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life Progressive Politics
Center
for the Study of Group Processes
Information
on Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis Ethno/CA News
Non-Cartesian
Cognitive Science (Ronald Lemmen) some articles on Phenomenology
The
International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)
Newsletter
for Researchers in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis Index
Positioning:
The Discursive Production of Selves - Bronwyn Davies and Rom Harre
"the new concept helps focus attention on dynamic aspects of encounters
in contrast to the way in which the use of 'role' serves to highlight static,
formal and ritualistic aspects"
The
Tribe of the Chalk: Teaching Interactionism in Cyberspace
Sociology
of the Family 
Demography
/ Economic Sociology
/ Environmental Sociology
/ Gerontology
Historical
Sociology / Phenomenological
Sociology / Political Sociology
/ Social Psychology
Sociology
of Crime and Deviance / Sociology
of Cyberspace / Sociology
of Death and Dying
Sociology
of Development/ /Sociology of
Education / Sociology
of Everyday Life
Sociology
of the Family / Sociology of
Gender / Sociology of Health and
Illness
Sociology
of Industry and Work / Sociology
of Knowledge / Sociology of Law
Sociology
of Mass Media / Sociology
of Medicine / Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
Sociology
of Religion / Stratification
Sociology
of Health and Illness
Sociology
of Industry and Work
Industrial sociologists investigate
the nature of the social relations
of production. Are these relations cooperative and
harmonious, or conflictual? They also seek to determine whether the tasks
people perform at work provide satisfaction of human needs beyond mere
sustenance.
In the Durkheimian perspective
conflict is pathological, not inherent. Low employee morale is interpreted
as a result of uninteresting or unchallenging jobs and work which provide
little opportunity for the employee to participate in the social community
of the workplace.
In the 1970s the Marxist view
that capitalism inherently creates a conflict of interest between capital
and laborwas
revived. So it also goes with Max Weber's belief that all modern organizations
dominate the individual. Do workers have inherent human
rights?
Marxism posits that rationalization
creates a condition in which human needs are not met, resulting in alienation.
Along with these revivals the scope of this field has widened to include
the social, economic and political environments in the analyses of organizational
structure.
Links:
Changes
in Working Time in Canada and the U.S. Conference proceedings
Cornell's
Work Index Home Page
Economic
Beliefs and Behaviour--downloadable discussion papers
Finnish
Institute of Occupational Health
Free
Time! Ludicity and the Anti-work Ethic by Laura Martz
The
Great Speckled Bird Strike Page! Listing of ongoing strikes
"Inequality
at the Margins: The effects of welfare, the minimum wage, and tax credits
on low-wage labor markets" by Michael Hout
International
Association of Labor History Institutions
International
Labour Organization Publications and resource materials. Available
in English, Spanish and French
Labour
and Business History: Resources
LaborNet@IGC
Home Page
The
Panel Study of Income Dynamics
Shift
Worker Sounding Board the effects of shift work. Scheduled Topics.
Articles available.
A
Short History of American Labor
WorkIndex
Home Page from Cornell
Sociology
of Knowledge
The sociology of knowledge
is the study of the way in which the production of knowledge is shaped
by the social context of thinkers.
-- Hess, Markson, and
Stein, 1991.
The early sociology
of knowledge (M. Kearl)
was dominated by the ideas of Karl
Marx and Karl Mannheim, who defined
the subject as the relation between knowledge and a social base. Branches
of the sociology of knowledge include the sociology of literature and science.
How do social institutions influence literary forms or writers? How do
scientists decide what counts as knowledge? To what extent are differenttypes
of Knowledge socially constructed?
Different types of knowledge(e.g.,
religious, scientific, political, everyday) are understood to grow differentially
within varying social environments. Are there cultural
differences in rationality ? How does social power, especially when
embodied in institutional practices, shape knowledge?
The sociology of knowledge
examines how types of social organization make the ordering of knowledge
possible. There is less focus on the differing social locations and interests
of individuals or groups. How do different social and cultural environments
produce different knowledge systems? The social modification of knowledge
may occur through processes such as knowledge production, knowledge encoding,
knowledge transmission, decoding, storage of knowledge, and decision making
and combinations of the previous. This causal connection between knowledge
and society is seen as reciprocal -- society affects knowledge and knowledge
affects society.
Links:
Univ.
of Colorado's Sociology of Knowledge some full texts and some excerpts
from classic statements (These pages have been updated, 1998, and dead
links removed)
What
are Cultural Studies of Scientific Knowledge? Joseph Rouse
Sociology
of Law
Sociologists of law study
how social conditions influence law-making and law enforcement. Again,
Marxist and Weberian sociologists argue about the relationship of law to
the economy. Does the law ultimately serve the interests of the dominant
class by protecting property rights or is the law required by capitalism
to create a stable system?
Links:
The
Canadian Legal Information Center
The
Center for Law and Social Policy
Franklin
Pierce Law Center Home Page
Girls
in the Juvenile Justice System
The Justice
Information Center provides information on crime
statistics nationwide. Data is also available at this site.
The
Juvenile Court System
Michigan
Journal of Race and Law
New
Legislation in the Juvenile Justice System
Race
and Racism in American Law
Supreme
Court Decisions Server
Sociology
of Mass Media and Communications / Visual Sociology
The study of media messages
is a major concern for researchers in this area. However, there are no
widely agreed upon procedures for analyzing the content of, for instance,
television programs. Investigations also include the study of the ownership
and control of mass media and of the background, education and basic assumptions
of journalists within media. The study of audiences has become sketchy
as of late except for the study of the influence of media on audiences.
Is the media all-powerful or are audiences active participants in the acceptance
or rejection of media opinions? Perhaps both are accurate.
Most of what we think we "know"
is actually second-hand knowledge. We grasp this knowledge in terms of
symbols, whose meaning is determined by the form in which they are socially
received. Technological innovations, such as televisions or computers,
alter these forms of reception. According to Marxist
Media Theory, modern communication technologies serve as the latest
mechanism of manipulation and oppression by the elite. Historically, various
types of mass media have been criticized for their effects on identity
and social structure. The term "couch potato," for example, evokes an image
of mindless noninteraction with television's source of knowledge. Recordings
have been charged with "causing" hostile reactions in youth. "Don't believe
everything you hear." "If it's in print, it's 'gospel'." How are the various
media sources "received" in various social milieu's? What effect do these
media have on the individual and societal groups?
Links:
Boston
University Communication
Cambridge
Documentary Films, Inc.
Center
for Media Education concentrates on children and television
Communication
Institute for Online Scholarship (CIOS)
Documentary
Film Group Home Page
Fixing
Shadows
GCSocWeb
Resources: Mass Media
Geographical
Inequalities: The Spatial Bias of the New Communications Technologies
- Andrew Gillespie and Kevin Robins "Contrary to popular predictions of
their decentralizing impact, digital communications contribute to new and
more complex forms of corporate integration, reinforcing center-periphery
problems on a global scale."
Human
Rights Watch International Film Festival
just
outside the place
Lemming's
Photo Gallery
Marxist
Media Theory
Mass
Media and Communication Studies
Media
and Communication Studies
The
Media and Communications Study Page
Media
and Visual Arts
Media
Studies Center
Millennium
Film Journal of avant-garde and experimental cinema
NetCam:
The link between cyberspace and ``lightspace''
The
On-Line Visual Literacy Project
OTIS
Home Page
Photo-journalist's
Coffee House
PHOTONet
Index
Schwarz
Illustrated Photojournalism Site
Viewing
Age: The Age Distribution of Television Characters Across the Viewer Lifespan,
Jake Harwood (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara) -- Online
paper about television viewing habits of children, adults and elderly and
the characteristics of the characters seen on television. Interesting information
on the portrayal of the elderly on TV.
Visual
Resources Association
Yahoo
- Art: Photography: Exhibits
Sociology
of Medicine 
Sociology
of Race and Ethnicity 
Sociology
of Religion
Stratification
Welcome
Page
Please
Sign My Guest book
References:
Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen
Hill, and Bryan S. Turner. 1984. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology,
3rd edition. London, England: Penguin Books.
Hess, Beth B., Elizabeth W.
Markson, and Peter J. Stein. 1991. Sociology. Macmillan Publishing
Company.
Kearl, Michael C. 1997. "A
Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace." [http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/]
Questions or comments can
be directed to Linda Lambert: lindalam@flash.net
Construction of this page began August 17,
1997. All links verified for accuracy 08/17/97. Updated 01/09/99.
Thanks to UTSA for this Web space.