Paul K. Perry, 1910-2005

With the death of Paul K. Perry at the age of 95, the fieldof public opinion research has lost one of the prime moversof its founding generation, a colleague whose quest for reliabilityand validity in survey measurement has had few equals. Known as the indispensable architect and builder of the remarkableaccuracy record of the Gallup Poll’s preelection surveysfor nearly thirty years, Perry played a crucial role in establishingfor all of public opinion research a credibility that is enjoyedaround the world. Others have made important contributions to our understandingof the determinants and effects of public opinion and writtenof its role in the democratic process. But the assumption fromwhich they all take off is that the carefully designed and conductedpoll     

A Comparative Analysis of Divorce Rates in Canada and the United States, 1921-1967

A time series analysis of Canadian and American divorce rates for the 1921-1967 time span is performed to examine, in a comparative perspective, the effects of prosperity (indicated by income), war and depression conditions on divorce. Various regression models are utilized for this exercise. The major finding is that the Canadian society showed a delayed response to both prosperity (or depression) and war conditions while the United States was much quicker with its response. Income and war-income interaction facilitated higher incidence of divorce while depression superficially decreased the same in both the nations. Even though the two countries reacted in the same manner, American levels were always higher than those in Canada.     

残疾人社会福利的中国道路:1921—2021

残疾人社会福利是衡量社会文明的重要标尺之一,对此已达成世界共识.中国共产党成立百年来,中国残疾人社会福利对象从一部分群体到全体残疾人,福利内容从保障基本生活到注重残疾人全面发展,福利形式从个别化帮扶、临时性救助,发展为制度化保障、常态化服务,福利工作重心由制度完善到政策落实,福利推进路径由城乡二元分隔转向城乡统筹均衡发展.残疾人逐步摆脱歧视走向融合,摆脱贫困奔向小康,充分展现了中国社会的文明进步,体现了中国特色社会主义制度的优越性.残疾人社会福利的中国道路是在中国共产党领导下经过长期实践开辟出来的,在道路选择、观念基础、组织体系、制度构成上特色鲜明.继往开来,中国残疾人社会福利将向着"平等、参与、共享"目标,百尺竿头更进一步.     

UK Work/Family Balance Policies and Gender Equality, 1997-2005

Since 1997, the UK has developed policies to address the issueof work/family balance in the form of childcare services, leavesfor childcare, and the right to request flexible working patterns.We examine the policy aims and nature of these different approachesand assess how far they promote gender equality, which we definein terms of the possibility of making a "real" or "genuine"choice for men and women to "work and care."     

Facts, values, and evaluative explanation: Contributions of Leo Strauss to contemporary debates

As the 20th century comes to a close, sociologists remain mired in the long-standing debate surrounding facts and values. The tensions between value-neutral and value-relevant sociologists have raged for decades and no resolution appears likely; at least no resolution is likely within the parameters of the existing debate. This essay is an introduction to the work of social thinker Leo Strauss, whose orientation provides a different perspective on the issue. It was Strauss's conviction that sociologists were fiddling Neros, oblivious to the crisis of value they helped engender, but excused on grounds that they did not know they fiddled and that they did not know Rome burned. A value-free social science that denied the possibility of reasoned discourse on value, while surreptitiously advancing a vision of the good, created little but confusion while undermining the basis on which any vision of the good could be defended. A value-driven social science, animated by what Strauss called the “historical sense,” likewise undermined the legitimacy of the value this social science was designed to serve while casting suspicion on all subsequent value claims. Works by Bellah, Wallerstein and Alexander, Seidman, Collins and Denzin, among others, are used for illustrative purposes. Following Strauss, it is suggested that evaluation and explanation cannot be divorced; theirs was a natural relationship that modern philosophy, beginning with Machiavelli, had unwittingly denied. Strauss advocated a social science that understood value as something to quest for, rather than something to be assumed, and he judged theory to be a guide for action, rather than its substitute. It is suggested that Strauss's reading of the classics could be of benefit to sociologists seeking resolution to the crisis of facts and values.