Geschichte der Soziologie,Anthropologie, Religionssoziologie,Marktforschung, Partnerwahl und Hausarbeit,Soziologie der Krankheit,Soziologie des Wohlfahrtsstaats,Soziale Integration

Literaturbesprechungen

Geschichte der Soziologie, Anthropologie, Religionssoziologie, Marktforschung, Partnerwahl und Hausarbeit, Soziologie der Krankheit, Soziologie des Wohlfahrtsstaats, Soziale Integration     

Soziologie der Aufmerksamkeit

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the theoretical relevance of the concept of “attention” for understanding the social. Against the backdrop of neurological, psychological and philosophical insights into this subject matter, and drawing on both classical as well as current theories on this phenomenon, the article will examine the term’s respective meanings and develop genuinely sociological questions in order to underline the heuristic value of research on this topic. Furthermore, it will be argued that the (post-)modern subject oscillates between being at liberty to bestow his attention at will and being forced to do so, and the social processes accounting for attention gradually becoming an ever more scarce resource will be identified. The field of science is then drawn upon as an example to illustrate the fight for attention, followed by a plea for the comprehensive treatment of attention as a key sociological issue.     

Perspektiven der Politischen Soziologie

On the basis of a concept of politics as social action and conflict, which focuses on the institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of power, the article argues for a political sociology which is interdisciplinary, methodology pluralistic, ‘eurodecentric’, and which focused on seven areas of research: the invention of non-state forms of power and their relations to the state, war, representation and legitimacy, the relationships between religion and politics, globalisation, and the rise of ‘subpolitics’, NGOs and the local.     

Umweltgerechtigkeit als Forschungsparadigma der Soziologie

This paper discusses Environmental Justice to be a probably new area of research for environmental sociology. In order to reveal the complex structure of Environmental Justice related discourses and to promote more research on that topic, an analytical framework is elaborated, based on a distinction between the US-American experiences and recent European debates. Environmental Justice is understood here as a mutual process of negotiating conflicts of interests rather than a fixed state. Several “decision spots” will be carved out, which have to be considered in environmental-political regulations which are challenged by perceptions of social justice. The analytical framework will finally be illustrated by the empirical example of the new airport for Berlin, “Berlin-Brandenburg International”.     

Die Wahl der Soziologie als Studienfach

Sociology is one of the fields of study with the highest dropout rates. How can this be explained? Using data on students of sociology at the University of Bamberg, the authors examine three aspects of the decision making process for this subject: (1) the information gathering strategy of prospective studens, (2) the timing aspect of the decision process, and (3) the consideration of labour market issues. Based on rational choice theory, it is shown that on the one hand the problems erst upon the subject itself, since sociology is not enough professionalized and still not clear-cut enough towards specific occupational fields. On the other hand, the information gathering process of prospective students is often insufficient and there is too little consideration of the labour market aspects of the subject. Finally, the decision is often hastily made, which is also caused by the fact that for many students of sociology this subjectwas not their “first choice”.     

Forschungsrating der deutschen Soziologie durch den Wissenschaftsrat

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Partnerwahl und Wertewandel —

The rapid change, which happened in the last decades in developed industrialized societies, is described by Ronald Inglehart (1977, 1989 and 1998) as an evolution from a materialistic a postmaterialistic dimension. Values with materialistic preferences related to periods of existential insecurity change to such with post-materialistic preferences related to periods of existential security in which living seems to be natural and in which post-materialistic values gain more importance. This study investigates whether a similar shift of values can be observed, from a materialistic to a post-materialistic dimension of values, in the area of personal partnerships, specifically concerning the partner selection. To test this assumption a new measuring tool based upon the Inglehart-Index has been developed which allowed recording the data of 525 persons for a cross sectional analysis. The results principally confirm the hypothesis that the preferences in the partner selection have changed from materialistic to post-materialistic values. The results clearly demonstrate as well that the level of education has a significant influence on partner selection preferences.     

Altersstruktur und Karrierewege der Professorinnen und Professoren in der deutschen Soziologie

The personnel structure on the professorial level is relevant under aspects of both labor-market research and sociology of knowledge. On the basis of a current internet-based data collection of age and career characteristics of the present professors at departments of sociology at German universities, the paper describes cohort composition, qualification process and regional mobility of academic sociologists. Individual-level data allows for the analysis of simple correlations as well as cohort analyses. Age distribution is clearly unequal, even among young East German faculty members. The analysis of characteristics of the different qualification stages shows that this period is rather extended and how hard it is to enter a tenured position. Mobility is higher during the qualification period then after obtaining full professorship. There is a great homogeneity among professors of sociology with respect to age, sex, native country and qualification process. The results suggest that a more foresighted personnel policy and promotion of young sociologists seems necessary and that future studies on the dynamics of research, the development of themes and on scientific productivity in the field are needed.     

Partnerwahl als konsensuelle Entscheidung

This study continues our analyses of contacting behavior in online dating (KZfSS 2/2009). As the beginning and continuation of a relationship is based on consensual decisions of both partners to interact, we concentrate on the question if and how potential partners indeed reply to contact offers. Data from online dating platforms therefore offer a unique opportunity for sociologists to study how partnerships are initiated and how they develop over time. This contribution provides four important empirical results: Firstly, it demonstrates that only 20% of all first contact offers are answered. This is a surprisingly small proportion. Secondly, it supports the hypothesis of homophily. According to this hypothesis, people with similar education, age and physical attractiveness should prefer each other and thus are more likely to form couples. Third, it shows that women still have severe problems to reply to contact offers from lower educated men, while men are already less reluctant to reply to higher educated women. Thus, the rarity of couples where women are higher educated than their partners are to a large proportion the consequence of women’s preferences rather than men’s preferences. Finally, our study does not find any support for the trade-off hypothesis, indicating that women do not exchange their physical attractiveness for men’s educational resources, and vice versa.     

Choice-Experimente und die Messung von Handlungsentscheidungen in der Soziologie

In survey-based choice experiments respondents choose from various alternative options (for actions) the most preferable one. By systematically varying attributes of the options it is possible to determine their influence on the stated choices. This enables a more direct testing of causal relations than it is possible with ??usual?? survey data. In contrast to the similar design of factorial surveys the method corresponds better with action and decision theories and a high external validity is already shown. In the paper on hand, choice experiments are introduced in their main features (theoretical foundation, design, data collection and analysis) and discussed in comparison to factorial surveys. The aim is to deliver practical tips and thereby motivate increased applications in sociology.