Theory Trimming

This paper attempts to show that the “Theory Trimming” technique makes little contribution to theory in sociology. A brief history of the technique is given, and several key assertions of its proponents are abstracted. These assertions are shown to be highly questionable. The general alternative to Theory Trimming is shown, and the relationship between Theory Trimming and more general orientations to research is discussed.     

Strategies of interaction

Our general theoretical orientation proposes that individuals in a task-oriented group setting have a variety of strategies or rules by which they decide how to organize their exchange behavior. Status consistency, reciprocity, and sex roles are examined as possible bases for interpersonal strategies. Hypotheses derived from this examination are tested in a two-person game experiment, in which independent variables are payoff matrix (mixed motive vs. cooperative), information transfer (one-way vs. two-way), and social context (married couples, mixed sex strangers, and same sex strangers). The dependent variables are number of cooperative choices and reciprocity, the latter being measured by the correlation between number of cooperative choices by one subject in a five-trial block and the number of cooperative choices by his/her partner in the previous five-trial block.     

Determinants of the timing of adult role entry

A growing body of research indicates that the timing of entry into adult roles has long-term consequences for individuals and society. At present, little is known about determinants of the timing of adult role entry. Based on data from a 15-year follow-up study of high school students originally surveyed in 1957–1958 and resurveyed in 1973–1974, this paper examines and compares the processes by which the ages at entry into the labor force, entry into marriage, and entry into parenthood are determined. The timing of adult role entry is hypothesized to be a function of (1) the duration of time spent in transitional roles, (2) the availability of the opportunity to enter an adult role, and (3) an individual's orientation to an adult role. Evidence supporting this conceptualization is presented for both sexes.     

Components of change in the number of female family heads ages 15 to 44, an update and reanalysis: United States, 1940 to 1983

We review the literature dealing with the various components of change in the number of female family heads and conclude that P. Cutright's (1974, Journal of Marriage and the Family 36, 714–721) four components of change in the number of ever-married female family heads can be usefully applied to a reanalysis of decade-by-decade changes in this quantity among white and nonwhite women ages 15–44, from 1940 through 1980. However, we substantially revise and update Cutright's (1974) original data. Our findings include the fact that while the relative importance of the various components of increases in ever-married female family headship vary from decade to decade, overall trends are fairly similar for white and nonwhite women. Moreover, the rapid rise between 1970 and 1980 in the number of white and nonwhite female family heads among the never-married (single) continued through the 1980 to 1983 period. A decade ago, Cutright (1974) predicted that a change in the number of female family heads from 1970 on would reflect little more than changes in the numbers of ever- and never-married women ages 15–44. We discuss this inaccurate prediction and conclude that wishful thinking is a poor guide in forecasting the future.     

Inequality of educational opportunity in France and the United States

Unequality of educational opportunity is related to school structure. Comparison of the attainment process in France and the United States reveals the consequences of structure for individuals' attainments. Turner's (1960) typology of educational systems is applied. The French educational system is shown to be closer to Turner's “sponsorship system,” and that of the U. S. closer to the “contest” type. Inequality of educational opportunity, as indicated by the effect of father's occupational status on years of schooling completed, is greater in France than in the U. S. The difference is accounted for by school structural variables, indicating the importance of structure for inequality of opportunity. Other differences concerning the causes of educational attainment in France and the U. S. are also discussed.     

Population growth and the birth squeeze

Birth squeezes result from an imbalance in the number of males and females in the childbearing ages, and can have a significant impact on the level and distribution of births. To measure the effects of a birth squeeze, the observed male and female age-specific birth rates were distinguished from the underlying fertility magnitudes, which reflect the mutual propensity of males and females of specified ages to have a child. The fertility magnitudes, readily expressible in terms of the birth rates, are nonetheless independent of the age-sex composition of the population, while the birth rates are affected by compositional changes. The two-sex Total Fertility Rate, TFR2, the average of the male and female TFRs, is advanced as a summary measure of fertility independent of the birth squeeze, and a simple index, U, is defined to measure the severity of the squeeze. Analyses involving stable population models, alternative population projections, and the birth squeezes found in contemporary populations documented the importance of the birth squeeze for studies of fertility. In particular, the size of the distortions introduced by the birth squeeze was seen as related to the level of fertility itself. In high-fertility populations, the birth squeeze depresses observed female age-specific birth rates, and thus conventional measures can significantly underestimate the fertility reduction needed to end population growth.     

Interorganizational resource networks: Formal patterns of overlap

In this paper, we analyze an interorganizational resource network involving three resources—information, money, and support-and a broad range of 73 organizations in a medium size American community. Mutuality is strongest for information flows, and weakest for money flows. “Multiplex” patternings—flows of two media in the same direction—are found for all three pairs of resources, while “exchange” effects—flows of two media in opposite directions—involving information and money, and information and support, but not money and support, are also indicated. Moreover, the tendencies toward symmetry in the information and support networks are accentuated in the presence of one another. The analysis suggests that information flows play a crucial role in conditioning the flows of the other resources, and that they may be a precondition to the establishment of more elaborate interorganizational networks.     

Some considerations concerning the functional form of earnings

The problem of choosing the correct functional form of earnings has plagued studies of social inequality and labor market segmentation. Although this choice has often been made on superficial grounds, the results presented in the current paper demonstrate that this choice has very significant implications for the empirical findings that emerge from the study of earnings determination. Four functional forms of earnings are compared: dollar earnings, earnings rank based on social perceptions as calibrated by P. Coleman and L. Rainwater (1978, Social Standing in America, Basic Books, New York) the natural logarithm of earnings, and the best-fitting power function transformation of earnings as estimated by the Box-Cox technique. Evaluation of a generalized earnings determination model on a sample of private sector employees produces very similar results across these four functional forms of earnings. More divergent results are obtained when the models are compared across subsamples based on class, economic sector, and gender. Significant contrasts between earnings coefficients across groups are much more likely when utilizing log earnings or the Box-Cox power transformation than when using either dollar earnings or perceived earnings. In addition, the contrasts observed for log earnings and Box-Cox earnings are frequently in the opposite direction of those observed for dollar earnings or perceived earnings. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for theoretical developments in the study of social inequality and labor market segmentation.     

Some models of response uncertainty for panel analysis

Data of L. M. Wiggins from three-wave panels, each with a single dichotomous response, illustrate the use of models with response probabilities that vary over occasions or over individuals, or neither, or both, with a “no interaction” combination of the two being specified for the last case, which can also be derived from the Rasch measurement model. Models more complicated than these, allowing for changes in individual parameters (interaction of occasions and persons) or serial dependence of responses are considered when the Rasch-type model does not adequately describe the data.     

Racial discrimination and the social organization of industries

This study investigates the relationship between several factors of the social organization of labor markets and racial discrimination during the late 1960s. Log-linear models are used to obtain indicators of the relative opportunities of black and white men to obtain different occupations across each of 38 industrial segments. We then examine the nature of the relationship between these indicators of discrimination and a number of aspects of industries suggested to be important by various theories of discrimination. The results indicate that relative black opportunities were favorably influenced by government employment, industrial and white collar (but not craft) unionization, and product market power, and they were adversely influenced by profitability and customer preferences for nonretail sales workers. Of particular interest is the finding that, contrary to the hypothesis derived from neoclassical economics, market power had a positive effect on black opportunities.     

Equality of endogamy: Statistical approaches

In research on assimilation through marriage or defining racial groups as castes or classes, it is important to be able to test the equality of endogamy of groups of differing sizes and sex ratios. A variety of proposed solutions all have major difficulties. Log-linear models constitute an improvement but still retain some undesirable properties, including an inability to deal with both the linear and quadratic dimensions of the relationship between group size and endogamy levels by focusing on one to the exclusion of the other. Moreover, in the context of studies of comparative analysis of racial groups it is handicapped by providing inconsistent results for uncollapsed categories when other groups are combined.We recommend instead the weighted least-squares methodology both to test for statistical significance of differences in endogamy and to rank racial or ethnic groups according to their degree of endogamy. This method incorporates both the linear and quadratic components influencing the diagonal frequencies in marriage studies. Linear effects (see Table 2) are stronger when endogamy is high, and quadratic effects (see Table 3) are stronger when endogamy is low, although in general both are present together. Furthermore, this approach permits separate calculation of endogamy levels by sex and provides a test to ascertain when separate statistics should be computed. It is relatively free from biases in terms of the amount of “extra credit” given smaller groups, and is invariant when categories are combined. Conditional kappa values can be utilized to judge whether a racial group was relatively closed or open (compared to other groups) and to analyze the impact of the structural characteristics of group size and sex ratio on endogamy.In one area log-linear models retain an advantage over GSK-based analyses. The former have been employed to examine patterns of intermarriage via the quasi-symmetry, quasi-independence, and other tests based on off-diagonal elements. So far no comparable method has appeared for analyzing the intermarriage or exogamy behavior using GSK. Applications of log-linear models have been less successful in dealing with endogamy or inmarriage patterns.The comparison of degrees of endogamy by the GSK approach is based on direct measurement of endogamy by racial groups, allowing for calculation of standard error figures for each group's endogamy value. The ability of the GSK method to accomplish the above—as well as provide kappas which are invariant under group collapsing, tests of equal endogamy (by sex if necessary), and a test of marginal homogeneity—may be unique.Our recommendation is that in future discussions, involving comparisons of endogamy among several populations, conditional kappas and their standard errors at the very least should be presented. The distinction between male-oriented, female-oriented, and balanced conditional kappas, as well as the use of formal tests of endogamy, homogeneity, and marginal homogeneity permits examination of important population issues. The broad applicability of these techniques derives from their provision of a basis for comparing endogamy levels, since they produce consistent results for unaggregated data regardless of how minor or intermediate groups are combined. Such analyses are fundamental for gaining a more basic insight as to whether social and cultural factors, legal discrimination, or the basic structural elements of group size and sex ratio have greater influence on assimilation or the degree of closure in racial groups in the Americas.     

Recursive models for categorical data

Standard methods for recursive models with continuous endogenous variables are extended to models with categorical endogenous variables. The concept of a reduced-form equation is generalized in a natural way to cover nonlinear regression functions and, in particular, models with categorical endogenous variables. Maximum-likelihood estimation and asymptotic chi-square tests are described. Two numerical examples are presented: a linear recursive two-equation model for all-categorical data, and a combined linear and logit three-equation recursive model with both categorical and continuous endogenous variables. Limitations of the present work and directions for further extension are noted.     

A dynamic macro social indicator model of changes in marriage, family, and population in the United States: 1947–1974

This paper presents an integrated 21-equation model of how marriage, family, and population conditions, as indexed by macro social indicators, affect each other and are affected by other social, demographic, and economic forces. An opportunity structures theoretical paradigm is applied to the specification of dynamic structural equations for determining changes (both trends and cyclical fluctuations) in marriage formation and dissolution, family and household composition, fertility, mortality, population growth, and population distribution. The equations are estimated on annual national data for the United States during the post-World War II years 1947 to 1972, and then they are used to make conditional forecasts of the values of some of the endogenous variables for 1973 and 1974. It is found that the equations fit the observed data well, lack demonstrable autocorrelation of disturbances, and forecast the 1973 and 1974 values usually with less than 2% error. Strategies are sketched for further refining some of the equations, and it is suggested that this model should be integrated into a larger societal model in order to estimate some of the effects of changes in demographic phenomena on other social conditions.     

Organizational boundaries and upward job shifts

Recent research has examined the role of organizations in the stratification system and the functioning of stratification systems in organizations. In this analysis, we examine the implications of organizational boundaries for upward job changes within and across organizations. To perform our analysis, we utilize a nonstationary, modified Markov model that allows consideration of individual and job heterogeneity. The data are life histories of a sample of U.S. males between the ages of 30 and 39. Our results indicate that organizational boundaries create two kinds of resources: (1) general resources, and (2) organization-specific resources. General resources have a positive effect on upward movement within and across organizational boundaries. Organization-specific resources have a positive effect on upward movement within organizational boundaries, and a negative effect on upward movement across organizational boundaries—a situation of great benefit to organizations.     

A multivariate analysis of response structure: Race attitudes, 1972–1977

A particular kind of latent class model is used to characterize the unobservable variable measured by six discrete indicators of racial stance in 1972 and 1977. Methods recently introduced by Clogg and Goodman, 1982, Clogg and Goodman, 1983) for the simultaneous latent structure analysis of two multidimensional contingency tables are employed in across-year homogeneity tests on the latent class proportions. Trends in multivariate response patterns over the 5-year interval are then examined by cross-classifying the predicted latent variable with selected demographic characteristics of respondents in each year. The results indicate that (1) no significant changes in the distribution of the latent variable occurred over the 5-year time period, and (2) the status of certain demographic variables as predictors of racial stance fluctuated between the two survey years.     

Durkheim and pierce on suicide and economic change

This paper is an attempt to build upon Pierce's important finding, a confirmation of Durkheim, that any form of economic disruption or change increases suicide. In this paper, certain aspects of Pierce's method are criticized. The analysis of an expanded and updated data set, using analytic techniques designed for time-series data, suggests that economic disruption per se is not as relevant to the suicide rate as are economic hardship and economic deterioration or improvement.     

Relation contents in multiple networks

Distinctions among kinds of relations (friendship, advice, intimacy, and so on) are typically ad hoc in empirical research. These ad hoc distinctions among relation contents can be expected to increase the likelihood of equivocal research conclusions. We develop three ideas indicating how standard, well-known, network models of relationship form can be used to clarify relationship content. (a) We begin with an idea for recovering the semantic context in which a relation content occurs. This context is cast as a network of tendencies for contents to be confused for one another and the form of this network—dissected with network models of relation form—holds insights into the ways in which relation contents are understood in a study population. (b) The network concept of structural equivalence is used to define content domains composed of specific relation contents that are substitutable for one another in described relationships. (c) The network concept of network prominence is used to define the ambiguity of contents in described relationships. The proposed perspective is analogous to a linguistic componential analysis of relation content.