The Replication Problem in Sociology: A Report and a Suggestion*

The deleterious effects of joint bias in favor of statistical inference and against replication are becoming well known. The acceptance of numerous Type I errors into the literature is by far the most serious of these. Data on the contents of three major journals support the contention that a joint bias for statistical significance tests, for rejections, and against replication exists in modern sociology. This finding replicates that of Sterling (1959) for psychology. A speculative analysis of the dynamics of publication decisions suggests that a compact format for reporting replications might make their publication more attractive to editors, and thus increase their frequency in the literature. A possible format for briefly reporting replication studies is suggested.     

The Theoretical Frame of Symbolic Interactions: A Contextualist,Social Science*

Symbolic interactionism is differentiated from conventional “natural science” approaches as an exemplification of pure “social science.” This alternative philosophy of science is described and contrasted with mechanistic natural science along lines set forth by Pepper and recently elaborated by Sarbin: it is a contextualist mode of science concerned with the qualitative analysis of human conduct in interpersonal situations. Validity is assessed by qualitative confirmation—does it fit? and is it useful?—not by reference to a causal theory of truth. Symbolic interactionism represents an acausal science independent of the categories and presumptions of mechanistic natural science, which is logically and practically adequate in its own right.     

Participation in Athletics and Academic Achievement: A Replication and Extension*

Accumulating research based upon cross-sectional designs has shown relationships between involvement in athletics and academic achievement and aspiration. These results have been interpreted as contrary to Coleman's early conclusion that athletics diverted talent from academic programs. However, more recent study of this relationship in five metropolitan high schools seriously questions the causal interpretation of the effects of high school athletics upon academic achievement. Athletes have higher GPAs at the end of their high school career than at the start, but they do not gain as much as nonathletes over the years of high school, thus experiencing a relative decline in achievement. These results replicate an earlier study in twenty Wisconsin high schools. These similar results obtained in schools separated in time and space support Coleman's original view of the effect of athletics.     

Symbolic Interactionism and Psychoanalysis: Some Convergences,Divergences, and Complementarities*

In spite of a number of fundamental contrasts between the assumptions and methodologies of symbolic interactionist and psychoanalytic theories of social interaction in general and socialization in particular, the two perspectives embrace several common interpretations of human action. Moreover, many of the divergences can be appreciated as complementing, rather than contradicting, each other. Some of the more important convergences and complementarities, as well as unresolved differences, are noted and briefly treated under four broad rubrics: (1) human nature and human habitat; (2) the nature and stages of socialization; (3) the structure and functions of personality; and (4) the nature of social relationships. The points of synthesis implied by the complementarities between the two perspectives do not necessarily lead to eclecticism. On the other hand, such syntheses can enhance the analytical power of each perspective.     

The Labor Supply of Female Heads of Household: Comparisons With Male Heads and Wives*

This paper compares a model of labor supply for female heads of household, male heads, and wives. Not only have female-headed households increased significantly as a proportion of all households in recent years, but these households are also more likely to be in poverty than are other households. Yet, the determinants of labor supply for this increasingly important demographic group still are largely unknown. Analyses are performed on a sample of employed female and male heads and wives from the 1976 Survey of Income and Education. We examine the effects of wages, unearned income, number of children, and several other variables on hours worked per year, allowing for race interactions. We find that female heads and wives are similar in the effects of wages on their labor supply, while female and male heads are similar in the positive effect of children. We conclude that although financial need, as evidenced by low wages and children, increases female heads’labor supply, employment in more advantaged, non-female dominated jobs and core industries is needed to promote their full participation in the labor force.     

Cultural Contradictions and Sex Roles Revisited: a Replication and a Reassessment*

The Komarovsky-Wallin thesis of women's pretending inferiority in dating situations was replicated (287 women) and is challenged. Questions are raised as to the appropriate collapsing of categories of responses and the incidence of pretended inferiority in relation to number of dates. Data from a comparison sample of men (318 men) are also presented. Evidence does not sustain the belief of women's pretensions of inferiority.     

The Identification of Leadership in Two Texas Communities: A Replication of the Bonjean Technique

The Bonjean reputational technique of identifying community leaders is employed in two small Texas communities differing vastly in demographic and economic characteristics. The rankings of leaders revealed a highly visible power structure in both communities with few concealed leaders (those ranked higher by key influentials than by lower-ranking influentials) and few symbolic leaders (the opposite ranking pattern). High visibility in vastly dissimilar towns is discussed in terms of (low) magni-complexity (Bonjean) and preponderantly horizontal linkages (Warren) found in small communities; this suggests that the Bonjean technique is a more valuable instrument in larger communities.     

World View and Abortion Beliefs: A Replication of Luker's Implicit Hypothesis*

According to Kristin Luker, at the heart of an individual person's beliefs concerning abortion lies a cherished, taçit, and essentially coherent world view. While Luker used the in-depth interview as a way to explore this otherwise unexamined phenomenon, this study attempts to replicate and analyze her implied theory by using a statistical methodology. By drawing on several variables found in 1990 General Social Survey data, Luker's conception of world view is operationalized in the data through both a linear regression model and a factor analysis model and compared with respondents’views on abortion. Both models are found to support Luker's hypothesis, as a clear association between world view and abortion beliefs is established.     

Language and the Self: An Expanded View from a Symbolic Interactionist Perspective*

Language and the self are two of the most important elements in Mead's account of human development and action. Despite the importance of language and the self to symbolic interactionism, little attention has been devoted to exploring their interrelationhip, either theoretically or empirically. Some reasons for this neglect are suggested. By merging Mead's view of language and the self with a functional linguistic perspective new possibilities are displayed for expanding our understanding of this relationship. These are developed by considering the: a) ontogenetic, b) categorical, c) expressive, d) performative, and e) transformative aspects of the interrelationship between language and the self.     

Yankee City and the Bicentennial: Warner's Study of Symbolic Activity in a Contemporary Setting*

The social-anthropological studies of “Yankee City” by W. Lloyd Warner are reconsidered, with concentration on his taxonomy of symbolic activities. Several of Warner's central analytic foci are reviewed and applied to a modern context. The American Revolution Bicentennial is characterized as a societal-level symbolic observance, directly analogous to civil ceremonies in Yankee City. Three major themes from Warner's studies of that community's symbolic life—types of symbolism, socializational effects of symbolism, and rhetorical persuasion—are analyzed with regard to the Bicentennial observance. Illustrative data provide some conceptual and empirical support for the generalizability of Warner's taxonomy to other civil religious phenomena.     

Religious Communities,Immigration, and Social Cohesion in Rural Areas: Evidence from England*

Religious communities are important sources of bridging and bonding social capital that have varying implications for perceptions of social cohesion in rural areas. In particular, as well as cultivating cohesiveness more broadly, the bridging social capital associated within mainline religious communities may represent an especially important source of support for the social integration of new immigrant groups. Although the bonding social capital associated with evangelical communities is arguably less conducive to wider social cohesion, it may prompt outreach work by those communities, which can enhance immigrant integration. This article examines these assumptions by exploring the relationship between mainline and evangelical religious communities, immigration, and residents' perceptions of social cohesion in rural areas in England. I model the separate and combined effects of religious communities and economic in‐migration on social cohesion using multivariate statistical techniques. The analysis suggests that mainline Protestant communities enhance social cohesion in rural England, while evangelical communities do not. The social integration of immigrants appears to be more likely where mainline Protestant and Catholic communities are strong, but is unaffected by the strength of evangelical ones.     

At the Crossroads: Newfoundland and Labrador Communities in a Changing International Context*

Le présent article porte sur les villages côtiers de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador et l'évolution de leur rapport avec le monde extérieur. L'auteur examine trois périodes distinctes. Après un bref survol de la nature changeante des études communautaires, la premiere partie résume les traits distinctifs de ces sociétés côtières: l'économie axée sur le commerce de la morue sechee, la faible densité du peuplement, le caractére intime de la vie sociale et l'importance de la tradition orale. Dans le sillage de la Crise de 1929, la Seconde Guerre mondiale eut des conséquences marquantes pour Terre-Neuve et le Labrador: la deuxième partie fait état du rôle des habitants côtiers dans la construction de bases militaires pendant le conflit ainsi que des conséquences inattendues des avantages matériels de l'union avec le Canada en 1949, du repeuplement du territoire et de l'intensification de la pêche. La troisième partie se penche sur l'émigration croissante et sur les efforts déployés pour diversifier l'économie de la province, phénomènes provoqués par le moratoire de la pêche décrété en 1992. Les sociétés côtières sont désormais confrontées a l'incertitude, comme le sont les spécialistes qui en font l'étude. This essay examines the changing relationship between the small communities (outports) of Newfoundland and Labrador and the broader international context. The essay covers three time periods. Following a brief discussion of the changing nature of community studies, the first part outlines the essential characteristics of historic communities, including the salt cod fish trade, a dispersed settlement pattern, small-scale and intimate society, and the importance of oral tradition. Falling as it did on the heels of the Great Depression, World War II irrevocably changed Newfoundland and Labrador. Part two describes the role of outport people in the construction of wartime military bases. Soon after, the material benefits of Newfoundland's Confederation with Canada in 1949, resettlement, and the intensification of the fishery led to unexpected consequences. Part three discusses Newfoundland and Labrador in the wake of the 1992 Cod Moratorium. The Moratorium has increased emigration and accelerated efforts to diversify the economy. Outport communities, and the academic study of them, are both at an uncertain crossroads.     

Meatpacking and the Transformation of Rural Communities: A Comparison of Brooks,Alberta and Garden City,Kansas*

Abstract North America's meatpackers have relied upon immigrants to staff their plants from the earliest days of the industry in the late nineteenth century when packinghouses were located in urban areas adjacent to stockyards. A hundred years later the industry remains dependent on an immigrant labor force, but now most of its plants are located in rural areas. This means rural communities are transformed with the arrival of immigrants to staff their plants. But Canada and the United States have different immigration policies, which means they draw upon different immigrant sources. Canada favors the recruitment of highly skilled labor while the United States emphasizes family reunification. This paper examines whether this difference affects the labor force composition of a Canadian and U.S. meatpacking plant, and the associated transformation of the plants' host communities.     

The Social Networks of Leaders in More or Less Viable Communities Six Years Later: A Research Note1

Abstract Using 1995 data, this study re-examines the social networks of leaders in five more and less viable rural communities in Missouri which were originally studied in 1989 (O'Brien et al. 1991; O'Brien and Hassinger 1992). In the six year period between the 1989 and 1995 surveys, four of the five communities were impacted by major events, including the introduction of corporate hog production in two places and flooding in two others. However, despite these events, there is a high degree of continuity in the relative viability scores of the five places in the two surveys. Leaders in more viable places continue to work with a larger number of fellow leaders and to be more involved in community development organizations than their counterparts in less viable places. These findings show the importance of social capital for rural community viability.     

Growth,Decline, Stability,and Disruption: A Longitudinal Analysis of Social Well‐Being in Four Western Rural Communities*

Abstract During the 1970s and 1980s, social scientists focused considerable attention on patterns of community change in boomtowns affected by large‐scale energy resource development in the western United States. The resulting literature has provided inconsistent and relatively inconclusive evidence about the extent of various forms of social disruption caused by the rapid economic and demographic changes associated with such developments. In particular, because of a lack of in‐depth longitudinal research, little is known about the degree to which social problems observed during rapid growth periods in such locations may persist after the boom. This research addresses some of those questions through a longitudinal examination of various dimensions of social well‐being in four western rural communities. Community surveys conducted four times across a 13‐year span provide data on patterns of change for 10 distinct indicators of social well‐being. Results show that although social disruptions occur in several dimensions of well‐being during boom periods, not all dimensions appear to be affected by such growth. Also, when boom‐induced declines in well‐being occur, they are consistently followed by a sharp rebound, with no evidence of lasting disruption.     

Grunig's Situational Theory: A Replication,Application, and Extension

Grunig's situational theory segments publics from a larger population based on the activeness or passiveness of communication behavior. This study found support for the Grunig model in a survey conducted during the 1990 governor's race in Kansas. The variables of the theory—problem recognition, level of involvement, and constraint recognition—accurately predicted different levels of communication activity about the election. The theory also predicted the outcomes of communication successfully. In contrast to previous studies using the situational theory, this study found a strong relationship between the situational variables and standard demographic characteristics of age, education, and income—thus suggesting the possibility of using segmentation procedures that include both situational variables and media demographics. Finally, the article suggests that the situational theory could be enhanced by including an energy variable—specifically Hull-Spence's behavior equation—and a media use variable.     

Fashion,Postmodernity and Personal Appearance: A Symbolic Interactionist Formulation

A theoretical explanation of fashion change is offered, drawing upon symbolic-interactionist insights on fashion and appearance, and developing macro-micro connections between cultural ambivalence and the negotiation of meaning as inspired by symbolic ambiguity in appearances. The postmodern condition, connected with advanced capitalism, spawns cultural ambivalence and a plethora of clothing styles that emerge, in part, to clarify and lend expression to ambivalence. A broad variety of clothing styles, however, coupled with tendencies toward production of self, contribute to a high degree of ambiguity in individually constructed appearances, the meaning of which must then be collectively negotiated in social interaction. Failure of clothing styles to resolve cultural ambivalence results in fashion change in an ongoing dialectic.