关于社会的研究是一门科学吗?

一、引言关于社会科学,一个主要的方法论问题是,究竟它们是不是科学.不能说这个问题已经完全清楚,也不能说对此可以作出直接、简单的回答.我认为,社会科学的成功与失败、社会科学知识的性质及其作用,这些问题的解决最终取决于对认识自然的模式和认识社会的模式之比较.而那些想把心理学、政治学、经济学、地理学和历史学置于"科学"基础之上的人,却总以为自己在研究社会事件的过程中应用了与研究自然事件相     

中国的社会学研究及老龄问题

对于社会学和人类学在中国的地位,我们应该结合建国以来影响高等教育和研究的一系列国家政策来加以认识.在建立新的教育体系方面,中国人曾十分信赖苏联人.按照苏联的说法,在马克思主义的国家里没有必要设置诸如社会学、人类学,特别是社会文化人类学这样的资产阶级课程.社会学和社会人类学在中国被作为"禁区"达二十七年之久.研究这些经历对社会学家所产生的影响是很有意义的.因为不仅有个人受挫折的一面,还潜在着积极的一面.     

文化、意识形态和媒介社会

文化与政治的关系常常是人们激烈争论的对象.今天,正在进行的资本主义的调整(正如人们所说的危机)明显导致了两方面的重大变化.首先是在人与劳动和人与闲暇时间之间出现了一种新关系;其次是人们将大量资本用于一个新出现的领域:预示着一种多媒介的、全球性的工业正在崛起.今天,对于一个20岁的失业青年来说,什么是"资产阶级文化"??根据一般常识,即指懂得并爱好美术,知识面较广,既掌握书本知识,又掌握从     

Average life expectancy of the population of the USSR

Mortality trends in the USSR from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present day are analyzed, with a focus on changes in life expectancy. The authors note that life expectancy increased up to 1964-1965, declined subsequently, and stabilized during the 1980s. Life expectancy has again started to rise since 1985. More detailed analyses of mortality differentials by sex and age and for the rural and urban populations are included. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

New information from the State Committee on Statistics of the USSR

Selected data concerning the USSR are presented. They concern vital statistics by republic for 1989 for rural and urban areas, birth order, life expectancy by sex, and population change and vital statistics for cities with a population over one million.     

Taikongs and Calos: the role of middlemen and brokers in Javanese international migration

"This article discusses international migration from Java in the past and present and the role brokers have played in stimulating this movement. It describes legal and clandestine labor migration to Singapore, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia, the influence of employment brokers on the process, and the organization of the recruitment networks. The involvement of brokers is crucial but not always beneficial for the migrants. Migrants are dependent on the brokers and risk exploitation. In the case of movement to Saudi Arabia, there is a linkage with religious institutions and the Islamic pilgrimage."     

The mandate for investigational cancer therapies

The heated national health care reform debate of the summer of 1993 has now simmered down, but pieces of the debate are still percolating along at the state level. Within the past year, numerous states have introduced bills that would mandate insurance coverage for investigational cancer therapies--in particular high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant for breast cancer. The problem with these initiatives, well-intended though they may be, is that they threaten to spread unproven technologies at a rapid rate and at the same time miss the opportunity to collect data that would prove the safety and effectiveness of the methods. The author explores these issues and suggests how managed care companies can play a more aggressive role in parrying the threat.     

A hospital protocol to resolve complaints against staff physicians

Complaints of discrimination or harassment in the workplace have become almost commonplace in recent years, increasing in both frequency and variety. In the hospital setting, this trend is manifested in allegations against members of the medical staff by hospital employees as well as by patients or their families. Whether real or fancied, such allegations are reflective of a potentially disruptive undercurrent of organizational tensions. Left unresolved, they can erode the essential partnership between staff physicians and other members of the health care delivery team. Unsatisfactory patient experiences may also damage the reputation of the institution and thereby undermine its viability. With either group of complainants, allegations of malfeasance that are not resolved at the source in a timely manner are far more likely to result in expensive, time-consuming, and potentially damaging litigation.