Using simulation to develop testable functionalist explanations: a case study of church survival

Many arguments for and against functionalism have revolved around logical and methodological issues, discouraging attempts to develop testable functionalist theories. This paper takes a different approach, arguing that the problem with sociological functionalism is not its logic of explanation but the absence of appropriate techniques for formalizing functionalist theories. The solution presented --agent-based simulation --is illustrated by a case study: a functionalist account of church survival. The case study suggests that there is nothing wrong with the logic of functionalism properly formalized, illustrates how simulation can enable testing of functionalist explanations and suggests why existing sociological methods have not proved fruitful for this task. In the light of new techniques like simulation, the current neglect of functionalism may no longer be justified.     

Parents, Politics and the Public Purse: activists in the special education arena in Germany

Using a 'social interest' approach, this paper details the advocacy strategies of parents of children with disabilities in the Federal Republic of Germany during the 1980s. Parents developed grass-roots organizations beginning in the 1970s in the former West Germany in response to the stigma and isolation of the well-developed system of Sonderschulen (special schools). Parent groups described here include both those with children already in the Sonderschulen working to ensure its promise of special help for their children and those working to bypass the Sonderschule system by establishing model integration programs in the general schools. The collective actions that led to local successes for both these parent advocate approaches are documented, but so, too, are the obstacles the parents encountered in the broader political arena. Politicians continue to cite limited education budgets, especially following the unification of the two Germanys, and they also raise concerns which some parents share: that significant expansion of special educational support into the general schools could undermine the viability of the Sonderschulen . Thus, one political response to the integration movement has been to find places for some children with disabilities in the general schools, but accompanied by only minimal special education support.     

Exact Linear Restrictions on Parameters in the Classical Linear Regression Model

We consider a simple sampling scheme where after each drawing there is a “replacement” whose magnitude is a fixed real number. This gives a unified approach to a family of discrete distributions that includes the hypergeometric, binomial, and Polya distributions as well as their multivariate versions.     

Planning for corporate social programs—Problems and guidelines

There is mounting evidence that one of the principal impediments to the increased social responsiveness of major corporations is the organizational difficulty of incorporating novel social programmes into existing operations. Four empirical studies that support this thesis are summarized and discussed. Then, a set of guidelines are suggested that will provide a useful checklist in planning for the implementation of new socially oriented programmes in large firms.     

Use of Acute Toxicity to Estimate Carcinogenic Risk

Data on the effects of human exposure to carcinogens are limited, so that estimation of the risks of carcinogens must be obtained indirectly. Current risk estimates are generally based on lifetime animal bioassays which are expensive and which take more than two years to complete. We here show how data on acute toxicity can be used to make a preliminary estimate of carcinogenic risk and give an idea of the uncertainty in that risk estimate. The estimates obtained are biased upwards, and so are useful for setting interim standards and determining whether further study is worthwhile. A general scheme which incorporates the use of such estimates is outlined, and it is shown by example how adoption of the procedures suggested could have prevented regulatory hiatus in the past.     

PRODUCTION FLOW CONTROL FOR A MANUFACTURING SYSTEM WITH FLEXIBLE ROUTINGS

We study the dynamic routing problem for a flexible manufacturing system consisting of two unreliable machines and a finite buffer. One product-type is produced which requires two operations in sequence. The demand rate is assumed to be constant. Each machine is capable of performing both operations. The objective is to trace the demand while keeping the work-in-process low and the cycle-time short. An optimal control formulation is established for the dynamic routing problem. A production flow control algorithm is developed based on a combination of mathematical modeling and heuristics. The control policy is simulated and a comparison with the numerical optimal solution shows that it performs well for the instances under consideration.     

Surprised By Love: The Dramatic Structure and Popular Appeal of the Wakefield Second Shepherds' Pageant

The Wakefield Shepherds' Pageant has been one of the most discussed of medieval dramas and deservedly so. Edmund Taft's fresh and insightful essay provides a provocative view o f the play as popular drama, produced by the middle-class and largely for the middle class. The popular appeal of this drama rests in the technique of dramatic surprise, used so effectively by the Wakefield Master to focus on such contemporary social and moral issues as oppression of shepherds, farmers and hired hands, unfeeling masters, unwanted children and marriages of contract only. The shepherds' play, with its powerful spiritual message of love and charity, reflects not only the Church which directed the drama but also the contemporary world of those medieval burghers who produced it.