From Conflict Theory to Conflict Methodology: An Emerging Paradigm for Sociology*

A brief paradigmatic history of American sociology is presented. Conflict methodology is defined and exemplified. It is held to be an essential adjunct to a complete conflict paradigm. A conflict paradigm is relevant to sociological analyses in Eastern and Western Countries in view of the proliferation and power and of the large scale organization.     

THE IMPACT OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING ON PUBLIC OPINION AND POLICYMAKING TARGETING TOXIC WASTE

This article reports the fourth in a continuing series of casestudies that explore the impact of news media investigativejournalism on the general public, policymakers, and public policy.The media disclosures in this field experiment had limited effectson the general public but were influential in changing the attitudesof policymakers. The study describes how changes in public policymakingresulted from collaboration between journalists and governmentofficials. The authors develop a model that is a beginning steptoward specifying the cond6itions under which media investigationsinfluence public attitudes and agendas.     

A LABORATORY STUDY OF DUOPOLY PRICE COMPETITION WITH PATIENT BUYERS

This article reports a duopoly experiment in which sellers compete to sell to a potentially patient buyer. Each period sellers simultaneously post prices and the buyer costlessly observes either one or both prices. The buyer can then either accept an observed price or reject all offers. Following a rejection, sellers may have an opportunity to post prices again in another round. We study how the duopolists' pricing behavior responds to changes in the likelihood of the buyer observing multiple prices, γ, and the probability of continuing to another round, δ. The unique stationary equilibrium features mixed strategies. Consistent with the equilibrium, observed prices are decreasing in γ and δ. Contrary to the equilibrium, however, buyers sometimes reject profitable price offers, and average prices are lower than predicted when only one round of offers is possible and higher than predicted in the multiple‐round game. (JEL D43, D83, L13)     

Fertility transition in a rural,Catholic population: Bavaria, 1880–1910

The decline of human fertility that occurred in Europe and North America in the nineteenth century, and elsewhere in the twentieth, remains a topic of debate largely because there is no accepted explanation for the event. This paper uses district-level data from Bavaria to study the correlates of the decline of fertility in that German kingdom in the nineteenth century. Bavaria's fertility transition was later and less dramatic than in other parts of Germany. Our results for Bavaria indicate that the European Fertility Project was right about the role of religion and secularization, but missed an important role for the economic and structural effects stressed by economic historians.     

ROBUSTNESS OF BIDDER PREFERENCES AMONG AUCTION INSTITUTIONS

In previous work, we found that bidders strongly prefer the ascending to the first‐price sealed‐bid auction on a ceteris paribus basis, but perhaps surprisingly, they are not willing to pay up to an entry price for the ascending auction that would equalize the profits. Risk aversion was proposed as an explanation. In this study, we examine two alternative explanations for the observed behavior: loss aversion and aversion to the dynamic bidding process. We find that neither alternative explanation can account for bidders’ auction choice behavior, leaving risk aversion as the only unfalsified hypothesis. (JEL C91, D44)     

Autism, Empathy and Questions of Moral Agency

In moral psychology, it has long been argued that empathy is a necessary capacity of both properly developing moral agents and developed moral agency ( Blair, 2008 ; Hume et al., 1978 ). This view stands in tension with the belief that some individuals diagnosed with autism—which is typically characterized as a deficiency in social reciprocity (including empathy)—are moral agents. In this paper we propose to explore this tension and perhaps trouble how we commonly see those with autism. To make this task manageable, we will consider whether high functioning individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder are capable of empathetic responses. If they are, then they possess a capacity that, on the view above, is required for moral agency. If they are not so capable, and yet sometimes engage in moral behaviour, this casts some doubt on the claim that empathy is required for moral agency. This second possibility will necessitate an exploration of the capacity of some individuals with autism to engage in moral behaviour, giving us further grounds to re-see these individuals as moral agents.     

The Abduction of Credibility: A Reply to John Paley

Correspondence to Liz Kelly, Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, Ladbroke House, 62-66 Highbury Grove, London, N5 2AD Summary This response takes issue with John Paley's paper ‘SatanistAbuse and Alien Abduction’ (this issue) in a number ofareas: his definition of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA); the parallelshe draws between SRA and alien abduction; his assertions thatthere is no evidence of SRA and that accounts of SRA can beviewed as urban legends; and his ‘temporal lobe connection’conclusion.