Sociological Analyses Confront Fashionable Racial Fallacies

Sociological Forum -     

Of Polls, Mountains: U.S. Journalists and Their Use of Election Surveys

Polls are a prominent feature of U.S. election news coverage.Although polls are used to explain voter opinion, they are employedmostly to fuel horse-race coverage and to craft images consistentwith the candidates’ positions in the race. Moreover,U.S. journalists sometimes misinterpret polls by slighting thepossibility that changes in candidate preference are the resultof survey error rather than real change. On balance, U.S. journalists’dependence on polls adversely affects the quality of Americanelection coverage.     

Discovering what children think: connections between research and practice

Summary This paper is concerned with children's involvement in decisionsand with what happens when adults communicate with childrento discover their thoughts and feelings. It is based on a studyof the participation of children aged between 8 and 12 in decisionswhen they are looked after by local authorities. The paper brieflydescribes the research and its main findings, before going onto describe aspects of the methodology in more detail. Thisleads to a discussion of the relationship between the methodsused in the research and those used in the social work practicethat was in part the subject of the research. The paper arguesthat, both in research and in practice, a commitment to involvingchildren in decision making must go with a determination tofind methods of communication that enable children to demonstratetheir competence.     

A Tale of Political Trust in American Cities

This study performs a multilevel analysis of public trust inlocal government. We develop and test competing hypotheses aboutthe contextual and individual-level sources of local politicaltrust. The results show that citizens’ trust in localgovernment is shaped not only by individual-level factors butalso by city-level factors such as income inequality, ideologicalpolarization, political institutions, racial fractionalization,and size of population. Cross-level analysis further indicatesthat the effects of race on local political trust are conditionedby cities’ systems of political representation.     

The Concept of Consciousness

Considered here is the last one of the six basic concepts of consciousness that The Oxford English Dictionary identifies in its several entries under consciousness . The referent of the sixth concept, which I call "consciousness₆", is rightly understood to be a certain general operating mode of the mind. Any psychological account of consciousness₆ must distinguish this operating mode from (a) the "particular consciousness or awarenesses", i.e., the specific thoughts, feelings, perceptions, intentions, and the like (including William James's succession of total states of consciousness), that occur while the mind is so operating, and from (b) the other, alternative, general operating modes of the mind: such as those that are sometimes in force in place of consciousness₆, when one is awake.     

Gordon Willard Allport: A Tribute

In tribute to Gordon Allport, this article discusses four interrelated topics. First, Allport's life at Harvard is briefly described. Next three interwoven features of his work are advanced to explain why his contributions to psychology are both unique and lasting. (1) His work offered a broadly eclectic balance of the many sides of psychology. (2) He repeatedly demonstrated the ability to formulate the discipline's central problems for the future and to propose innovative approaches to them. And (3) Allport's entire scholarly work presents a consistent, seamless and forceful perspective. These three points are then applied to his classic work The Nature of Prejudice. Though it was his most explicit attempt to influence public opinion, this famous volume also is balanced, ahead of its time, and elegantly written. It has organized the study of prejudice over the last half century. The article concludes with an explanation in personal terms for why those who knew him remember him so warmly 30 long years after his death.     

The Development of a Physician Vitality Program: A Brief Report

We describe the development of an innovative program to support physician vitality. We provide the context and process of program delivery which includes a number of experimental support programs. We discuss a model for intervention and methods used to enhance physician resilience, support work‐life balance, and change the culture to one that explicitly addresses the physician's biopsychosocial‐spiritual needs. Recommendations are given for marriage and family therapists (MFTs) who wish to develop similar support programs for healthcare providers. Video Abstract