Response from a policymakers' perspective

The case in point (Tellado, 1984) needs to be defined in terms of a client for the research. The research may also have implications for early intervention to mitigate the problems uncovered in the case study. An important element in the development of problem-solving skills may be linguistic skills. Further research about this variable seems warranted.     

Future patterns of support for sociology

An organization like the Consortium operates not only as a watch-dog over current problems in Washington and as one voice in communicating priorities, but as a monitor of long-term trends in the federal/university relationship, the relationship of social and behavioral science to other science, and the general reputation of these fields. The marked improvement of the research situation from about 1950 to 1970 in part reflected a better regard for social science research, but was primarily part of a general increase in science and university support. A reversal for these fields began about 1970. It has affected fundamental and applied research, and the perceived utility of research in the conduct of government. University-based researchers should not view relative deprivation as attack, but should work to improve gradually the entire system of research, teaching, and communication with the broader public. The author is executive director of a Washington-based organization dedicated to representing the interests of the social science research community through lobbying and educational programs directed at federal policymakers. Trained as a biobehavioral scientist, Jenness was formerly executive associate of the Social Science Research Council.     

The behavior of the battered child: A behavioral deficiency syndrome resulting from developmental interferences and reactive learning

Behavioral observation of battered children reveals a generalized syndrome consisting of apathy, social isolation, emotional constriction, aggression, and intellectual, motor and language retardation. This syndrome is considered to be a ‘behavioral deficiency syndrome.’ Developmental interference imposed by abusive parents upon the child, and subsequent reactive learning by the child are discussed as etiological factors in the development of this syndrome. Implication of these etiological factors for therapy of the abusive family are also discussed.     

Partner effects in social interaction

A person's behavior during social interaction is due not only to the person's dispositional characteristics but is also determined by his or her social partner. If a person consistently elicits the same behavior from others, the person has apartner effect. Partner effects in affect, cognition, and behavior are examined. Partner effects in behavior are presumed to be caused by partner effects in affect and cognition. A social relations analysis of data from six studies which meet rather strict methodological criteria suggests that partner effects are present in affect and cognition but are fairly weak. Further, partner effects are hardly evident at all on behavioral observations of friendliness and dominance, but are more evident in nonverbal behavior, especially gaze. The low level of partner effects is hypothesized to be due to the context in which the research was done, the degree of acquaintance between interaction partners, and the moderating effect of individual differences.This research was supported in part by a grant to the first author from the National Institute of Mental Health, MH 40295-01. We would like to thank Nancy Bernstein who assisted the first author in the collection of data. Also we thank Donald Fiske and Starkey Duncan, Debbie Moskowitz, Joseph Burleson, and Vickie McGillan who very generously provided us with their data. We also wish to thank Ross Buck, Donald Fiske, Judith Hall, William Ickes, Debby Kashy, Lawrence La Voie, and Debbie Moskowitz, who provided us with comments on an earlier version of this article.     

Reflections: Ethnographic content analysis

An ethnographic approach to document analysis is offered based on principles of qualitative data collection and analysis. It is proposed that numeric as well as narrative data be collected when studying such documents as TV new and movies. Ethnographic content analysis is briefly contrasted with conventional modes of quantitative content analysis to illustrate the usefulness of constant comparison for discovering emergent patterns, emphases and themes in an analysis of TV news coverage of the Iranian hostage situation. It is suggested that an ethnographic perspective can help delineate patterns of human action when document analysis is conceptualized as fieldwork.This draft has benefitted from comments and suggestions by Robert Emerson, Shulamit Reinharz, and three anonymous reviewers. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Pacific Sociological Association, Albuquerque, NM, April 17–20, 1985.