Rationality and Freedom: Weber and Beyond*

In the tradition of German social thought from Kant and Hegel through Toennies and Simmel, the development of rationality in modern Europe is associated with an increase of human freedom. Weber's work departs from that tradition by providing an incomparably differentiated framework for the analysis of rationality and by associating modern European rationalization with a curtailment of freedom. More careful examination of Weber's oeuvre, however, indicates that he, too, connected rationalization with the growth of freedom in many respects. His amended argument remains valuable today, although ways in which it stands to be improved by incorporating subsequent analyses are suggested.     

Treatment of psychogenic seizures in adolescents

This article will review the problem of psychogenic seizures in adolescents and the impact of family therapy and individual therapy on treatment. Why particular individuals are prone to psychogenic seizures, the relationship between psychogenic seizures and family dynamics, and unresolved individual issues will be covered. The article will address a selected case, with a specific clinical paradigm for treatment.     

ERRORS IN OUTPUT DEFLATORS REVISITED: UNIT VALUES AND THE PRODUCER PRICE INDEX

Output prices are mismeasured because of inadequate adjustments for changes in product quality. Thus, when quality improves, inflation will be systematically over-stated. In this study, I find that the most commonly used indicator of the rate of inflation, the Producer Price Index, misses about 40 percent of the change in quality. However, I also find that the mismeasurement of output prices is constant over time, implying that errors of measurement are not a significant determinant of either the slowdown or recent acceleration in manufacturing productivity.     

The Social Psychology of Robert E. Park: Human Nature,Self, Personality and Social Structure

Robert E. Park is widely recognized today for his contributions to urban sociology, race relations and collective behavior but his social psychology has been largely neglected. Park's inclusive and loose framework covered his interest in: (1) human nature and the bio-physiological instincts which for him were raw materials of personality; (2) formulation of self concept as an organization of roles; and (3) micro-macro linkages between individual and social structure. Each one of Park's three themes is still important for symbolic interaction theory and offers insights into contemporary investigations of emotions, role acquisition and identity.     

Assessing the impact of planned social change

It is a special characteristic of all modern societies that we consciously decide on and plan projects designed to improve our social systems. It is our universal predicament that our projects do not always have their intended effects. Very probably we all share in the experience that often we cannot tell whether the project had any impact at all, so complex is the flux of historical changes that would have been going on anyway, and so many are the other projects that might be expected to modify the same indicators.It seems inevitable that in most countries this common set of problems, combined with the obvious relevance of social science research procedures, will have generated a methodology and methodological specialists focused on the problem of assessing the impact of planned social change. It is an assumption if this paper that, in spite of differences in the forms of government and approaches to social planning and problem-solving, much of this methodology can be usefully shared — that social project evaluation methodology is one of the fields of science that has enough universality to make scientific sharing mutually beneficial. As a part of this sharing, this paper reports on program impact assessment methodology as it is developing in the United States today.