The mobility problem in Britain: new findings from the analysis of birth cohort data

Social mobility is now a matter of greater political concern in Britain than at any time previously. However, the data available for the determination of mobility trends are less adequate today than two or three decades ago. It is widely believed in political and in media circles that social mobility is in decline. But the evidence so far available from sociological research, focused on intergenerational class mobility, is not supportive of this view. We present results based on a newly‐constructed dataset covering four birth cohorts that provides improved data for the study of trends in class mobility and that also allows analyses to move from the twentieth into the twenty‐first century. These results confirm that there has been no decline in mobility, whether considered in absolute or relative terms. In the case of women, there is in fact evidence of mobility increasing. However, the better quality and extended range of our data enable us to identify other ‘mobility problems’ than the supposed decline. Among the members of successive cohorts, the experience of absolute upward mobility is becoming less common and that of absolute downward mobility more common; and class‐linked inequalities in relative chances of mobility and immobility appear wider than previously thought.     

Intergenerational Exchanges of Middle‐Aged Adults With Their Parents and Parents‐In‐Law in Korea

The authors investigated patterns of support exchanges between Korean adult children and their parents and parents‐in‐law, gender differences in these patterns, and implications of children's marital quality for exchange patterns. Data were from a nationally representative sample of married adults (N = 920, age 30–59 years) with at least 1 living parent and 1 living parent‐in‐law. Latent class analysis was applied to 12 indicators of exchanges (financial, instrumental, emotional support given to and received from parents and parents‐in‐law). Five classes of exchanges were identified, 3 showing balanced patterns of exchanges with parents and parents‐in‐law across three types of support and 2 classes with unbalanced patterns (e.g., giving instrumental and financial but not emotional support). The findings revealed variability in intergenerational exchange patterns, with a mix of patrilineal traditional and balanced patterns. Significant associations of exchange patterns with adult children's marital quality suggest the importance of balanced exchanges with parents for marriage.     

Respectability,morality and disgust in the night‐time economy: exploring reactions to ‘lap dance’ clubs in England and Wales

The night‐time economy is often described as repelling consumers fearful of the ‘undesirable Others’ imagined dominant within such time‐spaces. In this paper we explore this by describing attitudes towards, and reactions to, one particularly contentious site: the ‘lap dance’ club. Often targeted by campaigners in England and Wales as a source of criminality and anti‐sociality, in this paper we shift the focus from fear to disgust, and argue that Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEVs) are opposed on the basis of moral judgments that reflect distinctions of both class and gender. Drawing on documentary analysis, survey results and interview data collected during guided walks, we detail the concerns voiced by those anxious about the presence of lap dance or striptease clubs in their town or city, particularly the notion that they ‘lower the tone’ of particular streets or neighbourhoods. Our conclusion is that the opposition expressed to lap dance clubs is part of an attempt to police the boundaries of respectable masculinities and femininities, marginalizing the producers and consumers of sexual entertainment through ‘speech acts’ which identify such entertainment as unruly, vulgar and uncivilized. These findings are considered in the light of ongoing debates concerning the relations of morality, respectability and disgust.     

‘A ondi queras’: Ranchero identity construction by U.S. born Mexicans on Facebook

This study describes how transnational second‐generation Mexican bilinguals use a stigmatized variety of Mexican Spanish to communicate on Facebook and construct an identity. The stereotyped features of this variety index a ranchero identity. Historically, ranchero is an ambivalent identity for Mexican society in general. On the one hand, ranchero culture is a positive reminiscence of Mexico's agrarian past, while on the other, rancheros, along with indigenous Mexicans, are at the bottom of the hierarchy in Mexican society. A discourse‐centered, ethnographic analysis of digitally mediated conversations demonstrates how language use allows participants to reminisce about their collective past, maintain Mexican identities tied to their ancestors, fit their identities to contemporary U.S. Mexican culture, and distance themselves from the stigma associated with the ranchero background.     

The problem of social generations: a critique of the new emerging orthodoxy in youth studies

Over the previous seven years the application of a social generation paradigm or ‘theory’ has gained increasing currency as a method in analysing young people's relationship with the life course. Whilst not a new concept or approach its resurgence and reconfiguration to ‘new’ times has seen some writers positioning it as a ‘new orthodoxy’ or ‘consensus’ within youth studies. In this it is seen as providing a conceptual framework that better helps us understand the complexity of circumstances and conditions that shape youth identities in late modern society. In this paper we examine and explore the underlying assumptions and claims that are made by those advocating the social generational paradigm, raising questions and seeking further clarification on a number of key themes. We accept youth studies needs to move beyond ‘old models’ that define and understand social context as a simply a tension between ‘structure or/and agency’ or as a ‘flavour’ to social action. To conclude therefore we propose the need to have an approach that is ecological and both accepts ‘social change’ and ‘continuity’ as critical parts of the life course, one that recognises the nature and influence of power and social reproduction, especially for different social classes, in shaping the experience of being young.     

Model Selection Information Criteria in Latent Class Models with Missing Data and Contingency Question

Latent class analysis (LCA) has been found to have important applications in social and behavioral sciences for modeling categorical response variables, and nonresponse is typical when collecting data. In this study, the nonresponse mainly included “contingency questions” and real “missing data.” The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of some potential factors on model selection indices in LCA with nonresponse data.

We simulated missing data with contingency questions and evaluated the accuracy rates of eight information criteria for selecting the correct models. The results showed that the main factors are latent class proportions, conditional probabilities, sample size, the number of items, the missing data rate, and the contingency data rate. Interactions of the conditional probabilities with class proportions, sample size, and the number of items are also significant. From our simulation results, the impact of missing data and contingency questions can be amended by increasing the sample size or the number of items.     

学习“七一”讲话精神 实践“三个代表”思想

本文紧密结合江泽民同志“七一”重要讲话精神,运用政治组织结构理论,分析了“三个代表”的超越式代表特征,并从理论、实践上论述了工人阶级的先进性与“三个代表”中的先进性的关系,认为“三个代表”真正全面地实现要求我们党在执政过程中必须坚持阶级先进性,这是实现“三个代表”的惟一党性基础和根据;最后作者从分析社会民主党现象入手,提出在当前市场经济带来的多元环境条件下党要重视大群众基础,并论证了党增强阶级基础与扩大群众基础的对立统一关系。     

《建筑力学》课的教学探索

本文作者从自身从事《建筑力学》课的教学实践出发 ,就加强学生基础知识 ,培养学生实践能力 ,合理调整课程内容结构 ,激励学生创造性思维等方面进行了较为系统、深入的阐述     

论破窗理论对高校班级管理的启示

班级管理在大学教育中的作用十分重要。从破窗理论出发,明确了班级环境在班级建设与发展中的重要地位,论述了班级中潜抑力量与压抑力量转化的意义,在此基础上进一步提出,要从加强日常管理、形成良性反馈机制、处理好突发事件三个方面预防“破窗现象”,并针对破窗理论的运用提出了建议。     

杨晦、周扬与文学理论教材建设——胡经之先生访谈录

在举办北大文学理论研究班的过程中,苏联专家向中国的大学教师传授了意识形态、经济基础和上层建筑的理论,强调了文学的党性、阶级性、思想性、人民性、社会主义现实主义,及一些文学技巧,促进了中国的马克思主义文艺理论的传播和发展,但也有脱离文学实践的局限;<文学概论>吸取了当时的学术成果,把理论奠基在认识论上,强调文学与政治、社会、阶级的联系,但它把反映论等同于认识论,排斥了体验、情感和理想,还过于政治化,缺乏对文学审美的把握,这些局限有人为的原因,也有当时社会条件的限制;杨晦提出的关于文学与社会关系的观点很有价值,他也对中国古代文学思想史的研究和文学批评做出了贡献;用扬亲自在北大开设了马克思主义文艺理论讲座,支持学生编写<毛泽东文艺思想概论>,增编<马克思主义与文艺>,他强调文学为政治服务,同时认识到审美的重要性.