Word: sociologist
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...practices. And research suggests that making alcohol illegal may give it an illicit thrill for younger drinkers. "By setting a high drinking age, what we have inadvertently done is say that drinking is an adult activity, and that makes it especially appealing to younger people," says David Hanson, a sociologist who specializes in alcohol abuse and education. Fraternity parties are famous for drinking games that make a sport of quick and excessive consumption. Bars in college neighborhoods pull in students with all-you-can-drink policies--$6.50 for as much beer as a customer can hold--that make binge drinking...
...comes a scientific study that frames the issue in larger societal terms. Writing in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University of New Hampshire sociologist Murray Straus and his colleagues report that "when parents use corporal punishment to reduce [antisocial behavior], the long-term effect tends to be the opposite." Not only that--the authors suggest that if you spare the rod, you will help reduce the overall level of violence in American society...
...Would I prefer a world in which there was less divorce?" asks Larry Bumpass, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin. "The answer is an obvious yes. Do I think that it is a realistic policy objective? The answer is no." He contends that the antidivorce movement isn't a genuine movement at all but a think tank-inspired pseudoissue. He points to the role being played by organizations like the Institute for American Values and its offshoot, the Council on Families. "They have a very explicit objective of getting these issues on the national-policy debate. I can tell...
...ball bouncing: Does the high divorce rate reflect a massive cop-out by increasingly self-indulgent individuals, or is it based in vast social forces such as the economic independence of women? It's a question that can't be answered with statistics, though certain experts try. According to sociologist Bumpass, "There have been fluctuations around the trend line, but the overall dynamic that has given rise to increased divorce has deep historical roots." He takes a lofty, long view and tends to speak in ivory-tower mouthfuls, such as "the underlying individualism of modern industrial-market society." Which...
...their higher echelons, a case-hardened if amiable professionalism. A primary reason for the church's business triumphs, says University of Washington sociologist Stark, is that it has no career clerics, only amateurs who have been plucked for service from successful endeavors in other fields. (In fact, there is no ordained clergy whatsoever: the term priest applies to all males over age 12 in good standing in the church, and "bishops," while supervising congregations, are part-time lay leaders.) Religious observers point out that this creates a vacuum of theological talent in a church with a lot of unusual theology...