Stanford Sociology Technical Reports and Working Papers, 1961-1993

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http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/154268

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Browsing Stanford Sociology Technical Reports and Working Papers, 1961-1993 by Author "Cohen, Bernard P"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Distributive Justice: A Status Value Formulation
    (2015-07-29) Berger, Joseph; Zelditch, Morris Jr; Anderson, Bo; Cohen, Bernard P
    The authors present a theory of distributive justice, feelings that a distribution of benefits and burdens to particular individuals is right and proper. They distinguish local systems and referential structures, and the theory predicts that perceived justice obtains when relations in the local system reflect relations in the referential structure.
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    Eliminating the Effects of a Status Characteristic
    (2015-08-12) Freese, Lee; Cohen, Bernard P
    The authors propose a theory in which status generalization from a diffuse status characteristic such as age, race or gender can be eliminated by introducing contradictory information about a specific status characteristic such as task ability. They conducted an experimental test of the theory and found confirmation. The conclusions here differ from results of other experiments in which all status information combined and none was eliminated (including Technical Report #32 and Technical Report #35), and from the aggregation function proposed in the developing theory of status characteristics and expectation states (Berger et al. 1974; 1977).
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    Interdisciplinary Research Teams as Status Systems
    (2015-08-15) Kruse, Ronald J; Anbar, Michael; Burns, Sarah E; Cohen, Bernard P
    Research teams may be studied as social systems organized along dimensions of status, such as rights to evaluate others and to allocate rewards. “Status consistency” is the degree to which salient statuses an individual possesses are at the same level; “status ambiguity” occurs when ranks are unknown or unclear. Relevant dimensions of status are those both within a team and in the larger society, such as gender and ethnicity. Both status inconsistency and status ambiguity interfere with communication, and that reduces team efficiency.
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    Stability of Organizational Status Structures
    (2015-07-14) Zelditch, Morris Jr; Berger, Joseph; Cohen, Bernard P
    The authors develop theoretical foundation for ideas in earlier technical reports and elsewhere on status consistency, focusing on effects for organizations. When inconsistent ranks of individuals and jobs become salient, organizational stability is weakened.
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    Status and Conflict: A Sociological Perspective on the Urban Race Problem
    (2015-07-26) Cohen, Bernard P
    Cohen’s intention here is to show how certain general principles of sociological theory can explain certain historical aspects of interracial behavior. Writing for a general, as distinct from a sociological, audience, Cohen analyzes effects of status and expectations in mixed-race interaction and shows how the theory can be used to overcome undesirable outcomes. At the time of this TR, the U.S. Civil Rights movements and many instances of violent repression and collective action were common news topics.
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    Status Characteristics and Social Interaction
    (2015-08-10) Berger, Joseph; Cohen, Bernard P; Zelditch, Morris Jr
    The authors review literature on effects of status differences on interaction and formulate general principles of status generalization to explain them. Next they conduct direct tests of the explanation in an experimental study of 180 Air Force Sergeants in the standard experimental situation developed by Berger (Berger 2007). Sergeants paired with a commissioned officer formed low self-expectations and Sergeants paired with an Airman formed high self-expectations, as predicted.
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    Status Conditions of Self Evaluation
    (2015-07-28) Berger, Joseph; Zeldtich, Morris Jr; Anderson, Bo; Cohen, Bernard P
    The authors develop a theory of structural and interactional factors involved in processes by which evaluations from others can affect one’s self-evaluation. The theory defines an effective “source” of evaluations, and presents balance models of the process. Many of the ideas in this Technical Report were later developed in Webster and Sobieszek (1974).
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    Threats to the Promise of Synergy in Interdisciplinary Reearch
    (2015-08-15) Kruse, Ronald J; Anbar, Michael; Cohen, Bernard P
    The authors analyze structures and processes in multidisciplinary teams to identify factors that lead to synergistic outcomes from those that do not. They use the analysis to describe settings most likely to produce synergistic outcomes. Generally, situations that foster interaction and exchange of ideas are most appropriate to develop synergy, but several structural and interaction factors—including bureaucratic organization of work, reward systems, status inconsistency and status ambiguity.
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    The Use of Closed Circuit Television in Expectation Experiments
    (2015-07-29) Cohen, Bernard P; Kiker, Joan E; Kruse, Ronald J
    The authors present an early description and discussion of the uses of TV systems in social science experiments. They compare two experiments, one conducted live and the other with TV, showing a few minor differences in measured outcomes, but they conclude overall that the benefits of TV designs outweigh problem of comparability.