about 50% of the poor did work, but only some of those would legally be considered unemployed Far0506
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| METHODS | |||||
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An Introduction to Methods | ||||
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Ethnography | ||||
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Field Research | ||||
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The Hawthorne Studies | ||||
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The Hawthorne Effect & Placebos | ||||
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The Case Study | ||||
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The Survey | ||||
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Other Research Instruments in the Social Sciences | ||||
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Units of Analysis | ||||
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The Worker & Labor Force as Units of Analysis | ||||
| THE STUDY OF THE WORKPLACE | |||||
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Unemployment | ||||
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Unemployment Compensation | ||||
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Industrial Economic Systems | ||||
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Industries | ||||
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The Categorization of Industries | ||||
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Lower Level Employees: White-Blue-Collar Divisions | ||||
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Occupations & Occupational Groupings | ||||
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Occupational Prestige | ||||
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Legal Forms of Orgs: Workplaces | ||||
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| - Project: Your Field Research |
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Field research (FR) is the method of social investigation where the researcher observes human behavior as it occurs in natural, "real-life" situations |
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Field research is always either participant or nonparticipant & obtrusive or unobtrusive & thus field research may be participatory-obstrusive, nonparticipatory-unobtrusive, participatory-unobtrusive, or nonparticipatory-obtrusive |
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Participant observation (PO) occurs when the researcher participates in the activities that the subjects are carrying out as if she or he were an actor in the setting |
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In studying the workplace & the worker, the researcher conducting participant observation may, for example, actually becomes a worker for a period of time |
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PO gives the researcher an intimate, everyday familiarity w/ the task, social relationships, setting, etc. |
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Everett C. Hughes & his students at the U of Chicago in the 1950s & 1960s popularized PO w/ studies of medical students, janitor, taxi dancers, & other occupations |
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PO are valuable for the rich detail they provide about the setting, the social relationships, the actors, etc. |
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| The validity & reliability of FR & PO has noteworthy limitations | |||||
| PO can typically study only a limited range of settings | |||||
| It is unlikely that a sociologist observer has the skills or access necessary to participate, even for a short time, in highly technical jobs or top-level mgt. | |||||
| The PO may inadvertently choose an atypical setting or joint a group of actors that is atypical | |||||
| Different observers may view the research sight quite differently because of their different backgrounds, predispositions, areas of research, gender, race, experiences, etc. even though professional methods are designed to limit the impact of the researchers biases | |||||
| Because of the limits of researchers' abilities to participate, many researchers choose non-participatory observation | |||||
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Non-participatory observation (NPO) occurs when the researcher does not participate participates in the activities that the subjects are carrying out, but instead remains separated, aloof, as an outside, independent observer |
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In NPO, a trained researcher does not actually become a part of the work group |
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One famous example of NPO is the study of the Bank Wiring Room in the Western Electric Company Plant in Hawthorne, IL (Roethlisberger & Dickson, 1939, p. 379-408) |
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See Also: The Hawthorne Studies | ||||
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NPO is useful to sociologist who cannot study a job as a participant observer |
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| It would be difficult, for example, for a sociologist to do research as a medical student through PO & thus must utilize NPO methods | |||||
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A NPO as a medical student might accompany students on rounds w/ attending physicians, observe them examine patients, sit in on discussions & oral exams, etc. | ||||
| NPO has the disadvantage that the researcher may have more difficulty winning the confidence of the research subjects because the NPO is recognized as an outsider | |||||
| During NPO, it is also more likely that the research subjects will change their behavior because of the observation they are under-going; i.e., NPO increases the likelihood of the Hawthorne Effect | |||||
| See Also: The Hawthorne Effect | |||||
| Field research may be either overt, i.e. obtrusive, or covert, i.e. unobtrusive | |||||
| During obtrusive observation, the researcher is recognized as a researcher, i.e. the researcher's identity as a research is overt, open, apparent to the subjects | |||||
| The researcher's "cover story" is often that she or he is writing a book | |||||
| The researcher may be disguised as a customer, an inspector, or some other stranger w/ a right to be in the workplace | |||||
| If the researcher is using obtrusive methods, the subjects may exhibit subject reactivity, i.e. may act differently than if the researcher were unobtrusive | |||||
| During unobtrusive observation, the researcher is not recognized as a researcher, i.e. the researcher's identity as a researcher is covert, closed, unapparent to the subjects | |||||
| Unobtrusive researchers are more likely to be able to avoid experimental bias, but the validity of the study is counterbalanced by the ethical issues raised by subterfuge & pretense | |||||
| Unobtrusive researchers may not be able to ask clarifying question, & so their interpretations may be superficial or incorrect | |||||
| Most types of field research require the use of some type of rating rorm | |||||
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A rating form for field research is the form used in field research to organize observations |
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After a sample of observation, a researcher may expect to see particular behaviors w/ some regularity |
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The purpose of a rating rorm is to enhance & ease record keeping |
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Field notes are a journal where unstructured observations are recorded |
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Interpretations should be recorded in a separate section of the field notes or even a separate notebook |
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It is important to examine one's own cultural bias when doing field research because our interpretations are based on our own cultural heritage & may be inaccurate in other cultures & subcultures | ||||
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Going native is the term used to describe a researcher who so identifies w/ the group they are studying that they become biased | ||||
| There is some ethical debate over whether advocating for or against a group is going native or simply strong, ethical behavior | |||||
| Field research is difficult to generalize from | |||||
| Field research may lack external validity | |||||
| Examples of Field Research:
Festinger, Riecken, & Schachter. (1956) cult that predicted a flood Zimbardo (1969) street vandalism Rosenhan (1973) mental hospital |
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| Summary: Elton Mayo headed a research project utilizing non-participatory, obtrusive observation at the Bank Wiring Room in the Western Electric Company Plant in Hawthorne, IL (Roethlisberger & Dickinson, 1939, p. 379-408) & eventually developed the concept, of what is now known as the Hawthorne Effect, & also found that workers are socially motivated as well as economically motivated, & that workers control the pace of the work | |||
| The Hawthorne studies examined many setting including one w/ mostly young women working in a room at the plant wiring, soldering, & inspecting electrical boards in Hawthorne, IL | |||
| An obtrusive (overt) non-participatory observer sat w/ women in the plant for a number of days, watching their work & interactions | |||
| Initially, the observer noticed how the workers joked w/ & teased each other or occasionally helped one another | |||
| The researcher noted that the group's productivity was basically constant, despite company efforts to increase it | |||
| The research project eventually concluded that the small work group had developed an informal norm, as part of their organizational culture, defining an appropriate level of productivity | |||
| See Also: Culture on folkways, mores, norms, laws, etc. | |||
| See Also: Organizational Culture | |||
| The advent of the work-pace norm meant that for social scientists studying the workplace, the concept of the the Economic Person, often called Homo Economus, w/ the concept of the Social Person because the Hawthorne researchers found that the workers sought more from work than just money | |||
| The concept of Homo Socialus opened a whole new phase of workplace analysis whereby researchers, managers, & consultants all started examining workers' social needs & desires rather than just economic motivators | |||
| The Hawthorne Studies created the realization that the work-pace is informally set by workers via social relations of production, that mgt. efforts are secondary, that workers actively resist control were major findings that are still valid today | |||
| The findings of the Hawthorne Studies were found serendipitously through the FOUR phases of the study over several years | |||
| During Phase 1, the researchers noted some inconsistent data | |||
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During Phase 2, the researchers found that productivity increase irregardless of whether illumination was increased or decreased, which lead to the discovery of the concept of the Hawthorne Effect | ||
| See Also: The Hawthorne Effect | |||
| The concept of worker norms on work-pace & the foundational research on organization culture were discovered in the latter stages of the Hawthorne Studies | |||
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During Phase 3, the researchers found that productivity was determined by an individual w/in a group | ||
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Roethlisberger conducted 20,000 interviews & was important at this phase of the research | ||
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During the interviews of the Hawthorne Studies, people tended to give standard, stereotyped answers to direct questions & therefore a nondirect approach was substituted | ||
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During Phase 3, the researchers found that productivity was controlled by the workers, not managers | ||
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In the Hawthorne Studies, in the Bank Wiring Room: | ||
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1. Workers restricted output | ||
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The workers restricted output because: | ||
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a. the workers were afraid of working themselves out of a job | ||
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b. the workers were afraid that if they did work faster, mgt. might raise standards, & then they wouldn't be able to achieve the goal set by mgt. | ||
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c. the low rate protected slow workers | ||
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d. mgt accepted the current rate | ||
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2. Workers treated different mgrs differently in that they had more respect for upper mgt | ||
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3. Workers formed cliques or subgroups such as gamesmen, job-traders, etc. | ||
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4. Roethlisberger & Dickinson concluded that workers formed codes of conduct which held that: | ||
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a. no rate-busters were allowed to turn out too much work | ||
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Contemporary terms for rate-busters are brown-noser, mgt. material, shrimp, slave, speed king, etc. | ||
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b. no chiselers were allowed to turn out too little work | ||
| Contemporary terms for chiselers include slug, ghost, slacker, gold-brick (WW2), etc. | |||
| c. no squealers were allowed to tell a superior anything that will hurt another worker or group | |||
| Contemporary terms for squealers are brown-noser, snitch, rat, fink, snitch, informer, whistle blower, etc. | |||
| d. no stand-off-ish-ness is allowed so that no one, not even an inspector, should maintain social distance or act officiously |
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Summary: The Hawthorne Studies began in 1924 at the Hawthorne Works of the West Electric Co. near Cicero, IL, & were conducted under auspices the National Research Council under the lead researcher, Elton Mayo. The objectives were to examine the effect of illumination on output. After 2.5 yrs. & many experiments, researchers could see no effect because output in both control & experimental groups had increased because the effect of being studied impacted the research subjects. But ultimately the research found that wkrs are socially motivated as well as economically motivated, & that it is the wkrs control the pace of the wk |
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| THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT OCCURS WHEN WKRS REACT TO BEING STUDIED BY PLEASING THE RESEARCHER, & THAT WKRS CONTROL THE PACE OF WORK, & AS CONCERNED W/ SOCIAL AS WELL AS ECON INCENTIVES | |||||
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Reactivity is the tendency of people being studied by social scientists to react to the researcher or to the fact that they are being studied |
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The Hawthorne Effect (HE) is a form of reactivity |
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| In the Hawthorne Studies, the wkrs being studied in the General Electric Hawthorne Plant Motor Wiring Room attempted to please the researchers because they always attempted to please / appease authority figures on the job | |||||
| Many researchers believe the research was affected by patriarchy & gender issues in that all the wkrs were women & all the researchers were men | |||||
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The concept of the Hawthorne Effect, which was developed during the Hawthorne Studies, holds that added social attention to workers will increase their productivity |
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People in some parts of the Hawthorne Studies found that the people being studied attempt to please the researcher |
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THE PLACEBO EFFECT (PE) IS A FORM OF REACTIVITY WHEREBY PEOPLE REACT AS A RESULT OF BEING STUDIED, WHEN IN FACT NOTHING HAS CHANGED |
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A placebo is a false or phony treatment designed to differentiate btwn changes due to real treatment & "imagined" treatment |
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A placebo is a thing or treatment given by researchers that can provide remedy because subjects believe that their condition is being treated |
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The PE is widely known in medical studies because even groups who receive sugar pills instead of medicine often show improvement |
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The HE & the PE are very similar except the HE is often, at some level, consciously chosen whereas the PE is never consciously chosen |
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| THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES AT FIRST FOUND NOTHING & THEN DISCOVERED THE PLACEBO / REACTIVITY OF THE WKRS, THAT THE WKRS CONTROLLED THE PACE OF THE WK, & THAT WKRS ARE SUBJECT TO SOCIAL & ECON FACTORS IN THE WKPLACE | |||||
| At the GE Hawthorne plant, Elton Mayo & team of young male researchers studied effect of change in light level at the Hawthorne motor wire winding plant where the wkrs were mostly young women | |||||
| At first the researchers were confused because productivity increased whenever any change occurred at wkplace, but they eventually discovered that the wkrs controlled the pace of the work & were motivated by social factors & not only econ factors as the classic mgt theory of the era held | |||||
| Because of Mayo's research, the concept of the 'economic person' was replaced by the 'social person' in that people seek more from wk than money | |||||
| One of the most important findings was that the pace of work was set by the wkrs | |||||
| Mayo & other researchers came to the realization that pace is informally set by wkrs via social relations of production; mgt efforts are secondary, wkrs resist | |||||
| Wkrs have labels such as rate buster, shrimp, slave, speed king, brown noser which they give to sanction wkrs who work too fast | |||||
| Wkrs have labels such as slug, ghost, gold-bricker, slacker which they give to sanction wkrs who work too slow | |||||
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During the Hawthorne Studies the HE was serendipitously discovered through dogged research |
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The Hawthorne Studies lasted several years & applied different treatments in different settings |
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One of the dynamics of the study was that the Motor Wiring Room was mostly staffed by young women while the researchers were all young "college men" |
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| THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES WENT THROUGH 4 PHASES WHERE THEY FOUND: 1. INCONSISTENCIES, 2. THE PLACEBO / REACTIVITY EFFECT, 3. PACE SET BY THE WKRS, 4. WKRS WERE SUBJECT TO SOCIAL AS WELL AS ECON CONTROL | |||||
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The focus of the study was an examination of the effect of illumination on the workplace; i.e., what was the optimal level of lighting for factory work |
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The findings of the Hawthorne Studies were found serendipitously through the FOUR phases of the study over several years |
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DURING PHASE 1, THE RESEARCHERS NOTED SOME INCONSISTENT DATA |
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| The Hawthorne studies began in 1924 at Hawthorne Works of the West Electric Co near Cicero, IL | |||||
| The original objectives were to examine effect of illumination on output | |||||
| After 2.5 yrs & many experiments, could see no effect because output in both the control & the exp grps had increased! | |||||
| PHASE 2 WAS A REVISITATION OF THE RESEARCH & THUS THE PLACEBO EFFECT / REACTIVITY OF THE WKRS WAS FOUND | |||||
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During Phase 2, the researchers found that productivity increased regardless of whether illumination was increased or decreased |
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| Productivity increased regardless of environmental changes in wkplace | |||||
| To determine the cause of these changes in output, the researchers isolated small grps of wkrs for close observation | |||||
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The observers, college males in lab coats, observed isolated small groups of workers, who were mostly young women |
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The women were told to ignore the researchers & work at their regular pace |
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The women & the men interacted |
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The researchers wondered if other factors were intervening, so they introduced hot lunches, rest periods, days off, Saturdays work, longer hrs., shorter hrs., high fatigue, etc. |
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When the researchers introduced & controlled various other factors in the workplace, output rose & stayed high! |
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There was no easily identified relationship btwn productivity & changes in the work environment |
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The impact on productivity seemed to lie more w/ social factors than w/ anything else |
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It was through intensive interviews that Roethlisberger discovered that the women were deliberately increasing productivity because of the intense observation, & the nature of the observers, that they were experiencing |
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The Hawthorne Studies revealed that the workers were reacting to being observed & that at some level, this reaction was conscious or deliberate |
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| Ultimately as a result of revisiting the research which originally showed inconsistent data, Mayo found that the wkrs were reacting to being studied; they were doing whatever it took to please the researchers, thus revealing the concept of reactivity / the placebo effect in social research | |||||
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In the later phases of the Hawthorne Studies, it was found that workers develop norms & organizational culture which impact, among other things, work pace |
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| PHASE 3 FOUND THAT OUTPUT WAS DETERMINED BY THE GRP, OR EVEN AN INDIVIDUAL OR INDIVIDUALS W/IN THE GRP | |||||
| Roethlisberger & Mayo conducted 20,000 interviews where they found that people tended to give standard, stereotyped answers to direct questions | |||||
| Because of what he thought were standard answers, Roethlisberger utilized a non direct approach w/ fewer in depth interviews & observation | |||||
| Through in depth interviews & observation, the researchers found that wkrs ( not mgrs ) controlled pace of wk | |||||
| Wkrs at the GE plant controlled output because they:
a. feared wking themselves out of a job b. feared mgt might raise standards & then they wouldn't be able to achieve the goal set by mgt c. could protect low rate / slow wkrs d. realized mgt accepted the current rate |
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| Mayo & Roethlisberger also found that the wkrs treated different mgrs differently | |||||
| The wkrs had more respect for top mgrs & particular mid & lower level mgrs whom they thought were fair or good / effective | |||||
| Mayo & Roethlisberger also found that cliques or subgrps formed in the wkplace including 'games men' & 'job traders' as well as the 'leaders' who informally regulated the wkplace | |||||
| PHASE 4 FOUND THAT WKRS WERE SUBJECT TO SOCIAL FACTORS / INCENTIVES | |||||
| The predominant mgt paradigm at that time held that wkrs were motivated solely by econ factors | |||||
| Roethlisberger & Dickson found that wkrs responded, & created & controlled a variety of non econ or social factors which had as much as or greater effect than the econ factors | |||||
| Social factors that impacted wkrs were the codes of conduct created by the wkrs | |||||
| One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against rate busters who turn out too much work | |||||
| Rate busters today might be called everything from brown noser to the more benevolent 'mgt material' | |||||
| One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against chislers who turn out too little work | |||||
| Chislers today might be called everything from slug to ghost | |||||
| One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against squealers; e.g. those who tell a superior anything that will hurt another wkr or grp | |||||
| One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against stand-off-ish-ness; no one, not even an inspector, should maintain soc distance or act officious | |||||
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| The case study (CS) is a type of field research which examines a site using a combination of personal interviews, analyses of written documents, & observations |
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| The CS attempts to bring in several perspectives to understand a site such as a workplace including, for example, the views of workers, supervisors, customers, suppliers, union leaders, & others |
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| Thus, the CS brings in perspectives from all of the major vantage points w/in the site |
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| A CS is like an ethnography, but larger in scope, using more types of data, & is usually conducted over a longer period of time |
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| In a CS, official documents & personal records of subjects should be examined |
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| CS's frequently examine entire companies or large division w/in companies |
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| The findings & conclusions of CS's emerge from all the material & people that the researcher consults |
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| Action research is a type of a case study whose goal is to provide action initiatives for change w/in the setting as opposed to a simple CS where pure research is the goal |
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| Thus action research is applied research whereas the CS is pure research |
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| Through the use of written documents, the CS provides info about the history of a work site & how existing arrangements come about (Feagin, Orum, & Sjoberg, 1991) |
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| CS examine how orgs identify & solve problems, & the effects of recent change |
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| A CS might examine a before & after situation where the researcher wants to examine the effect of some major change in the workplace |
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| See Also: Evaluation Research | |||||
| The advantage of the CS's method of using multiple sources is that the research can search for agreement & disagreement among the various sources |
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| Cross-checking of sources improves validity & reliability |
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| A lack of agreement among sources does not necessarily indicate a lack of validity & reliability; rather, it may indicate problems, conflict or contradictions among actors w/in the research site |
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| CS's nearly always require the cooperation of central actors w/in the research site in order to gain info, as well as access to the site & other, minor actors |
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| Actors at research sites often insist that published research refer to the site by pseudonym, i.e. a disguised name, & this even if the actors do not insist on this, it is often a good, standard practice | |||||
| Because access is a primary concern for the researcher in any site, & because many sites, such as workplaces often have privacy issues, the researcher must nearly always have the cooperation of one or more top mgrs |
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| In many sites, certain documents, sites, actors are off-limits to the researcher & the researcher must interpret the impact & extent of these omissions on their research | |||||
| For example, some companies are in highly competitive situations, are closely regulated by the govt., have legal privacy requirements, may be under legal investigation by the govt., may be being sued, etc. & thus cannot make all info available to a researcher | |||||
| Orgs in such conflicted settings are often the very orgs that researchers are the most interested in | |||||
| Kanter, 1977, in her book Men & Women of the Corporation, used the CS method & found that secretaries to upper mgt. often experienced praise-addiction in that they were rewarded w/ liberal amounts of praise & were rarely criticized | |||||
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| - Project: Surveying |
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| Surveys are systematic attempts to collect info to describe & explain the beliefs, attitudes, values & behavior of selected groups of people |
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| The Content of a Survey should be constructed in light of all the needs of the Research Project, including the: |
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| - Research Design | |||||||||||||||||
| - Topic |
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| - Thesis |
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| - Types of Analysis |
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| - Literature |
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| - Operationalization |
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| Types of Surveys: |
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| There are FOUR kinds of surveys:
a. questionnaires b. telephone interviews c. panel interviews d. personal interviews |
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| Each of the kinds of surveys affects the data gathering technique | |||||||||||||||||
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The data gathering techniques of surveys include
a. individual self-administered questionnaires b. group self-administered questionnaires c. face-to-face interviews d. telephone surveys |
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| A sample survey surveys only a selected, representative sample of the entire population of possible respondents |
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| An example of a sample survey is the Gallop Poll, who generally surveys about 1,100 people to determine the opinion of the general population of the US, which is 285 mm, on a given topic | |||||||||||||||||
| See Also: Sampling | |||||||||||||||||
| A population survey surveys the entire population of possible respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| An example of a population survey is when the administration of a college surveys the entire student population | |||||||||||||||||
| A cross sectional survey is administered once to a sample of respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| With a cross sectional survey, the same questionnaire may be administered again to a different sample of respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| The repeated use of cross sections is for detecting trends | |||||||||||||||||
| The US Census is an example of a cross sectional survey in that they typically ask the same or similar questions over a period of years or decades | |||||||||||||||||
| A longitudinal survey, which is also known as a panel study, the same or similar survey is given repeatedly over a period of time to the same or similar group of respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| An establishment survey is a survey that has, in effect, been institutionalized because of its widely recognized validity, reliability, & generalizability | |||||||||||||||||
| An example of an establishment survey is the National Organization's Survey which asks a series of standard questions about the characteristics of companies & their employees | |||||||||||||||||
| An example of an establishment survey is the Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI) which asks a series of questions to quantify a person's personality | |||||||||||||||||
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Survey Questions: | ||||||||||||||||
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There are TWO kinds of Survey Questions: |
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| a. Fixed-Response Questions are like multiple-choice exam questions | |||||||||||||||||
| b. In Open Ended Questions, the respondent states or writes an answer to the question in their own words. (Similar to an interview) | |||||||||||||||||
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Avoid loaded questions in surveys. |
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Bias is the effect you get when you have a loaded question |
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In closed ended questions many formats are used, but try & give a clear range of choices ( Likert Scale ) on a 5 or 7 pt scale |
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Example of a Likert scale:
Please mark the answer that most closely matches your belief: I study very hard
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Survey questions may address
any of FOUR tyes of data that may either be fact based (objective)
or belief based (subjective), including
a. Background (demographics) b. Activities c. Knowledge d. Sentiments (opinions, values, attitudes, feelings, etc.) |
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In general, the survey should try & use fact based, objective type questions wherever possible, even on topics that may be subjective in nature | ||||||||||||||||
| Example, in asking people about family values, the survey may ask a question such as: "How many times does your family have meals (include all meals, morning, noon & night) together per week?" | |||||||||||||||||
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A master survey is a special survey in which only the researcher sees which indicates the function of each question |
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The master survey should label each question w/ respect to the: |
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- Types of Data |
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- Thesis |
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- Research Objectives |
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-Variables w/ respect to independent, dependent, & control variables |
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The master survey should group the questions together by independent, dependent, & control variables |
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Make each question count by
- asking, "Is this important to my thesis or hypothesis?" - trying to avoid sentiments - using short statements |
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Question ordering
Start w/ safe questions to try to gain trust, build rapport Put most controversial questions near end End w/ safe questions |
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| The Advantages & Disadvantages of Survey: | |||||||||||||||||
| Compared to an ethnography or a case study, surveys are more easily generalized to the population they were designed to represent | |||||||||||||||||
| By directly questioning respondents, a survey can measure subjective indicators such as job satisfaction | |||||||||||||||||
| Changes in facts & attitudes an be traced & studied if the same question is asked in repeated surveys | |||||||||||||||||
| One problem w/ surveys is selection bias in which only certain types of people respond to a survey | |||||||||||||||||
| Selection bias can be minimized through strong sampling procedures | |||||||||||||||||
| See Also: Sampling | |||||||||||||||||
| One problem w/ surveys is response error in which results when a respondent misunderstands a question or intentionally give an untrue answer | |||||||||||||||||
| Response error can be minimized through strong survey construction | |||||||||||||||||
| See Also: Survey Construction | |||||||||||||||||
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Survey sampling is the process by which you chose who will take the survey | ||||||||||||||||
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- If you compare two or groups of people, survey equal numbers of each |
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- In many cases, a sample of 50 gives one a scientifically valid sample for each variable examined |
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Survey construction discusses the process of creating a survey | ||||||||||||||||
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Survey sampling discusses the issues of acquiring a representative sample | ||||||||||||||||
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Surveys may be pre tested in the pilot study | ||||||||||||||||
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Data collection discusses the process of administering surveys | ||||||||||||||||
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The preparation of the data of the survey goes through THREE
steps
a. Precoding b. Coding c. Construct the Data Matrix |
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| - Introduction: Various research instruments may be used w/ a given type of analysis | ||||||
| The choice of methodology / of the research instrument is where the researcher chooses the data collection tool, such as a survey, experiment, etc. to achieve the research objectives | ||||||
|
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| Several different research instruments can be used to achieve the same research objectives | ||||||
| With the topic, thesis, types of analysis, lit review, objectives & conceptualization understood, the researcher should have a general idea of which data collection method is best suited for the topic | ||||||
| Research design is an iterative process, therefore after the construction of the instrument, the researcher returns to the steps of topic, thesis, types of analysis, lit review, objectives & conceptualization to confirm that the appropriate instrument is being used | ||||||
| The researcher must determine whether the research objectives can be met w/ a single instrument ( survey, interview, observation schedule, etc. ) or whether several are needed | ||||||
| The relationship between types of analysis &
research instruments is that of
is that of questions & How the researcher will determine the answer |
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| The types of analysis & the more detailed research objectives clearly explain what it is the researcher wants to know | ||||||
| The research instruments, such as a survey, will ask questions that directly address the research objectives | ||||||
| Example:
Thesis: Deinstitutionalization is more effective than institutionalization Type of Analysis: Cause & Effect & Comparison Research Objective: Deinstitutionalization causes well-being Survey: Deinstitutionalized clients are generally happy 1 2 3 4 5 Institutionalized clients are generally happy 1 2 3 4 5 |
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| The choice & development of the research instrument must be done in conjunction w/: |
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| - Operationalization | ||||||
| - the development of the strategy for data collection | ||||||
| There are MANY types of research instruments; some of the primary instruments are listed below | ||||||
| - Aggregate Data Analysis | ||||||
| - Case Studies | ||||||
| - Content Analysis | ||||||
| - Ethnography | ||||||
| - Evaluation Research | ||||||
| - Experimental Research | ||||||
| - Human Factors Analysis | ||||||
| - Interviewing | ||||||
| - Observation: Field / Naturalistic or Structured | ||||||
| - Organizational Analysis | ||||||
| - Policy Analysis | ||||||
| The Development of Policy Analysis | ||||||
| - Social Impact Analysis | ||||||
| - Surveys | ||||||
| Survey Construction | ||||||
| Survey Sampling | ||||||
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| Units of Analysis are the what or whom being studied |
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| In social science research, the most typical units of analysis are individual people, groups, orgs, & social artifacts |
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| Other, less often examined types of units of analysis include institutions, cultures, societies, social structures, et al |
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| Some studies make descriptions or explanations pertaining to more than one unit of analysis | ||||||
| In studies using multiple units of analysis, it is important to anticipate what conclusions the researcher wishes to draw w/ regard to what units of analysis | ||||||
| INDIVIDUALS AS UNITS OF ANALYSIS | ||||||
| Individuals are the most typical units of analysis in the social sciences | ||||||
| The norm of generalized understanding in social science suggests that scientific findings are most valuable when applied to all kinds of people |
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| But it must be understood, that unless designed otherwise, i.e. unless the units of analysis are chosen from all people, most studies are generalizable only for a much narrower population of the people w/in a nation, region, city, etc. |
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| Some comparative studies specifically design their study to examine phenomenon across national boundaries |
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| Thus, in most studies the groups whose members may be units of analysis are circumscribed, i.e. are a sub population of the total population |
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| Examples of circumscribed groups whose members may be units of analysis at the individual level include: students, residents, workers, voters, parents, faculty, etc. |
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| Each of these units of analysis implies some circumscribed population; i.e., a sub population |
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| In descriptive studies, the researcher makes observations describing the characteristics of a large number of individual people, such as their sexes, ages, regions or birth, attitudes, etc. |
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| In most studies, the results of examining individual units of analysis are aggregated to describe the general sub population circumscribed by the units of analysis |
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| Descriptive studies having individuals as their units of analysis aim to describe the population that comprises those individuals |
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| Explanatory studies aim to discover the social dynamics operating w/in that population |
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| In explanatory studies, individuals may be examined as the the factors that cause them to act in a particular manner, & then these results are aggregated to explain the behavior of the general population |
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| Individuals, as the units of analysis, may be characterized in terms of their membership in social groupings |
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A research project might examine whether people w/ college educated mothers are more likely to attend college that those with non college educated mothers | |||||
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The individual is the unit of analysis, not mothers or children of mothers because everyone has either a college educated mother or not | |||||
| A research project might examine whether high school grads in rich families are more likely to attend college than those in poor families | ||||||
| The individual is the unit of analysis, not rich or poor families | ||||||
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Each individual unit of analysis implies a circumscribed population that must be delineated in the research design process of operationalization, therefore the units of analysis would include two categories of individuals: rich & poor | |||||
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See Also: Operationalization | |||||
| GROUPS AS UNITS OF ANALYSIS: |
|
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| Social groups themselves may be the units of analysis for social research | ||||||
| Groups as the units of analysis for social research is not the same as studying the individuals w/in a group | ||||||
| In studying a criminal gang in order to learn about gangsters, the individual, the gangster, is the unit of analysis | ||||||
| But in studying all the gangs in a city to learn the differences btwn, for example, big & small gangs, or uptown & downtown gangs, etc., the gang, i.e. the group, is the unit of analysis | ||||||
| Other units of analysis at the group level include: the family, cliques, couples, census blocks, cities, regions | ||||||
| When social groups are the units of analysis, their characteristics may be derived from the characteristics of their individual members | ||||||
| A family might be described in terms of the age, race, or education of its head | ||||||
| Groups & individuals may be characterized in other ways; for instance according to their environments or their membership in larger groupings | ||||||
| Each group unit of analysis implies a circumscribed population that must be delineated in the research design process of operationalization, thus groups may be part of larger groups, i.e. almost all groups are sub groups | ||||||
| ORGANIZATIONS AS UNITS OF ANALYSIS: | ||||||
| Formal organizations, such as corporations, implying the population of all corporations, may be the units of analysis in social research | ||||||
| Organizations are, in many respects, easier to operationalize as units of analysis than informal social groups because the organization itself, or the law often provides clear boundaries | ||||||
| Each group unit of analysis implies a circumscribed population that must be delineated in the research design process of operationalization | ||||||
| At the level of social groups & organizations, the researcher may examine characteristics of individuals or characteristics of the groups & orgs themselves & still use the population of the group or org as the unit of analysis | ||||||
| If the researcher examines characteristics of individuals in a sample of orgs, & then aggregates that info on individuals to compare orgs, then the orgs are the units of analysis | ||||||
| If the researcher examines characteristics of the orgs themselves, such as the income of the org, then the orgs are the units of analysis & individuals are not even looked at | ||||||
| SOCIAL ARTIFACTS AS UNITS OF ANALYSIS: | ||||||
| Social artifacts are the products of social beings or their behavior such as music, homes, cars, ideas, poems, books, paintings, pottery, jokes, scientific discoveries, etc. | ||||||
| Each social artifact implies a population of all such objects | ||||||
| Social interactions are another important class of social artifacts, including most social rituals such as weddings, divorces, parties, church services, etc. | ||||||
| It is important to be clear whether one is studying a social artifact or the individuals who create or use the social artifact; i.e., is the purpose of the research to examine brides or weddings | ||||||
| Other examples of social artifacts include friendships, court cases, traffic accidents, fist fights, ship launchings, airline hijackings, race riots, congressional hearings, etc. | ||||||
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| - Project: Workplace Research |
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| Researchers often study work via ethnographies, case studies, & sample surveys |
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| The unit of analysis may be individual workers, groups of workers, or the formal organizations, i.e. the businesses they work in |
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| Social scientists may study unions, businesses, factories, corporate networks, etc. which are at the organizational, not individual level |
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| The labor force itself is an important unit of analysis in the study of work |
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| The labor force is a collective term for all the workers w/in a country |
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| Workers can be described in terms of their background, or demographics |
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| Ascribed demographic characteristics of workers include gender, race, age, occupation of parents, stage of industrial development in the locale, etc. |
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| Achieved demographic characteristics of workers include education, work experience, skills, work ethic, etc. |
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| If the researcher is looking at social injustices, ascribed demographic characteristics of the workforce are often more important; however, if the researcher is looking at a change or consulting study, achieved demographic characteristics of the workforce are often more important | |||||
| The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the size & composition of the labor force every month by using info from the Current Population Survey (CPS) |
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| The labor force is defined as anyone who is 16 or older who is not institutionalized |
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| In the definition of the labor force, institutionalized individuals include those in prison, a residential hospital, a mental hospital, school, retirees, disabled people, home makers & more |
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| Employed people are those in the labor force who in the previous week who: |
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| a. worked at least one hour for pay or profit |
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| b. worked at least 15 hrs w/o pay in a family business |
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| c. were temporarily not working because os illness, vacation or similar reason |
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Unemployed people are those in the labor force who |
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a. are not employed |
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b. who actively sought work during the four weeks preceding the survey | ||||
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c. who were currently available to take work | ||||
| d. have not been out of work longer than 6 mos. | |||||
| See Also: Unemployment | |||||
| Eligible people who do not fall into either the employed or unemployed categories are termed Not In the Labor Force (NILF) | |||||
| The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is defined as the number of people in the labor force divided by the number of people eligible in it, multiplied by 100 to convert to a percentage | |||||
| LFPR = (LF/All noninstitutionalized persons who are 16 or older) X 100 | |||||
| The LFPR represents the proportion of the eligible population that is economically actively | |||||
| In January of 1994, the LFPR was 58.2% for women, 20 yrs. old & older, & 76.5% for men 20 yrs. old & older | |||||
| In September of 2000, the LFPR was 60.6% for women, 20 yrs. old & older, & 76.5% for men 20 yrs. old & older | |||||
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about 50% of the poor did work, but only some of those would legally be considered unemployed Far0506
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| The most important assistance that unemployed workers receive is from the family (Standing, 1981) |
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| Workers may also be eligible for unemployment compensation, usually from a state govt., but there are also a variety of other programs available |
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| 78 % of workers w/o jobs are covered by unemployment insurance, but far less than that usually have receive it |
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| Unemployment payments usually expire after 26 weeks, but Congress has sometimes lengthened them to 52 weeks because of a severe recession, or some other special circumstance |
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| While unemployment laws vary from state to state, farm workers, personal services workers, part-time workers, workers who have not been employed long, workers who quit voluntarily, & workers who were fired are generally not eligible for unemployment |
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| Thus, at any given time about one of four unemployed workers receives unemployment |
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| Some union contracts also provide supplemental unemployment |
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| If workers are permanently laid off, they may also receive severance pay which is a lump sum payment to help tide the person over until they find new work |
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Workers on unemployment may also be eligible to receive welfare if he, she, or their family are completely destitute |
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In some states unemployment insurance is funded by taxes on firms and workers, and in some states it is funded only by taxes on firms |
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The amount of unemployment benefits a worker receives depends on his or her pay & length of service in their previous job |
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| In 1991, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits amount to about 40 % of the number of the unemployed people (BLS, 1992e) | |||||
| In 1997, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits amount to about 35 % of the number of the unemployed people (US Census, 1999: Table 626) | |||||
| Some types of work such as agricultural labor are not covered by unemployment insurance | |||||
| People who start their first job are generally not eligible for unemployment because they generally do not have enough time in the labor force | |||||
| People who are discouraged workers & re-enter the work force by getting a job are not eligible for unemployment insurance because they generally do not have enough time in the labor force | |||||
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| The Industrial Revolution (IR) is said to have begun in England even though industrial tendencies existed in many countries |
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| The IR spread throughout Europe, North American & eventually to the rest of the world |
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| The Early Industrial Age was characterized by the use of water power, then steam power to power machines in factories |
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| The secondary sector became the most powerful & important |
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| The industrial sector is the result of the development of technology and social organization in the form of bureaucracy, the factory system, the wage system, etc. |
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| During the industrial age tradition became less influential, & rationality, science, technology, education, etc. became more influential |
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| Large scale govts based on legal rational authority replaces the traditional authority of monarchies |
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| See Also: Weber on legal rational authority, traditional authority, charisma | |||||
| Industrialization of the economy produced a surplus unlike the world had ever seen |
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| The industrial production of a surplus resulted in a dramatic long term rise in the standard of living w/in the industrialized countries, though it also created more poor people living at a worse level than under feudalism or other economic systems |
|
||||
| Dickens noted this in the Tale of Two Cities, which begins, "It was the best of times and it was the worst of times..." |
|
||||
| Industrialization made life harder because of the long hours, low wages, & brutal & unsafe working conditions |
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| But w/ the rise of unions, the middle class & a govt. that regulates the functioning of big business people have better diets, more adequate shelter, better health care, & more luxury goods |
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| Because of industrialization, life expectancy has increased dramatically & birth rates have declined dramatically |
|
||||
| Industrialization has resulted in greater social equality than feudalism |
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| Industrialization has created greater equality w/in the system in that there is a middle class, yet there remains a lower class who are very poor |
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Industrialization has created greater inequality btwn nations in that the wealth is concentrated in the industrial nations while non industrialized nations are poorer than ever | ||||
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See Also: Globalization | ||||
| Inequality increased during the Early Industrial Age because unions had not yet gained enough power to resist the exploitation of the Robber Barons of big business | |||||
| The wealthy have retained wealth but allowed a middle class to emerge, which gives a historically high level of prosperity to a significant segment of the population, & thereby avoiding revolutions that might deprive them of their wealth | |||||
| The rise of the middle class is accompanied by declining birth rates & increasing democratization | |||||
| Most social theorists believe that the rise of the middle class, declining birth rates, & democratization are all mutually reinforcing & that the demise of any would be seriously dysfunctional for modern society | |||||
| Though it is too early to be certain, the trend toward greater equality may be reversed in the Post Industrial Age | |||||
| See Also: Post Industrial Age | |||||
| Major industrialized societies of the first world experience few revolutions though many smaller, developing countries do | |||||
| The transition from agricultural to industrial society is often accomplished w/ the blood of revolution & war | |||||
| Farley posits that industrialized nations to to war less often than preindustrialized nation, but notes that industrialized nations have fought WW 1 & 2 which killed more people than all other wars combined, & the cold war resulted in the biggest military build-up the world has ever seen | |||||
| Though it is too early to be certain, it seems democracies rarely go to war w/ democracies; however it is useful to note that pre WW 2 Germany & Italy were democracies that became oligopolies ruled by a single man | |||||
| During the Cold War, the industrialized nations of the US & its allies fought proxy wars w/ the USSR & China & their allies in SE Asia & Africa | |||||
| After 1989 when the Cold War ended, the industrialized nations fought wars w/ partially industrialized nations such as Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. which are largely the result of the collapse of the Cold War world order | |||||
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| LOWER LEVEL EMPLOYEES ( LLE ) ARE PRODUCTION WORKERS, STAFF PERSONNEL, SUPPORT PERSONNEL, CRAFT WORKERS, INDUSTRIAL WORKERS, ETC. | |||||
| Craft workers have a skill & are considered the elite of the workforce | |||||
| Craft workers typically have a community of interest centered on materials, techniques, tools, knowledge | |||||
| In some ways, the concept of the craft worker is archaic in that it included shoemakers, blacksmiths, & other occupations which today are industrialized | |||||
| On the other hand, craft workers today would include any skilled blue collar profession that has not been industrialized, i.e. moved to factory production | |||||
| Examples of contemporary craft workers include electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc. | |||||
| Industrial workers are considered unskilled & historically, as compared to craft workers, were considered second class workers | |||||
| Industrial workers are considered to be a threat to skilled workers | |||||
| The community of interest of the industrial worker is centered on employer, the industry, & not the craft or job | |||||
| Historically, until the CIO in 1955, it was believed that industrial workers could not be organized | |||||
| LLE are typically afforded low status & little or no authority in spite of the fact that they may command considerable education, expertise, & experience | |||||
| LLEs may also be defined in the negative, in that LLE are not management & are usually not professionals | |||||
| However, in some orgs, those w/ no production workers, professionals may be the LLEs | |||||
| WHILE LLE'S GENERALLY HAVE MINIMAL AMTS OF POWER BECAUSE OF THEIR PLACE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ORG STRUCTURE, THEY DO STILL HAVE POWER, & IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES, GREATER AMTS OF POWER | |||||
| Mechanic, 1962, discusses the sources of power of LLEs including, |
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| 1. Expertise |
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| 2. Irreplaceability |
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| 3. Effort & interest |
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| 4. Physical location & position |
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||||
| 5. Removal of power takes time & effort |
|
||||
| 6. Coalitions of LLEs |
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| 7. Work to rule |
|
||||
| 8. Attractiveness
Example: Erin Brokovich, movie: 2000 Why is attractiveness not considered for high level workers? |
|
||||
| Perhaps the most important source of lower level employee's power is the rules; i.e. working to rule |
|
||||
| Crozier, 1964, observed a constant power struggle wherever LLEs held power |
|
||||
| Crozier observed a constant power struggle where maintenance men held power over production workers & supervisors | |||||
| Crozier found that maintenance men held power & production workers & supervisors were under their control | |||||
| Crozier found that production workers try to please maintenance men to keep their work flowing | |||||
| Mouzelis notes in the situation above that the stratification of LLE power is the manipulation of rules to enhance group prerogative & independence from every direct & arbitrary interference from higher ups |
|
||||
| But rules can never regulate everything & eliminate all arbitrariness |
|
||||
| Areas of uncertainty always emerge which are the focal points around which collective conflicts emerge & instances of direct dominance & subordination re-emerge |
|
||||
| In the workplace, any group that can control the unregulated area of the workplace has great power |
|
||||
| Hall sees only the negative side of LLE power, as do most managers, when he notes that the power of LLEs is rare & frustrating |
|
||||
| Secretaries can cause frustration & embarrassment by accident, or due to factors beyond their control, or at their choosing |
|
||||
| Hospital attendants can make Drs. dependent upon them (Scheff, 1961) & some Drs. choose & welcome this assistance while others see it as a problem | |||||
| Wonder notes that LLE are able to amass considerable resources | |||||
| The misunderstanding of many analysts is that they fail to see that traditional methods of LLE control / supervision are alienating & that LLEs combat this through amassing power where they can | |||||
| LLE may often be managed in a similar manner to professionals | |||||
|
|
LLE'S ARE FOUND IN BOTH BLUE & WHITE COLLAR OCCUPATIONS |
|
|||
| See Also: The Great Compromise | |||||
| The simplest & most common classification of occupations is the white collar & blue collar divisions, which while elegant in its simplicity, is increasingly outdated & misleading | |||||
| Blue collar workers, are mostly factory & craft workers, & once did only manual labor, but today they may work in conditions & w/ the pay once attributed only to white collar workers | |||||
| White collar workers, office workers & most professionals, had clean working conditions, that made it possible for them to wear white shirts | |||||
| Once white collar workers earned more than blue collar workers, but today a factory or craft worker my earn more than a clerical or sales worker | |||||
| The white- blue- collar classifications is less useful today because there are now many service workers, some of whose work resembles blue collar jobs, & some whose work is more white collar | |||||
| A cook & a police chief are both service workers, but the cook's occupation resembles a blue collar occupation while the police chief's occupation resembles a white collar occupation | |||||
| The white- blue collar classifications is less useful today because some jobs may appear misclassified when the actual work conditions are considered | |||||
| Technicians are considers white collar workers & many of them are highly educated, but may spend most of their day working w/ machinery, just as blue collar workers do | |||||
| Some factory operatives who are considered blue collar, work in sterile, super clean industrial labs | |||||
| The white- blue- collar classifications is less useful today because it ignores the so called pink collar workers in occupations such as nurses, secretaries, child-care workers that are traditionally filled by women | |||||
| Pink collar jobs often have low pay while having relatively high requirements for education & responsibility, as seen in nursing | |||||
| Nurses are often classified as professionals or semi-professionals, but their pay is not as high as upper level white collar workers |
|
||||
| TEMPORARY WORK IS NEARLY BECOMING THE NORM FOR LLE'S | |||||
| Many jobs created today, including hi tech jobs are lower level jobs & temporary jobs | |||||
| Lower level jobs & temp jobs may be filled by wkrs not directly employed by the firms themselves | |||||
| Hi tech firms employ large numbers ot temp wkrs to help them adjust to the cyclical nature of production | |||||
| Many wkrs are also employed on a sub contracting basis, & conditions for these wkrs are inferior to those of full time wkrs of the parent firm | |||||
| Many higher end jobs have also become more temporary in that many firms are hiring short term wkrs in positions labeled internships, associates, etc. | |||||
| MORE ON TEMP WK & OTHER MARGINAL JOBS IN WO 14: MARGINAL JOBS | |||||
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| An occupation is a cluster of job-related activities constituting a single economic role that is usually directed toward making a living |
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| The category of industry identifies what a worker helps to produce, but occupation identifies the kind of work a worker does |
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| There are several ways to study occupations, ranging from simple dichotomies (white- blue-collar), to the census classification system (CCS), to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, to prestige scales, & socio economic status indicators | |||||
| Some occupations, such as clerical workers, maintenance workers, & mgrs. are found in every industry |
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| Some occupations are heavily concentrated w/in a single industry, such as nurses & doctors in the health-care industry; however, a few nurses & doctors may work in factories, camps, or schools |
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| Some occupations, such as taxi drivers, work entirely in one industry, transportation |
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| See Also: The Categorization of Industries |
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| Occupation refers to the type of work someone does |
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| Major occupational groups are broad categories of occupations used by the Census & other govt. agencies to report job data |
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| Occupations are listed in rough order of skill & prestige from the most prestigious to the least (Census, 1943) |
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| See Also: Prestige or Status | |||||
| Each group of occupations in the major occupations groups used by the Census & other govt. agencies contains a number of more specific occupational codes; for |
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| An example of the specific categorization of occupations used by the Census is the "administrative support" category including secretaries, stenographers, bookkeepers, office machine operators, etc. | |||||
| The Table on Occupational Groups Based on the 1970 & 1980 Census Classification Systems (CCS) demonstrates that the white- blue-collar is simple but elegant, & was replaced by a more complex categorization including mgrs., technicians & sales, service, operators, & farming |
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| In 1970, the CCS distinguished among skilled manual workers (craft & kindred workers), semiskilled manual workers (operatives & transport operatives), & unskilled manual workers (laborers) |
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| In the CCS, skilled & unskilled workers in agriculture & farming were listed separately |
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| Even in 1970, service workers were relatively heterogeneous & had multiple categories |
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| In 1980, the CCS was modified to reflect increased significance of the technical & precision production occupations & also to correspond to the UN's International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) system |
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The ISCO is a method of coding occupations developed by the International Labor Office (ILO) of the UN |
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The 1980 CCS is a mixture of industry & occupations; for example farming, forestry & fishing is listed as a occupation group although it is composed of three industries |
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Because of the lack of clarity of occupations & industries in the 1980 CCS & the ISCO, many social scientists continue to use the 1970 CCS |
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The Dictionary of Occupation Titles (DOT) is published by the Dept. of Labor (4th ed., 1991) is the most detailed occupational classification w/ over 20,000 titles |
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| The DOT may be found at http://www.oalj.dot.gov/libdot.htm |
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| Under each title in the DOT is a description of what people do in occupations, what actions they perform, machines, tools or equipment they use, material they use, products or services they produce, instructions they follow, judgments they make, skills needed, etc. | |||||
| The Selected Characteristics of Occupations Defined in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (SCODDOT) is a companion to the DOT providing additional info on the physical demands of the work, hazards faced, training requirements, etc. | |||||
| Job counselors use SCODDOT to place workers in suitable jobs; for example placing disabled workers in jobs w/ similar skills, but less strenuous physical demands | |||||
| O*Net was developed by the Dept. of Labor for their use & will also help job counselors | |||||
| O*Net is found at http://www.doleta.gov/programs/onet/glance.asp |
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| See Also: Occupational Prestige | |||||
| Social scientists have difficulty researching unpaid occupations such as homemakers, volunteers, & neighbors helping neighbors through the exchange of unpaid labor | |||||
| Social scientists have little more than anecdotal info on the production of illegal goods & services such as prostitution, gambling, illegal drugs, weapons, etc. | |||||
| Social scientists have difficulty researching the production of goods & services that are legal but hidden to avoid taxes or other laws & regulations | |||||
| Examples of hidden occupations include domestic help, farm workers, etc. who are hidden to avoid taxes, social security & immigration laws | |||||
| It was estimated that there are 3 million illegal aliens working in the US in 2004 & thus Pres. Bush has proposed that they be granted work visas | |||||
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Is was estimated that there were over 10 mm illegal aliens working in the US in 2006 | ||||
| What effect would work visas have? | |||||
| Social scientists have difficulty researching the production of goods & services that are smuggled or bartered to avoid taxes, regulation etc. | |||||
| Examples of smuggled goods & services include tobacco, alcohol, music, etc. | |||||
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| INDIVIDUALS ARE GIVEN A SET OF RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES BY THE GOVT WHILE ORGS ARE GIVEN A DIFFERENT SET | |||||
| Hall notes an attitude shift: seeing orgs as more responsible for criminal/negligent actions | |||||
| Orgs are said to have standing in the legal system: | |||||
| Organizations form / aggregate to create social structures | |||||
| THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES ( PF REG M CEML ), & THE ORGS THAT COMPOSE, THEM HAVE A UNIQUE LEGAL STANDING | |||||
| 1. Peers orgs have no special legal standing, though some peer unions are gaining power | |||||
| 2. The family is an organization with very strong legal precedence behind it. The relationship of the parents, children, even grandparents in the family is legally defined | |||||
| 3. Religions have legal standing similar to charities & exist w/in the separation of church & state | |||||
| 4. Work / economic / business organizations have a legal standing, & are highly regulated | |||||
| - The enterprise /sole proprietorship: most common business org in terms of numbers | |||||
| - The partnership | |||||
| - The cooperative | |||||
| - The corporation is the most prevalent (biggest & most powerful) form of business org |
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| 5. The government has legal standing, & a unique set of laws compared to religion & business | |||||
| 6. The military has legal standing: legal to kill & destroy; civilian control | |||||
| 7. Charity has legal standing & may be tax exempt | |||||
| 8. Education in both public & private sectors has a legal standing which parallels that of govt & business | |||||
| 9. The media has a business like legal standing enhanced by the Freedom of the Press | |||||
| 10. Leisure / recreational orgs have a business type of legal standing, but many small leisure groups are informal orgs | |||||
| WORKPLACES HAVE INNUMERABLE LEGAL FORMS, RIGHTS & OBLIGATIONS, ESPECIALLY W/ REGARDS TO THE CORPORATION | |||||
| The majority of workers in the developed nations go to work each day in enormous corporations | |||||
| Many workers do not know from day to day which corporate entity is their employer because of reorganization, acquisitions, or mergers | |||||
| Workers do have a good idea of approximately how many people work at their particular work site | |||||
| The term establishment is used by social scientists to denote the place to which one reports for work | |||||
| Many small businesses have one establishment, while many corporations have numerous establishments | |||||
| The establishment is important to workers because it is where they perform their daily tasks, interact w/ other workers, & spend most of their lives | |||||
| The firm is the employing organization & may be organized as a corporation, enterprise, etc., as discussed above | |||||
| The parent company is the orgl entity, usually a corporation, which may own or control several firms | |||||
| A firm that is controlled by the parent company is called a subsidiary | |||||
| A parent company that controls subsidiaries that are in different industries is called a conglomerate | |||||
| A multi national corporation is a parent company that owns or controls subsidiaries in many different nations | |||||
The End
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