Michael Micklin

Continuities in sociological human ecology.

Conceptual and Theoretical Considerations: Human Ecology, Population, and Development A.H. Hawley. Human Ecology, Sociology, and Demography D.L. Poston, Jr., W.P. Frisbie. The Ecological Complex: A Conceptual Elaboration M. Micklin, D.F. Sly. POETS-PACS-LEDD: From Paradigm to Theory to Policy in Human Ecological Perspective P.R. Eberts. An Ecological Theory of Organizational Structuring C.E. Bidwell, J.D. Kasarda. Ecologys Contribution to Cross-National Theory and Research W.P. Frisbie, A.H.M. Al-Khalifah. The Human Ecology of Agriculture in the United States S.H. Murdock, D.E. Albrecht. Empirical Research: Division of Labor and Morphological Response: Evidence from Saudi Arabia W.P. Frisbie, A.H.M> Al-Khalifah.The Determinants of the Division of Labor in China M.X. Mao. The Effects of Public and Private Sustenance Organizations on Population Redistribution in New York State T.A. Hirschl, et al. Toward an Integrated Ecological-Sociological Theory of Suburbanization S.-S. Hwang, S.H. Murdock. Spatial Segregation and Social Differentiation in China D.L. Poston, Jr., et al. 4 Additional Articles. Name Index. Subject Index.

Spatial Segregation and Social Differentiation in China

One of sociological human ecology’s classic hypotheses asserts the existence of a positive relationship between residence and social status. The more similar people to each other in social characteristics, the closer they live to one another. In this chapter, we test this hypothesis with 1982 data on the Han majority and each of the fifty-five minority nationalities of the People’s Republic of China. We expect that the more socially similar a minority group is to the Han majority, the less residentially segregated it will be from the Han majority.

Epilogue: Needed Research in Demography

What is the future of the research enterprise in demography? What are the demographic questions and topics requiring attention in the years ahead? This chapter has three parts. The first sets the stage for the second and third. It consists of a review of Hauser and Duncan’s The Study of Population and the research priorities articulated by their chapter authors in 1959. Most of the needed research articulated by the chapter authors of The Study of Population has been addressed in the 45-year period between its publication and the publication of the present Handbook. The second section summarizes the research priorities proposed by many of the authors of thisHandbook. The last section sets forth and discusses a few research challenges that we deem to be particularly relevant and important for demographic research in future years.

Prologue: The Demographer’s Ken: 50 Years of Growth and Change

The field of demography (also referred to as population studies) has evolved significantly since the mid-twentieth Century. A useful benchmark for gauging the nature and extent of change of the field is Hauser and Duncan’s landmark work, The Study of Population: An Inventory and Appraisal, published in 1959. The 33 chapters contained in that volume were grouped into four sections. Part I, Demography as a Science, contained four chapters laying out the substantive, methodological, epistemological, and organizational foundations of the discipline (Hauser and Duncan 1959a, 1959b, 1959c, 1959d). Part II, Development and Current Status of Demography, offered eight chapters portraying the origins and practice of demography in selected nations, along with an insightful overview of disciplinary history (Lorimer 1959). Part III, Elements of Demography, included a dozen chapters covering elements of the demographic equation (structure and components of change), as well as assessments of demographic data. Finally, Part IV, Population Studies in Various Disciplines, contained seven chapters discussing common interests of demography and selected disciplines, including

The Ecological Complex

The development of any effective science of society is contingent on conceptualization of its subject matter. To achieve the fundamental goals of scientific reasoning—description, explanation, prediction and, ultimately, control of empirical phenomena—a scientific discipline requires unambiguously defined, systematically related, and collectively standardized concepts that link ideas to observations (Blumer 1931; Blalock 1982; Lenski 1988; Wallace 1988; Cohen 1989: 67–88).2