Royce Singleton

Aging and Religious Participation: Reconsidering the Effects of Health

This study examined the relationship between aging and religious participation, focusing on changes in older peoples formal participation in church life, informal or private religious practices, and attitudes towards participation in the church. Survey data from a random sample of older persons in a medium-sized northeastern city included both objective and subjective measures of health. Contrary to earlier studies which relied on subjective health as the sole indicator of health status, multiple regression analyses showed that health, especially as measured by health-related, functional limitations, serves an important mediating role. Older people experience greater functional limitations and, in turn, are less likely to engage in various church activities. These findings have important implications for the activity-disengagement debate within social gerontology and also for the concern in the sociology of religion with the role of religion in older peoples lives.

ON TEACHING SAMPLING: A CLASSROOM DEMONSTRATION OF CONCEPTS, PRINCIPLES, AND TECHNIQUES*

Sampling is one of the most technical topics covered in research methods courses. A complete understanding requires advanced mathematical training beyond the ken of most sociologists, let alone our students. Yet courses in research methods usually presume no knowledge of statistics, so that teachers of sampling must find mathematically unsophisticated methods of introducing sampling principles. Moreover, even a basic understanding of key concepts may seem overwhelming to most undergraduates. One popular textbook in research methods, for example, introduces and defines no less than a dozen

Effects of Role Dominance on Trait and Situation Attributions

Summary Effects of role dominance (the proportion of encounters in which an actor is seen in a single role) on the fundamental attribution error were investigated. American college students made trait or situation attributions for self and four others in two studies. As hypothesized, Study 1 (N = 75) produced more trait attributions in a single-role than either a no-role or multiple-role context, to others relative to self, and to high relative to low role-dominated others. Study 2 (N = 35) replicated the no-role condition of Study 1 with an improved response scale and revealed a significant correlation between a direct measure of role dominance and trait or situation attributions. It was concluded that, in part, the frequent use of traits to describe others may be the result of observing them in a particular role during a high proportion of interpersonal encounters: role dominance may cause role-induced characteristics to be identified as enduring personality dispositions.

Effects of Grade Inflation on Satisfaction with Final Grade: A Case of Relative Deprivation

Summary The relative deprivation implications of grade inflation in American colleges were examined by testing the effects of different implied grade distributions on satisfaction with a hypothetical final grade. Subsequent to learning their midterm grade in a social psychology class, 72 college students indicated their level of satisfaction with final grades of A, B, and C when given information indicating either that their instructor was a “hard” or an “easy grader.” When midterm grade, which was inversely related to satisfaction with grades of B and C, was controlled, Ss in the “hard grader” condition were found to be more satisfied with all three hypothetical final grades than those in the “easy grader” condition. The effects of both midterm grade and grade distribution were explained in terms of relative deprivation, and their relation to grade inflation was noted.

Another Look at the Conformity Explanation of Group-Induced Shifts in Choice

A conformity explanation of group-induced shifts in individual choice has never received careful examination. For conformity to account for groupinduced shifts, it must be shown that (a) movement toward the group produces shifts in predictable directions on given decision problems, and (b) the motive force behind individual changes is group pressure. This article reviews the evidence bearing upon these two propositions and compares conformity with other currently popular explanations of the choice shift. The conclusion drawn is that conformity cannot account for the full choice shift effect, but that it does explain a significant portion of the variance in individual shifts.

Book Review: Souled Out? How Blacks are Winning and Losing in Sports.

certainly be suitable for anyone aspiring to a career in law enforcement in general and as an undercover operative in particular. Thus professors teaching courses in criminal justice would want to consider adopting this book. In addition, since the book is so rich in dimensions of undercover work that are exemplars of behavioral science concepts and topics, adventurous professor could have their students taking micro theory or social psychology courses identify and discuss them. It would be a great exercise and result in deeper processing of the material. It would also show the relevance of the sociological concepts. Since being an under cover agent is a kind of extreme form of covert participant observation, the book would be useful for graduate courses in methodology which emphasize participant observation. The problems, dilemmas and strains inherent in this form of research are illustrated and discussed. A good example is the strain such work places on marriages. Very few, if any, undercover agents have happy home lives, according to the data. The book has endnotes and a quite extensive bibliography for readers who would like to do further research about the topic.