This work examines assumptions of positivism and the traditional scientific method.
Abstract
Purpose
This work examines assumptions of positivism and the traditional scientific method.
Design/methodology/approach
Insights from quantum mechanics are explored especially as they relate to method, measurement and what is knowable. An argument is made that how social scientists, particularly sociologists, understand the nature of “reality out there” and describe the social world may be challenged by quantum ideas. The benefits of utilized mixed methods, considering quantum insights, cannot be overstated.
Findings
It is the proposition of this work that insights from modern physics alter the understanding of the world “out there.” Wheeler suggested that the most profound implication from modern physics is that “there is no out there” (1982; see also Baggott, 1992). Grappling with how modern physics may alter understanding in the social sciences will be difficult; however, that does not mean the task should not be undertaken (see Goswami, 1993). A starting point for the social sciences may be relinquishing an old mechanistic science that depends on the establishment of an objective, empirically based, verifiable reality. Mechanistic science demands “one true reality – a clear-cut reality on which everyone can agree…. Mechanistic science is by definition reductionistic…it has had to try to reduce complexity to oversimplification and process to statis. This creates an illusionary world…that has little or nothing to do with the complexity of the process of the reality of creation as we know, experience, and participate in it” (Goswami, 1993, pp. 64, 66).
Research limitations/implications
Many physicists have popularized quantum ideas for others interested in contemplating the implications of modern physics. Because of the difficulty in conceiving of quantum ideas, the meaning of the quantum in popular culture is far removed from the parent discipline. Thus, the culture has been shaped by the rhetoric and ideas surrounding the basic quantum mathematical formulas. And, over time, as quantum ideas have come to be part of the popular culture, even the link to the popularized literature in physics is lost. Rather, quantum ideas may be viewed as cultural formations that take on a life of their own.
Practical implications
The work allows a critique of positivist method and provides insight on how to frame qualitative methodology in a new way.
Social implications
The work utilizes popularized ideas in quantum theory: the preeminent theory that describes all matter. Little work in sociology utilizes this perspective in understanding research methods.
Originality/value
Quantum insights have rarely been explored in highlighting limitations in positivism. The current work aims to build on quantum insights and how these may help us better understand the social world around us.
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Charlie G. Turner and Elizabeth Monk‐Turner
The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in occupational status among South Korean workers in 1988 and 1998. In 1988, the South Korean National Assembly enacted…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in occupational status among South Korean workers in 1988 and 1998. In 1988, the South Korean National Assembly enacted an Equal Employment Opportunity Act. The goal is to better understand how occupational status differs by gender between these time periods.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the “88 and 98 Occupational Wage Bargaining Survey on the Actual Condition (OWS),” the paper examines occupational differences by gender and log wage using OLS.
Findings
Occupational segregation by gender was more extreme in 1988 than 1998. In 1988, 83.3 percent of all female workers were employed in three broad occupational categories. Few women (5.4 percent) worked as professional, technical or administrative workers. By 1998, 11.5 percent of female workers were employed as professionals. The highest paid occupational categories, in South Korea, have the lowest percentage of female workers. Women benefit from additional educational experience, though less so than holds for men, and from being in a union (in 1988). Women are penalized, in terms of occupational status prestige, when working in large firms and when married.
Practical implications
If South Korea aims to make full use of the human capital of all workers, measures need to address how women might enjoy returns on their educational investment that approach those realized by men. Further, efforts to integrate women into professional occupations categories might be examined.
Originality/value
Little has been explored with regard to occupational gender differences in South Korea. This work provides a better understanding of occupational status differences by gender and how they vary across time.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender based wage differences by schooling and occupations and to estimate the occupational gender wage discrimination in Turkey where…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender based wage differences by schooling and occupations and to estimate the occupational gender wage discrimination in Turkey where strenuous attempts are underway to modernize and negotiate its culturally (Islamic)‐based gender differences.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs an extension of Blinder and Oaxaca's approach to measure the effect of wage discrimination. In order to correct a possible sample selection problem, Heckman's two step procedure is used to estimate the earning equations for males and females by using Turkish Household Expenditure and Income Survey.
Findings
Among the paper's central findings is that gender wage gap decreases with education, is less in the public sector, and varies across occupations. The overall discriminatory wage gap is estimated at 30 percent after controlling for education, experience, occupation, region, and selection effects.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of this study are mostly related to the nature of the data set used in the analysis. Future research should be replicated on time series data with more variables if they are available.
Practical implications
Policy makers should promote education of women since education reduces inequalities among genders as revealed from the decreasing gap of wage differentials for higher levels of education. They should implement measures aimed at reducing inequalities in women's pay and improving women's status in the labor market in line with the European Union policies.
Originality/value
By using micro data, this study estimates the gender wage discrimination at occupational levels in Turkey by correcting the possible sample selection bias in the analysis, usually omitted in other studies.
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Residential segregation based on race/ethnicity is associated with higher crime rates. However, when there is greater diversity within a neighbourhood, there may be less…
Abstract
Purpose
Residential segregation based on race/ethnicity is associated with higher crime rates. However, when there is greater diversity within a neighbourhood, there may be less clustering of crime. One sign of such diversity beyond direct measures of racial similarity may be the proportion of minority officers employed by municipal police departments. As such, the purpose of this paper is to test the effect of the proportion of minority police officers on violent crime within minority communities, controlling for residential segregation.
Design/methodology/approach
Multi-level modelling of 91 American cities from the 2000 National Neighbourhood Crime Study was used.
Findings
It was found that as minority populations within census tracts increase, violent crime also increases; and crime is associated with an increase in segregation. However, racial composition of police departments can moderate the impact that community racial composition has on violent crime.
Originality/value
The current findings point to crime control strategies relevant to municipalities which focus on creating neighbourhoods of racial heterogeneity and more diverse police agencies.