(1978). On Facilitating Networks for Social Change ... - INSNA

. . . Abstracts, cont'd .David J . Strauss, 1977Measuring EndogamySocial ScienceResearch 6 (September) :225-245This paper is concerned with the description and statistical analysis of marriage patterns among aset of intermarrying groups . The statistic K is suggested as a reasonable measure to summarize the overalltendency to endogamy, and the measures proposed by Romney (1971 ; in Explorations in MathematicalAnthropology, M .I .T . Press, Cambridge) in his pioneering paper are critically evaluated . The marriagesrecorded in the data occur sequentially, and the probability of each might be assumed to depend only onthe group membership of the two mates . These marriage probabilities, which are indicators of the preferencesfordifferent marriages, can be estimated simply if the data are assumed to be a sample from a largepopulation . If we ask questions such as whether the tendency to endogamy is equally strong for eachgroup, or whether there are preferences for some exogamous marriages over others, summary descriptiveendogamy measures will not suffice . We describe a class of statistical models of great flexibility whichpermits us to test such hypotheses and measure the degree of departure of the data from them . Finally,the statistical procedures proposed in the paper are applied to some sets of empirical data from theliterature, both to illustrate the techniques and to indicate what conclusions should be drawn in theseinstances .Peter M . Blau, 1977A Macrosociological Theory of Social StructureAmerican Journal of Sociology 83 (July) :26-54Social structure is conceptualized as the distributions of a population among social positions in amultidimensional space of positions . This quantitative conception of social structure is the basis for adeductive theory of the macrostructure of social associations in society . The likelihood that peopleengage in intergroup associations under specifiable structural conditions can be deduced from analyticpropositions about structural properties without any assumption about sociopsychological dispositions toestablish intergroup associations, indeed, on the assumption that people prefer ingroup relations . Groupsize governs the probability of intergroup relations, a fact that has paradoxical implications fordiscrimination by a majority against a minority . Inequality impedes and heterogeneity promotes intergrouprelations . The major structural condition that governs intergroup relations is the degree ofconnection of parameters . Intersecting parameters exert structural constraints to participate in intergrouprelations ; consolidated parameters impede them . The more differentiation of any kind penetratesinto the substructures of society, the greater is the probability that extensive social relationsintegrate various segments in society .SocialWorkAbstracts,compiledbyDianePancoastFamilyProcess 15 (12/76)Christopher C . TolsdorfChildren's Psychiatric Center, Eatontown, N .J ., U .S .A .Social Networks, Support, and Coping : An Exploratory StudyThis paper reports a study that investigated the areas of stress, support, and coping, using thestructural model of the social network . The social network model is borrowed from sociology and anthropologyand is used to describe and quantify not only an individual's immediate family but also all ofthose with whom the individual has regular contact . By comparing the networks of a sample of "normal"and schizophrenic males, it was possible to identify differences in their relationships to their socialnetworks, in the make-up of the networks themselves, and in the coping styles and recent histories of the