IRANIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL STUDIES
Year:2006 | Volume:1 | Issue:2|Papers Count:11

Fuzzy sets are categories with blurred boundaries. With classical sets, objects are either in the set or not, whereas objects may belong to more than one fuzzy set at a time. Many social science concepts have characteristics that can be dealt with using fuzzy set theory. In this article, we show the merits of fuzzy methods over conventional sociological variables, in particular occupational status. We offer a fuzzy-ordered classification of job status in Rasht which completely accorded to respondents' total judgments and which allows us to rank variations within each category. We present a 92 by 5 matrix with 92 job titles and 5 status categories. Each single occupation partially belongs to all these categories; thus the problem of dependency of classification on method size in cluster analysis is resolved.

Inspired by Almond and Verba's typology of political culture, this article examines the political culture of the people of Mazandaran through a survey of 331 respondents. Survey results show that the cognitive aspect of respondent's political culture is weaker in comparison with the affective and evaluative aspects. Findings further indicate that the subject type of political culture is stronger and more extensive than the participatory and parochial kind of political culture among respondents. The results of the survey also indicate that respondents are more inclined toward consensual forms of political culture in comparison with cont1ictual types in the realm of public policy and regime legitimacy.

A number of institutions may play important roles to strengthen a scientific society.Organizations that publish research results, research centers, and scientific associations are such institutions and are a subject of sociology of science. Scientific associations play an important role among these. In 1999-2000, the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology issued a directive on the formation of university students' scientific associations. In a short span of time, a large number of such associations were established across the Iranian universities, attracting a large body of students. A number of goals had been envisaged for these associations. In this article, we reinterpret the potential functions of these associations from the perspective of sociology of science. In addition, we benefit from imperial research conducted in the three universities in Gilan, Mazandaran, and Tehran to assess the realization of envisaged functions of these associations.

This article is based on a research project on the socioeconomic impacts of resettling rural inhabitants and combining villages in the earthquake - stricken areas of Rudbar - Manjil. After the earthquake in 1990 and in the process of reconstruction of the area, around 70 villages were relocated. Among these, 46 villages were also combined with their neighboring settlements. This article examines the socioeconomic impacts of these resettlements and relocations within the existing conceptual frameworks and development strategies. Research for this article benefited from a set of methodologies comprising desk research, analysis of existing data, questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, and field observations. Results show that physical relocation and resettlement have enhanced the capacity of the villages to cope with potential natural disasters and has provided the inhabitants with some new infrastructure. Yet, relocation and resettlement have also resulted in a number of socioeconomic shifts that may at least in the short-run increase the vulnerabilities of the rural residents.

This article examines the attitudes of women in Gonbad-e Kavus toward political participation as well as their actual level of participation. The population examined included all those in the 15-59 age bracket. Sample size was 259 and the sample was drawn from both rural and urban areas. A survey questionnaire was filled out on location for each respondent for the purpose of this study. Results show a positive attitude toward political participation among women, in particular with regards to becoming a member of the political elite and acquiring office. Education plays the key role in this positive attitude while age, mother's occupation, and ethnicity also play important secondary roles. Path analysis shows literacy affected by age and place of residence explains women's attitudes toward political participation in Gonbad-e Kavus.

The present study is an attempt to assess the relationship between geographic distribution of housing of low income groups and prevalence of addiction across the different zones of the Iranian city of Babol. Around 72 statistical domains were examined through two indicators of prevalence of addiction and percentage of families with four or more people living in one room. The results were sketched out with the help of GIS. They indicate that addiction and families with four or more members living in one room are concentrated in the southern and suburban areas of Babol. Regression analysis further shows a relationship between addiction and families with four or more members living in one room. Expansion of poor dwelling units has increased addiction rates in the southern and suburban areas of Babol.

The existence of non-governmental institutions is a sign of social development. Among such institutions, scientific associations are considered a form of social capital which has implicit and explicit functions in relation to the educational system. This article is based on the findings of a research project to identify practical means to strengthen teachers' scientific-educational associations in Gilan. The research benefited from a quantitative survey targeting all high school teachers across fields for which scientific associations exist (e.g. mathematics, chemistry, literature, social science, and psychology). Sample selection was random and sample size was 354, of which 99 were members of associations while the rest were non-members. Survey instrument was a pre-tested questionnaire. Results indicate the existence of a significant relationship between age as well as highest degree obtained and familiarity with or participation in scientific - educational associations. However, no relationship is indicated between age or highest degree obtained and attitudes towards the associations or level of participation. Nor is any relationship found between sex, place of residence, or number of years worked and level of familiarity with, participation in, or attitudes toward scientific - educational associations. Finally, the results show a relationship between familiarity and participation as well as between attitudes and participation among respondents.

After emphasizing the importance of recording traditional and native games and plays, this article describes Varzā-jang in the Gilan Province of Iran. With technological progress, the role of traditional and native games and plays has become less visible in daily life. In this article, the historical background of bull-fighting, types of bull, raising bulls, feeding bulls, characteristics of fighting bulls, centers of performance, famous bulls, the relationship between Varzā-jang and social institutions, and Varzā-jang in folk beliefs and oral traditions and studies. This research benefits from ethnographic methods (observation plus participation, interview, desk research, etc.).

Around 27,0000 persons are killed in road accidents in Iran each year. Driver failure has been cited as the main cause for 70 to 80 percent of these accidents. Considering driving as a social act, this research utilizes a Parsonian framework as a cognitive map to assume driving as a system with four subsystems of personality, economics, society, and culture. The act of driving is the result of the interplay of these subsystems. Factors measured in this model included self-regulation, income, poverty, residing in low-income neighborhoods, life style, family status, education, attitude toward regulations, attitudes toward breaking traffic laws, informal norms, determinism, etc. A questionnaire survey was conducted for the purpose of this study with a sample size of 389 drivers in Babol. Findings indicated a relationship between accidents and self-regulation, rationalism, general satisfaction, education, and how the driver obtained license.