نامه علوم اجتماعی
سال:1385 | دوره:جدید | شماره:پیاپی 28 |تعداد مقالات:14

Karl Popper introduced his situational logic/situational analysis as methodological framework for exploration and explanation in social science. However, despite a positive reception, especially amongst economists, Popper's somewhat trees formulation of his model, together with the nuances in different versions of the original idea, have created an impression of internal inconsistency and conflict with other parts of his otherwise unified system of thought. In this paper, following a brief, though critical, review of Popper's methodological approach to social science, the author shall tries to introduce a more consistent "reading" of the methodology of situational logic/situational analysis. It will be argued that in making sense of events, processes and texts, situational logic/situational analysis lays emphasis on notions such as "situations", "institutions/structures", "social constructs", "intention", "action", "rationality", "meaning", and "context". The upshot of the arguments of the paper is that while "situational logic / situational analysis" cannot be claimed to be the only suitable approach for its intended realms of application, it offers the benefit of a number of explanatory frameworks including covering and causal Law, idiographic and hermeneutic models, with the extra bonus that, contrary to other models, its findings are objective and therefore publicly criticizable.

The position of sociology in Iran is the main question of this paper and the domination of this positivistic approach constitutes its basic supposition. The writers have studied all issues of Nemeye-Olilm-e ejtemai (Journal of the, Social Science, published by the University of Tehran), M.A. theses in sociology, and the projects conducted by the Institute for Social Studies and Research. Our finding indicates that there no domination of positivism or of any other approach in the Iranian sociology, but that sociology in Iran has been shifting from more basic and qualitatively oriented studies toward works which have applied and quantitative inclinations. There is, however, evident a methodic agitation on quantitative and survey research approaches.

This article probes brain drain in Iran. In order to explain the issue, quantitative data were collected on faculty members' views regarding their reasons for the emigration of the educated elite. It is argued that the theory which best explains the data is the pull-push factors theory. Regarding the push factors, low status of scientific activity in the society, lack of research facilities, and low wage and salary of researchers were considered as very important reasons in the opinions expressed by the faculty members. On pulling factors, our research findings show that better living standards, better conditions for scientific work, more suitable research facilities, better employment opportunities and higher salaries, family security, and nonexistence of utilization opportunities or non-utilization of professional skills in the country, affected brain drain. Yet cultural/political reasons and personal intellectual freedom were not regarded as important push or pull factors in the views of the respondents.

This article studies music in its social context. It focuses on pop music because this kind of music attracts the youth extensively. The writers study two types of pop music; licit and illicit, and thereby they attempt to reach an understanding as to why such a huge attention is given to pop music by the youth. The data have been gathered through survey method in summer of 1381 (Iranian Calendar) among the Isfahan's youths. In addition to the survey method and the questionnaire, the library method was also used for determining some of the references concerning the youth subculture in particular. The findings show that the Isfahan's youths are more inclined towards illicit pop music and regard it as "happier" than licit pop music. Some of the resemblances that licit pop music bears to the illicit one explain why the youth are attracted to pop music in general.

This article attempts to answer the question of what are the main factors and conditions that determine the social and behavioral deviance in adolescents and juveniles. The author tries to answer the main question and the following related ones by examining the researches so far conducted on the juvenile delinquency. This is done using a certain type of secondary analysis. The related questions are:1. What answers the related researches provide for the question (the determining factors influencing deviance and delinquency in juveniles)? 2. According to the researches examined, what are the priorities of the causes that lead to deviance and delinquency in adolescents and juveniles and what is the frequency of the theories and the theoretical variables employed in those researches?3. As seen by the researches examined, what are the order and the rate of deviance and delinquency in girls and boys, and on what variables they are modeled?Following the necessary selection, researches at hand were reduced to the number of 57. They were then studied and evaluated on the basis of the already-defined criteria related to their form and content, and a total of 12 researches were selected for the final evaluation. These researches enjoyed a high variety in terms of themes and methodologies. In particular, they had investigated higher numbers of samples. The samples included 965 girls and 2459 boys in a total of 3424 samples. They are these samples which make the importance of this study and the results of those researches more evident. The findings showthat:1. Deviance and delinquency in adolescents are influenced and correlated to factors such as sex, age, social status of the family, parents' religious beliefs, intimacy with deviant friends, membership in delinquent groups, educational background, interest in school, and parental participation in school meetings.2. The variables that are mostly repeated and emphasized as causing, preparing for, and enforcing deviance and delinquency in adolescents are socio-economic status of the adolescent, his relationship with the uncomforting mends and interest and membership in such groups, kind and degree of parental supervision and control of the adolescent's behavior, and the disintegration of the family.3. Boys almost always more than girls fall victim to all types of deviance, delinquency and crime.

This paper discusses different definitions of social capital and theories of social capital fonnation. Using meta-analysis method a selection of Iranian investigations on social capital is studied. The Iranian models of social capital's effective factors are derived from age, education, marriage, occupation and income. These factors, which do not implicate the element of "trust", are directly related to a complex of social capital indicators including awareness, a concern with the public affairs, trust, formal and informal participation and so forth. Men's formal participation and awareness are higher than those of women, yet there is no difference in terms of trust between men and women.