THE MEANING OF RELATIONSHIPS
Chapter 1, Morris Rosenberg, “The Logic of Survey Analysis.” (Pp.3-21)
THREE possible forms a relationship can take
1. None of the variables influences the other (Symmetrical
Relationship)
SLIDES
2. SAMPLE
Both variables
influence each other (Reciprocal Relationship)
3. Only one of the variables influences the other (Asymmetrical
Relationship)
I. Symmetrical Relationships
- This means that neither variable “causes” the other,
neither variable can be considered “prior” in time to the other.
Five types of symmetrical relationships
1.
2.
SAMPLE SLIDES
Alternative indicators of the same concept (e.g. signs of anxiety,
palmer perspiration and heart pounding).- Factor analysis.
Effects of a common cause (e.g. Storks and babies, or restitutive
punishment and individualism)- often referred to as ‘spurious’
relationships.
3. Functional interdependence as elements of a unit (e.g. the presence
of lungs correlates with the presence of the heart, it is not that one
“causes” the other but both are indispensible in the functioning of the
unit, the organism)- structural analysis
4. SAMPLE
Parts of aSLIDES
“complex” (e.g. rich people are often members of
country clubs, drive particular brands of cars, stay at particular
types of hotels when on trips, attend the opera etc- there is no
functional interdependence between these different parts but the
lifestyle “complex” ensures that these are often found together).descriptive analysis
5. Accidental or Fortuitous: (e.g. the association between the
emergence of the space age and rock and roll music).
**Elaboration is generally not a useful second step after the discovery
of the symmetrical nature of relationships.
II. Reciprocal Relationships (both influence each other)
Main Problem: Which variable is the cause and which is the
effect.
Alternating Asymmetry: one acts on the other, the other acts on the
SAMPLE
SLIDES
first- mutually
reinforcing the relationship, servo-mechanism,
feedback , e.g. thermostat and temperature; Republican message
and Republican convictions.
-
The ‘chicken and egg’ are both responsible for each other, which
came first, the “primal cause” is not commented upon in
reciprocal relationships.
-
Causation analysis, elaboration of relationships relates to
Asymmetrical Relationships
III. Asymmetrical Relationships
-age and movies: inverse relationship
- an external influence produces a change in something
SAMPLE
SLIDE are interested in i) causation ii) understanding iii)
-Scientists
prediction, iv) control
- The variable that is not subject to change has causal priorityit comes before the other variable in the relationship.
-Fixed variables, also known as “status variables”: sex, race,
birth order, national origin.
- Relatively but not absolutely fixed variables, social class,
religion, rural/urban residence
SCIENCE IMPLIES EXPLANATION THROUGH ‘INVARIABLE LAWS’
-Dominant direction of influence of variables, e.g. mental
health and religion.
TYPES OF ASYMMETRICAL RELATIONSHIPS
1. Stimulus-Response: e.g. war and civilian morale, those
exposed to the stimulus and those not exposed must be similar
on all other factors. This makes the ‘selection’ of the sample of
SAMPLE
SLIDES in inferring stimulus-response relationship.
great importance
2. Disposition-Response: liberal- liberal action, the tendency,
given circumstances, to respond in specific ways (e.g.
attitudinal research, attitude is taken as independent variable
and action as dependent variable, e.g. prejudice and
discrimination). Beware of redundancy, where a larger concept
embraces a smaller one
TYPES OF ASYMMETRICAL RELATIONSHIPS
3. Property-Disposition: e.g. sugar’s properties, shape, size, weight
etc and solubility. Central type of relationship in social
research, the property of an individual and a disposition to act:
SAMPLE
race andSLIDES
alienation, region of country and voting, class and
voting etc. Since properties are resistant to change they are
often taken as independent variables.
4. Necessary precondition for a given effect: technological
advancement and nuclear weaponry, technological
advancement does not cause nuclear weapons but “makes it
possible.” Free labor necessary precondition for development
for capitalism.
TYPES OF ASYMMETRICAL RELATIONSHIPS
5. Immanent relationship: property inherent in nature of setup to produce
a relationship between two variables, e.g. Bureaucracy and red tape,
the dependent variable arises out of the independent variable,
SAMPLE
SLIDES
bureaucracy
leads to adherence to rules, which leads to red tape.
6. Means-ends (purposive relationships), e.g. standardization of procedure
and lower costs, nest building and survival of the young.
Do the ends determine the means or do the means determine the ends,
in whose mind does the purpose reside, if it resides in the mind of the
actor then the end determined the means, if the end resides in the mind
of the investigator then the means (cause) determines the end (effect)
TASKS AT HAND
1. Assign meaning to the relationship, what kind is it? Asymmetrical,
reciprocal or symmetrical
2. If asymmetrical, which is the independent and which is the
SAMPLE
SLIDES
dependent
variable.
3. If symmetrical, what type is it, indicators of common concept,
common cause (spurious), functional relationship and elements in a
social complex
4. If reciprocal, it tells us about the “dynamic nature” of social
relationships, e.g. the cycle of poverty.
5. If asymmetrical, we need to determine, whether it is stimulusresponse; disposition-behavior; property-disposition (or behavior);
necessary precondition- consequence, variables immanent in
structures and means-ends analysis.
Exam question
Which is the most common type of sociological analysis of
asymmetrical relationships?
SAMPLE SLIDES
-means-ends
-property-disposition
-disposition-behavior
-structure-variables
-necessary precondition
-stimulus-response
Answer
Which is the most common type of sociological analysis of
asymmetrical relationships?
SAMPLE SLIDES
-means-ends
-property-disposition
-disposition-behavior
-structure-variables
-necessary precondition
-stimulus-response
Property as independent variable and
disposition or behavior as dependent
variable.