What is 'Commitment device' in Sociology?

This refers to any choice made by individuals in the present in order to prevent themselves from making impulsive mistakes in the future. It is believed that commitment devices can force people to stick to their original hard decisions without wavering from such decisions under distress in the future. An individual wishing to lose weight, for instance, may choose to buy a year-long membership at the gym instead of a weekly or monthly membership as a way to force himself to go to the gym regularly. Making one’s commitments or goals public to a large group of people is another common example of an effective commitment device that can help people achieve their goals.

Source: The Hindu, 22/02/2019

What is 'relative deprivation' in Sociology?

This refers to a theory of social change that attributes drastic events like social and political revolutions to the desire among a group of people within society to acquire the privileges that are enjoyed by other privileged groups. In other words, social change is seen as the result of the feeling of deprivation or other forms of serious discontent experienced by a group of people. Relative deprivation could be caused by economic or other social inequalities among various social groups. It is believed that group members who were earlier dispersed may find common ground in a cause that leads them to ignore their individual interests and unite under a single cause.

Source: The Hindu, 21/12/2018

What is scully effect in sociology?

This refers to a social phenomenon wherein movie characters can surprisingly inspire behavioural changes in people in the real world. It is named after Dana Scully, a woman character in the American television series The X-Files which was aired mostly in the 1990s. Studies have found that the character, portrayed as a medical doctor and a special agent successfully working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, inspired many women who watched the series to take up education and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and with various law enforcement agencies.

Source: The Hindu, 27/11/2018

What is 'contact hypothesis' in sociology?

Also known as the inter-group contact theory, this refers to the hypothesis that people-to-people contact may be a good way to resolve conflict between groups. It was proposed by American psychologist Gordon W. Allport. The contact hypothesis is based on the idea that peaceful and friendly interpersonal contact can help in reducing prejudices between groups and foster better cooperation and friendly relationships. Some believe that such interpersonal contact between people can help reduce conflict by increasing interdependence between the groups. In other words, the cost of conflict increases with greater interdependence.

Source: The Hindu, 15/11/2018

What is information cascade in Sociology

This refers to a social phenomenon where people make decisions purely based on the choices made by others, thus in effect ignoring any personal information that they may possess about a certain situation.

It is prevalent, for instance, in the world of business where firms may simply copy the actions of other firms instead of making decisions based on the independent evaluation of the facts.

The news industry is also prone to information cascades when false information that is initially broadcast by a few channels is assumed to be true by others without any verification, thus leading to the widespread propagation of false information to the public.

Source: The Hindu, 22/10/2018

Current Sociology

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November 2014; 62 (7)

Editorial

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  • Eloísa Martín

  How to write a good article

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 949-955, doi:10.1177/0011392114556034
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  • Sarah Payne

  Constructing the gendered body? A critical discourse analysis of gender equality schemes in the health sector in England

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 956-974, first published on May 9, 2014doi:10.1177/0011392114531968
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  • Julia Cook and
   
  • Reza Hasmath

  The discursive construction and performance of gendered identity on social media

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 975-993, first published on September 25, 2014 doi:10.1177/0011392114550008
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  • Piotr Konieczny

  The day Wikipedia stood still: Wikipedia’s editors’ participation in the 2012 anti-SOPA protests as a case study of online organization empowering international and national political opportunity structures

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 994-1016, first published on September 29, 2014 doi:10.1177/0011392114551649
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  • Jérôme Ferret

  Young radical nationalists: Prisoners of their own myth? The case of theKale Borroka in the Spanish Basque country

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 1017-1035, first published on September 29, 2014 doi:10.1177/0011392114549892
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  • David Farrugia, 
  • John Smyth, 
  • and Tim Harrison

  Rural young people in late modernity: Place, globalisation and the spatial contours of identity

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 1036-1054, first published on July 8, 2014doi:10.1177/0011392114538959
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  • Antwan Jones, 
  • Danielle Mitchel, 
  • and Franklin Goza

  Lifecourse socioeconomic status and cardiovascular illness in Latin America

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 1055-1078, first published on July 8, 2014doi:10.1177/0011392114537003
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  • Marco Martiniello and
   
  • Andrea Rea

  The concept of migratory careers: Elements for a new theoretical perspective of contemporary human mobility

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 1079-1096, first published on October 7, 2014 doi:10.1177/0011392114553386
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  • Joao Marcelo Maia

  History of sociology and the quest for intellectual autonomy in the Global South: The cases of Alberto Guerreiro Ramos and Syed Hussein Alatas

  Current Sociology November 2014 62: 1097-1115, first published on July 8, 2014doi:10.1177/0011392114534422
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