Социология: 4М. № 33

Sociology: methodology, methods, mathematical modeling No. 33, 2011

Contents

Slobodenyuk E.D., Tikhonova N.E. Heuristic Feasibility of Absolute and Relative Approaches to the Study of Poverty in Russia

This article studies the issue of poverty in Russia and characterizes specific features of the poor which vary depending on the methods used for differentiation. It is shown that in Russian realities the relative approach to poverty in its deprivation version has higher heuristic value than the absolute approach, which does not capture so fine the specifics of poverty as a sociological phenomenon. A number of features related to evolution of poverty in Russia have been documented; these features can be traced regardless of measurement techniques used.

Key words: poverty, absolute approach to poverty, relative approach to poverty, subsistence minimum, deprivation

Zangieva I.K. The Problem of Missing Values in Sociological Data: Essence and Solution Methods

The following article may serve as the first step to formulation of the lacking recommendations for the selection of the appropriate method of imputation in a specific research situation. Here some methods of specific research situation analysis are proposed; the necessary conditions for the usage of imputation methods are critically examined; the method for comparing the varying imputation algorithms based on a specially designed experiment is suggested and attendant difficulties of this process are analyzed; the typology of imputation algorithms making it possible to reduce their number by comparison is constructed.

Key words: missing values in data, nonresponse, filling missing values, imputation, research situation.

Yakovleva A.A. Studies of Hard-to-Reach Populations: the Experience of the Respondent-Driven Sampling and Time-Location Sampling

This paper deals with sampling – the one of the key methodological issues of sociological studies among hard-to-reach populations. It describes the experience of the respondent-driven and time-location sampling procedures among some hidden and stigmatized groups – drug users, female sex workers and homosexual males.

Key words: hard-to-reach populations, respondent-driven sampling and time-location sampling.

Rozhdestvenskaya E.Y. Documentary Access to Subjective Micro-Theories and Common-Sense Knowledge

The author critically revises the Mannheimian concept of documentary access to the indexicality of ‘spaces of experience’ as well as the distinctions between Verstehen and interpretation and between conjunctive and communicative experiences. The group discussion method is tested as a reservoir of conjunctive / disjunctive and communicative experience, and a procedure of communicative validation is tested as a way to confirm subjective micro-theories in a group discussion. An analysis of the empirical case study of masculinity clarifies terminology serving the discourse of collective biographies. Possibilities of methodological support for group discussions developing in the direction of a controlled intervention of the researcher/moderator are discussed in the context of validation of research conclusions based on generalization of conjunctive/disjunctive and communicative experiences.

Key words: documentary access, subjective theory, conjunctive experience, collective biography, communicative validation, group discussion, masculinity.

Sivak E.V. The History of Educational Evaluation in the USA: An Analytical Review

The review is concerned with the main stages of educational evaluation research in USA: the process of professionalization is described, changes of typical research methods (including experiments and its alternatives) and goals of evaluation are critically analyzed, results of the most significant studies are highlighted.

Key words: evaluation research in education, experiments, quasi-experiments

Cherkashina T.U. Indices of Globalization: Indicators and the Calculation Scheme

The article describes the procedures for calculating four indexes of globalization developed by A.T. Kerney consulting agency, KOF – Swiss Economic Institute, Centre for the Study of Globalisa-tion and Regionalisation (CSGR, University of Warwick) and the research team from Otto-Friedrich University of Bamberg. Sticking to the same principal scheme of calculating, and using the same «core» indicators of globalization, each of the teams includes their own sets of specific indicators of the economic, political, cultural, social, technological aspects of globalization. The article demonstrates the particular interpretation of index values, taking into account the effect of panel normalization.

Key words: globalization, indices of globalization, panel normalization.

Velleman P.F., Wilkinson L. Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio Typologies Are Misleading. (Russian translation by V.I. Khomenko)

The psychophysicist S.S. Stevens developed a measurement scale typology that has dominated social statistics methodology for almost 50 years. During this period, it has generated considerable controversy among statisticians. Recently, there has been a renaissance in the use of Steven’s scale typology for guiding the design of statistical computer packages. The current use of Steven’s terminology fails to deal with the classical criticism at the time it was proposed and ignores important developments in data analysis over the last several decades.

Key words: data analysis, data types, measurement scales, scaling.