RoleofTimeandSpaceinSocialScienceResearch：时间和空间在社会科学研究中的作用.pptVIP

Role of Time and Space in Social Science Research Yu Xie University of Michigan Third Principle Patterns of population variability vary with social context, which is often defined by time and space. “Social Context Principle” Different “Regimes” of Variability Social contexts are different from social groups in that the former are self-contained social systems with natural boundaries, for example by time and space. Patterns of individual variability may be governed by “relationships” between individuals that are not reducible to individuals’ attributes. Patterns of individual variability may be governed by macro-level conditions such as “social structure,” “political structure,” or “culture,” which may be discontinuous and fixed. Collective action may lead to changes of macro-level conditions and human relationships –major sources of social change. [Premise of Marxism.] Accounting for Heterogeneous Responses More difficult to handle, a degree of freedom problem. Possible with nested data, assuming that patterns of relationships are homogeneous (or following a distribution) within social contexts (by time or space). dk is allowed to vary across k (k=1,…K), social context, but is fixed within k. For example: Yik = ak + dkDik + eik ak = l+fzk+mk  dk = g1+szk+nk Application of the Social Context Principle. Comments Comment 1: It is possible to impose a parametric assumption on individual-level di, but the results are dependent on the assumption. (Bayesian approach.) Comment 2: Nested (or hierarchical) structure could be used for time-variation or spatial variation. A key assumption: there are common features that are shared by different elements in a common social context. Comment 3: If variations across social contexts are systematic, they can be modeled (i.e., multi-level models, or hierarchical linear models, random-coefficient models, and growth-curve models). If such variations are left as observed (or saturated), we have the fixed-effects mod