Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T07:53:59.033Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Inadvertent Social Theory: Aggregation and its Effect on Community Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Peter H. Greenwood  and
A. E. Luloff
Peter H. Greenwood
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire
A. E. Luloff
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire
Get access

Abstract

Although continued attention has been given to the general study of “community,” we still lack a consensus, operational definition. Such an absence impedes development in this area of study. Because authors have used different areal conceptualizations, knowledge is, at best, case specific. This paper reviews the problem most often associated with aggregation of data, namely, aggregation bias, and considers some additional problems not usually associated with aggregation. The review serves as a prelude to a discussion of community research methodology which, at present, is beset with potential aggregation problems. Interpretation and possible implications of these findings are advanced.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Northeastern Agricultural Economics Council , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , April 1979 , pp. 44 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Published with the approval of the Director of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station as Scientific Contribution No. 917.

References

Alexander, Karl L. and Griffin, Larry J. “School District Effects on Academic Achievement: A Reconsideration.” American Sociological Review 41(1976): 144–152.Google Scholar
Ball, D. S. and Wilson, J. W. “Community Health Facilities and Services: The Man Power Dimensions.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 50(1968): 1208–22.Google Scholar
Bidwell, Charles E. and Kasarda, John D. “Reply to Hannan, Freeman and Meyer, and Alexander and Griffin.” American Sociological Review 41(1976): 152–160.Google Scholar
Bonjean, Charles M., Browning, Harley and Carter, Lewis. “Toward Comparative Community Research: A Factor Analysis of United States Counties.” Sociological Quarterly 10(1969): 157–176.Google Scholar
Breisch, W. F. “Impact of Medical School Characteristics on Location of Physical Practices.” Journal of Medical Education 45(1970): 1068–1070.Google Scholar
Coleman, Sinclair. Physician Distribution and Rural Access to Medical Services: R-1887-HEW. Santa Monica, California: The Rand Corporation, 1976.Google Scholar
Feige, Edgar L. and Watts, Harold W. “An Investigation of the Consequences of Partial Aggregation of Micro-Economic Data.” Econometrica 40(1972): 343–60.Google Scholar
Firebaugh, Glenn. “A Rule for Inferring Individual-Level Relationships From Aggregate Data.” American Sociological Review 43(1978): 557–572.Google Scholar
Hannan, Michael T., Freeman, John H. and Meyer, John W. “Specification of Models for Organizational Effectiveness.” American Sociological Review 41(1976): 136–143.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Harold F. “Toward an Interactional Conception of Community.” Social Forces 38(1959): 8–17.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Harold F. and Wilkinson, Kenneth P. Community Structure and Leadership: An Interactional Perspective in the Study of Community. State College: The Mississippi State University, Social Science Research Center, Bulletin 13, 1967.Google Scholar
Robinson, W. S. “Ecological Correlations and the Behavior of Individuals.” American Sociological Review 15(1950): 351–357.Google Scholar
Scheffler, R. M. “The Relationship Between Medical Education and the Statewide Per Capita Distribution of Physicians.” Journal of Medical Education 46(1971): 995–998.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, Kenneth P. “The Community as a Social Field.” Social Forces 48(1970): 311–322.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, Kenneth P. “A Field Theory Perspective for Community Development Research.” Rural Sociology 37(1972): 43–52.Google Scholar