Alienation

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12bf0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12c203c0.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>SOCIOLOGY 212: RESEARCH METHODS</B></FONT><B>      |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SOCIOLOGY 212: RESEARCH METHODS"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Articles / Overheads "><U><B>Articles / Overheads </B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12af2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B>Alienation</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Applied"><U>Applied</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ch. 14 Stats Review"><U>Ch. 14 Stats Review</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Airline"><U>Airline</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Picture"><U>Big Picture</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ch. 9 Outline"><U>Ch. 9 Outline</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Levels of Measurement"><U>Levels of Measurement</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U>--Type Title Here--</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Units of Analysis"><U>Units of Analysis</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12df0f03.jpg"> <div> <B>“Alienation: Its Meaning and Measurement.” Dean Dwight 1961</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1.  Dimensions</B></div> <div> <B>2.  Need for Definitions - Conceptualization</B></div> <div> <B>3.  How to Measure Dimensions - Operationalization - creating questions to measure</B></div> <div> <B>4.  Issues of Face Validity - on the surface, does it make sense</B></div> <div> <B>5.  Matrix format (addressed later)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dean's scale was designed to measure 3 dimensions of alienation: Powerlessness, Normlessness, Social Isolation.</B></div> <bR> <div> Below are some statements regarding public issues with which some people agree and others disagree.  Please give us your own opinion about these items (i.e.), whether you agree or disagree with the items as they stand. </div> <bR> <div> <B>                                                                                       Strongly                                                   Strongly</B></div> <div> <B>                                                                                         Agree   Agree  Uncertain   Disagree  Disagree</B></div> <div> <B>1.  Sometimes I feel all alone in the world                 4            3              2                    1                0      I</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>2.  I worry about the future facing today's</B></div> <div> <B>     children.                                                                       4            3               2                    1               0      P</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>3.  I don't get invited out by friends as often</B></div> <div> <B>     as I'd really like.                                                          4            3               2                    1               0      I</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>4.  The end often justifies the means.                       4            3                2                    1               0      N</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>5.  Most people today seldom feel lonely.                4            3                2                    1               0      I</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>6.  Sometimes I have the feeling that other</B></div> <div> <B>     people are using me.                                                4            3                2                    1               0      P</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>7.  People's ideas change so much that I</B></div> <div> <B>    wonder if we'll ever have anything to</B></div> <div> <B>    depend on.                                                                   4            3                2                    1               0      N</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>8.  Real friends are as easy as ever to find.             4            3                2                    1               0      I</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>In his article "On the Meaning of Alienation," Melvin Seeman writes:</B></div> <div> There are, it seems to me, <B><U>five basic</U></B> ways in which the concept of alienation has been used. ... <B><U>Powerlessness</U></B> ... the expectancy or probability held by the individual that his own behavior cannot determine the occurrence of the outcomes, or reinforcements, he seeks. ... <B><U>Meaninglessness</U></B><U> </U>... the individual is unclear as to what he ought to believe. ... <B><U>Normlessness </U></B>... [denoting] a situation in which the social norms regulating individual conduct have broken down or are no longer effect as rules for behavior. ... <B><U>Isolation</U></B> ... [wherein] the alienated ... assign low reward value to goals or beliefs that are typically highly valued in the given society. ... [and] <B><U>Self-Estrangement</U></B> ... [meaning that the] notion of the loss of intrinsically meaningful satisfactions ... [and] the degree of dependence of the given behavior upon anticipated future rewards. (Seeman, pp. 783-790).</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>