Ivaylo D. Petev - Mechanisms

Topics in Quantitative Sociology

Fall 2020 ENSAE

Social Mechanisms

Sociologists try to account for the complexity of causality in social phenomena by reconstructing the mechanisms (chains) of action. We examine how this approach explains differences in cultural reproduction.

Background readings

Little, 2012, Socio, “Analytical Sociology and The Rest of Sociology”

Optional readings

Abbott, 2007, Soc, "Mechanisms and relations"
Bruch & Atwell, 2015, SSR, "Agent-based models in empirical social research"
Edling, 2002, ARS, "Mathematics in sociology"
Gilbert & Troitzsch, 2005, Ch1&2, “Simulation for the Social Scientist”
Hedstrom & Bearman, 2009, Ch1&2, The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology

Case-study for reading and commentary

Jaeger & Breen, 2016, AJS, “A Dynamic Model of Cultural Reproduction”

Student commentaries: 1, 2.

The authors draw on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction to develop a formal model of the pathways through which cultural capital acts to enhance children’s educational and socioeconomic success. The authors’ approach brings conceptual and empirical clarity to an important area of study. Their model describes how parents transmit cultural capital to their children and how children convert cultural capital into educational success. It also provides a behavioral framework for interpreting parental investments in cultural capital. The authors review results from existing empirical research on the role of cultural capital in education to demonstrate the usefulness of their model for interpretative purposes, and they use National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979—Children and Young Adults survey data to test some of its implications.

Case-studies for written reviews

Bearman, Peter S., James Moody, and Katherine Stovel. 2004. “Chains of Affection: The Structure of Adolescent Romantic and Sexual Networks.” American Journal of Sociology 110(1):44–91. doi: 10.1086/386272.
Blaabæk, Ea Hoppe, Mads Meier Jæger, and Joseph Molitoris. 2020. “Family Size and Educational Attainment: Cousins, Contexts, and Compensation.” European Journal of Population 36(3):575–600. doi: 10.1007/s10680-019-09543-y.
Breen, R., H. G. Van De Werfhorst, and M. M. Jaeger. 2014. “Deciding under Doubt: A Theory of Risk Aversion, Time Discounting Preferences, and Educational Decision-Making.” European Sociological Review 30(2):258–70. doi: 10.1093/esr/jcu039.
Breinholt, Asta, and Mads Meier Jæger. 2020. “How Does Cultural Capital Affect Educational Performance: Signals or Skills?” The British Journal of Sociology 71(1):28–46. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12711.
Bruch, Elizabeth E., and Robert D. Mare. 2006. “Neighborhood Choice and Neighborhood Change.” American Journal of Sociology 112(3):667–709. doi: 10.1086/507856.
DiPrete, Thomas A., Thijs Bol, Christina Ciocca Eller, and Herman G. Van De Werfhorst. 2017. “School-to-Work Linkages in the United States, Germany, and France.” American Journal of Sociology 122(6):1869–1938. doi: 10.1086/691327.
Edling, Christofer, Jens Rydgren, and Rickard Sandell. 2016. “Terrorism, Belief Formation, and Residential Integration: Population Dynamics in the Aftermath of the 2004 Madrid Terror Bombings.” American Behavioral Scientist 60(10):1215–31. doi: 10.1177/0002764216643127.
Flashman, Jennifer, and Diego Gambetta. 2014. “Thick as Thieves: Homophily and Trust among Deviants.” Rationality and Society 26(1):3–45. doi: 10.1177/1043463113512996.
Gambetta, Diego, and Wojtek Przepiorka. 2014. “Natural and Strategic Generosity as Signals of Trustworthiness” edited by A. Sánchez. PLoS ONE 9(5):e97533. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097533.
Hedström, Peter. 1994. “Contagious Collectivities: On the Spatial Diffusion of Swedish Trade Unions, 1890-1940.” American Journal of Sociology 99(5):1157–79. doi: 10.1086/230408.
Iannaccone, Laurence R. 1994. “Why Strict Churches Are Strong.” American Journal of Sociology 99(5):1180–1211. doi: 10.1086/230409.
Jæger, Mads, and Kristian Karlson. 2018. “Cultural Capital and Educational Inequality: A Counterfactual Analysis.” Sociological Science 5:775–95. doi: 10.15195/v5.a33.
Jæger, Mads Meier, and Stine Møllegaard. 2017. “Cultural Capital, Teacher Bias, and Educational Success: New Evidence from Monozygotic Twins.” Social Science Research 65:130–44. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.04.003.
Legewie, Joscha, and Thomas A. DiPrete. 2012. “School Context and the Gender Gap in Educational Achievement.” American Sociological Review 77(3):463–85.
Ochoa, Nicolas Restrepo, and Stephen Vaisey. 2024. “Opinions on Hard-to-Discuss Topics Change More via Cohort Replacement.” Evolutionary Human Sciences 6:1–18. doi: 10.1017/ehs.2024.13.
Wikström, Per-Olof H., and Kyle Treiber. 2016. “Social Disadvantage and Crime: A Criminological Puzzle.” American Behavioral Scientist 60(10):1232–59. doi: 10.1177/0002764216643134.