John Goldthorpe's 1996-97 Annual Research Report

John Goldthorpe (Official Fellow) continued to pursue his interests in comparative macrosociology and sociological theory and, more specifically, in the possibilities of allying rational action theory with the quantitative analysis of large-scale data sets. He also continued his research, with Richard Breen of Queen’s University Belfast, into questions of the relationship between social class and educational attainment in modern British society and the extent of ‘meritocratic’ social selection. In November he helped organize and contributed to a conference held at Nuffield, under the auspices of the International Statistical Institute, on ‘Current Statistical Problems in Sociology’. In May he spent some time at the Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung in Berlin, where he serves on the Scientific Council.

Publications

‘Current Issues in Comparative Macrosociology’ and ‘A Response to the Commentaries’, Comparative Social Research, 16, 1997.

(with Garrett Fitzmaurice) ‘Adjusting for Overdispersion in an Analysis of Comparative Social Mobility’, Sociological Methods and Research, 25, 1997.

(with Meir Yaish and Vered Kraus) ‘Class Mobility in Israeli Society: A Comparative Perspective’, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 15, 1997.

(with Richard Breen) ‘Explaining Educational Differentials: Towards a Formal Rational Action Theory’, Rationality and Society, 9, 1997.