Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In scientific literature references to anecdotal evidence are usually made in an apologetic manner because anecdotes tend to be opposed to sound data and theory. This paper makes the opposite argument. Anecdotes are found in all types of social occasions and societies; they are windows onto the dynamics of broad social phenomena and should not be dismissed as unreliable and irrelevant. Anecdotes trigger inferences regarding societal forces, social representations, and the anticipation of future conditions. They consequently function as a kind of folk sociology. The concept of “everyday anecdote” is introduced in order to investigate stories told by ordinary people which lack some of the literary qualities of anthologized anecdotes. Critical discourse analysis is used to explore the sociological validity of anecdotal evidence in one of the classic works of the Chicago School, Clifford Shaw’s The Jack-Roller: A Delinquent Boy’s Own Story. The conciseness of anecdotes lends itself to the deliberate manipulation of addressees by both speakers and the collectors-editors-contextualizers who publish them. The enigmatic qualities of such micro-narratives may help to explain why a methodologically flawed text came to be designated a classic book in early American sociology.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: My paper examines how Jack London’s The Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang (1906) challenge monolithic, human-centered ideas of race and gender. As I assert, London argues that evolution leads to biological kinship between animals and humans. I pay particular notice to the ways that both novels depict the popularized “wild frontier” as a projection of white, masculine fantasies about dominance and control. My discussion then focuses on London’s proposal that national ideals of “whiteness” and masculinity and femininity must be tested against the dictates of a natural/national history. As a result we can read the violent endings of both novels as attempts to reconcile the conflicting themes of biological kinship and imperialism. Thus, as I observe, these novels reflect dominant cultural attitudes, such as imperialist fantasies about progress, that inform an early-twentieth-century reading of evolution. Yet I do suggest that London’s narratives provide possibilities for “rewriting” animal languages in a way that might allow for a reexamination of evolutionary theory on non-human agents. I look at these possibilities in the context of how second-order systems theory (described by Cary Wolfe as the study of “observing observation” ) allows us to explore the instability of language and meaning, shedding new light on the production of scientific knowledge about the evolutionary development of animals and humans.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Numerous studies have demonstrated a third-person perception, but many aspects of the origins and consequences of this remain unaddressed. In this study, we use the topic of video game effects to assess how differences in an individual’s use of a medium and between positive and negative effects shape the third-person effect. Although games are subject to clear third-person perceptions and subsequent support for censorship, these patterns are greatly diminished for heavy players and positive effects.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The paper explores the myriad uses of television drama in mediated political discourse, using the case study of “24” - Fox’s counterterrorism drama. It examines references to “24” in articles and columns of nine major daily newspapers, magazines and political websites, from 2001 to 2007, and demonstrates how the show is invoked to support and express different political opinions; how people reconcile their political identity and media preferences; and how different categories of use interact with different political allegiances and different assumptions about the ontological and epistemological status of the show in relation to the political reality. The paper is also an attempt to revisit and develop the concept of inter-textuality as a way to account for the complex interactions within the contemporary media environment, and as a bridge between text-centered and audience-centered approaches to communication research.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Seminal work on the electoral connection was developed to explain the largely homogenous Congresses of the 1970s and 1980s. While more recent empirical work examines Congresses with greater gender diversity, much of it continues to ignore gender as an important analytic category. Given the changing demographics of the Congress, we know less and less about the relationship between members of Congress and their constituents. To correct this oversight, we develop and test a theoretical account of the electoral implications of gender and incumbent voting behavior. Based on voter stereotyping, we argue that men and women incumbents will face very different electoral consequences for being out of touch with their constituents. Using data from the 2000-2006 House elections, we find that women pay higher electoral costs than men when their voting behavior is more liberal than district preferences, but pay lower costs when their behavior is more conservative. We conclude that the electoral fortunes of women are closely tied to their responsiveness to constituents, providing an advantage when they closely mirror district preference but affording them less leeway in pursuing their own policy interests in Congress.