Tracking with wire chambers at the SSC
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
04/1990
Journal Article
This paper presents two problematics to sociology—unit, how phenomena are unitized—and emotion—how emotionality is modeled in human group processes—which surface in the analysis of the phenomena of ...families. Problems related to intimate relationships have escaped serious critical analysis in sociological theory despite the range and extent of various types of abusive, and other pathological behavior which have been linked to family contexts. I trace this neglect beyond the politics of the discipline of sociology and wider ideological beliefs in the sanctity of family relationships to a fundamental lack of conceptual equipment which is able to capture two dynamics of intimate interaction—its relational and its emotional nature. I label these characteristics "family problematics" and show how a shift in epistemological thinking provides directions for modeling family phenomena in particular and reforming sociological models in general.
Anne: “I can't, I'm in the depths of despair. Can you eat when you are in the depths of despair?” “I've never been in the depths of despair, so I can't say,” said Marilla. “Weren't you? Well did you ...ever try to imagine you were in the depths of despair?” ” No, I didn't.” “Then I don't think you can understand what it's like. It's a very uncomfortable feeling indeed. When you try to eat a lump comes right up in your throat and you can't swallow anything, not even if it was a chocolate caramel.” —L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables . Emotion, as a “suprarational” property, transcends rationality in that it can be thought of as a group, contextual rather than as a solely individual trait, and thus is a higher order property, as the above quote suggests. This proposal arises from a metatheoretical analysis of models available to broach questions of emotion. I use metatheoretical in the sense of both the context of theory production and the theory of theory. From the first arose the idea that emotion, through the use of irrationality, has surfaced as a working equivalent to inexplicability or rational relativity, and can be modelled more adequately as suprarational, with a unique nature in its own right. The latter led me to propose that the concept of emotion as contextual, a higher order group level property, is possible and tentatively profitable.
Valid unitization of interaction where a theoretical model of family recognizes the joint nature of interaction process (non-summativity) or the emotional nature of families, requires careful ...attention. I explore this issue using an empirical experience with videotaped interaction samples of family dyads and triads with aged members. I present an alternate to conventional research design along three minimum criteria. To respect non-summativity: observe dyads as the minimum member unit. To respect emotion: observe action/reaction as the minimum sequence unit, and observe continuous time. Once these criteria are met analysis within case becomes a stage prior to across case analysis.
Symptoms, etiological factors, separated conceptually from problems, the social constfvction of the idea that something is wrong with someone, provide an important advance of theories of mental ...illness by bringing intimate relations into central focus and concretizing constructivist ideas. I focus on how interaction patterns in intimate contexts lead to emergent notions of sense and not sense, the intimate politics of sense, separate from objective notions of sense. By looking at a dataset with identified senile dementia patients, and a control group of non-identified aged persons, with family members. I elaborate patterns in intimate contexts which appear to be more and conversely less likely to be correlated with creating and maintaining a family member as a patient. Observed tendencies like can't knowing, control of the omniscient, and perpetual agreement, are argued to be surface manifestations of the emotional isolation of one person who comes to be defined as problematic.
Outlines how VHS videotape serves validity whenever the theoretical constructs of context, constructivism, or emotion are used. This argument is grounded in an investigation of senile dementia in ...families that used videotaped interaction samples of 45 family dyads & triads in combination with self-report & diagnostic data. This project resulted in the development of the definitional deficit/definitional equality typology & the construct of the patienting process in senile dementia. Implications of the new flexibility provided by use of VHS videotape for methods & analysis are addressed. 3 Figures, 18 References. Adapted from the source document.
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