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Racial and sexual segregation within firms and other organizations is persistently decried as a social problem. Yet there is persistent scholarly debate about the causes, effects, and remedies for such segregation. Over five weeks this course will review several dominant economic, psychological and sociological theories of organizational stratification. We will explore how organizational scholars identify stratification as arising both from individual-level biases and from organizational policies that enable and reinforce actions stemming from those biases. The focus will be on research that has tried to identify policy interventions to reduce such stratification. nn

As a field, economic sociology has had little to say about economic development. Much of this quietude stems from the latter's identification with "backward," "poor" or "developing" economies, and the former's interest in many of the advanced features of the richer economies. This state of affairs not only sets up a false dichotomy but also makes it difficult by construction to theorize or research the issue of economic decline, seemingly a necessary piece of any coherent theory of development.nnnThe (admittedly ambitious) goal of this seminar is to move toward a better theory of economic development. We will review several of the more common strands of thought on development in related literatures and then consider some alternative perspectives that might bridge this research and contemporary sociology. No guarantees are made that we will have a full-fledged theory by the end of the quarter, but with luck we will have breathed some new life into an often marginalized but critically important strain of social thought and research.nnnThe class will be a seminar based around the readings. Grading will be a combination of class participation, a take-home midterm and a final paper.

Why are some organizations more competitive than others? This is one of the defining questions of the interdisciplinary research field known as “strategic management.” In this seminar, we will survey the field of strategic management, touching on the four main theoretical approaches that have developed there. Note that I take a very broad view of the field of strategic management, reflecting the diversity of perspectives that are seen in this field worldwide. The reading list here is a small subset of a larger reading list that would occupy a 30-session course. I will make that longer version of the course available to you, although in this short course we will only skim the surface of this deeper reading list.nnnMost work in strategic management pays little attention to particular theoretical perspectives, and is organized more by the topic – the phenomenon being studied – such as market exit, growth, performance, mergers and acquisitions, innovation, and the like. I have catalogued the research in strategic management both according to theoretical perspective and topic, and that structure can be seen in this syllabus. I encourage you to use a similar structure as you try to understand the strategy field.

This course covers research and theory on the origins and function of social norms. Topics include the estimation of public opinion, the function of norms as ideals and standards of judgment, and the impact of norms on collective and individual behavior. In addition to acquainting students with the various forms and functions of social norms the course will provide students with experience in identifying and formulating tractable research questions.

For students who seek experience and advanced training in empirical research methods. Analysis of experimental data with methods ranging from simple chi-square to multiple regression models, including an introduction to mixed models. Uses the free statistical computing package R. Prerequisite: An intro stats class (Same as Psych 252 -- Co-taught with Ewart Thomas).

This seminar investigates the ways in which categories emerge in markets and shape market behavior. It covers recent theoretical and empirical work on the sociology of categories and its foundations in cognitive science. Particular attention is given to formalization.

This is a course in the design of social research, with a particular emphasis on research field (i.e., non-laboratory) settings. As such, the course is a forum for discussing and developing an understanding of the different strategies social theorists employ to explain social processes, develop theories, and make these theories as believable as possible. In general, these issues will be discussed in the context of sociological research on organizations, but this will not be the exclusive focus of the course. A range of topics will be covered, for example: formulating and motivating research questions; varieties of explanation; experimental and quasi-experimental methods, including natural experiments; counterfactual models; conceptualization and measurement; sampling and case selection; qualitative and quantitative approaches. This course is particularly oriented toward developing an appreciation of the tradeoffs of different approaches. It is well suited to Ph.D. students working on qualifying papers and dissertation proposals.

This seminar focuses on social psychological theories and research relevant to organizational behavior. It reviews the current research topics in micro-organizational behavior, linking these to foundations in cognitive and social psychology and sociology. Topics include models of attribution, decision making, emotion, coordination, influence and persuasion, and the psychology of power and culture. Prerequisites: Enrollment in a PhD program, and a graduate-level social psychology course. Also listed as Sociology 361.

This seminar considers the leading sociological approaches to analyzing relations of organizations and environments, with a special emphasis on dynamics. Attention is given to theoretical formulations, research designs, and results of empirical studies. Prerequisite: Enrollment in a PhD program. Also listed as Sociology 362.