CONSTRUCTING SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE: 25 YEARS OF SOCIOLOGICAL SPECTRUM (2004 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS)

ABSTRACT

This address is a retrospective of the past 25 years of Sociological Spectrum, journal of the Mid South Sociological Association (MSSA). It is divided into three sections: some descriptive notes, a brief examination of challenges presented by previous MSSA presidents, and my recommendations for considerations of gender and globalization that I hope will appear in future research published in the journal. The descriptive notes contain a discussion of who publishes in Spectrum, what topical themes are found in the publications, and a brief consideration of how these themes reflect sociology as a whole, and particularly the MSSA. In the section on challenges, I discuss recommendations and concerns from past presidential addresses and whether or not subsequent research has “listened” to the presidents. The final section is a brief consideration of how gender is being defined within much of current sociological research and some recommendations for moving beyond these definitions, including integration with concepts of race and globalization.

This article represents a slightly revised version of my presidential address delivered to members of the Mid-South Sociological Association at the 30th annual meeting in Biloxi, MS, on October 21, 2004.

Notes

¹Professors Jerome Salomone, Donna Darden, and Stanford Lyman, three long-time members of MSSA, whom we have memorialized at these meetings, combined for a total of 13 different articles published in Sociological Spectrum.

²For a clarifying example of how themes were identified, I should note if a study separated out effects by males and females, but did not discuss sex role or gender differences in detail. I did not mention this as a major theme.