Table of Content

20 March 2017, Volume 37 Issue 2

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Penalized Gaussian Graphic Models and Their Applications in Social Network Measurement

CHEN Huashan

2017, 37(2):  1-25. 

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Given the popularity of Internet and new technology,more and more behavioral data recording human interactions has now become available,and attracted the attention of sociological research. Most of the behavioral journal data are of event-action type and are the same data structure as two-mode networks. Two-mode networks are common in social network analysis fields and there are many methods for analyzing two-mode networks. However,unlike the classical two-mode network that is usually a small dataset and suitable for methods such as matrix decomposition,principal component analysis,and other descriptive analysis methods,the underlying network of behavioral data is rather large in scale,with information about time ordered heterogeneous events. Besides,the network members change dynamically,members may join or leave the network. Traditional analytic methods cannot effectively deal with such data. The analysis of such large-scale behavioral data is a huge challenge for social scientists.
Over the past decade, the high dimensional Gaussian graphic model has received a great deal of attention in the research of network structure detection,especially those based on Tibshirani's lasso method of statistical analysis(1996). The success of the lasso based penalized Gaussian graphic model is not only due to its efficiency in high dimensional computation,but also due to its interpretability and ease of extension under further considerations. Hence,the lasso penalized Gaussian graphic model is a rapidly developing field with an overwhelming amount of literature on Biology,Genetics,Neurology,machine learning,etc. However,it hasn't caught the attention from social scientists.
This paper presents an overview of the applications of lasso based penalized Gaussian graphic model for the measurement of network structures with observational behavioral data. The author does not focus on the specific solution algorithms and optimization processes,but rather on the potential substantial contributions of the Gaussian graphic model and its extensions to social science research. This paper derives different hypothesis under theoretical concern and demonstrates with real data examples. Finally,it also briefly summarizes the related models and their R packages,with intent to expand the application of the Gaussian graphic models in social science research.

Network Fields,Cultural Identities and Labor Rights Communities: Big Data Analytics with Topic Model and Community Detection

HUANG Ronggui

2017, 37(2):  26-50. 

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The Weibo platform is a social space for interaction and expression. It requires scholars to simultaneously examine communication patterns and communicated content among Weibo users. Based on theories of "network and culture" and relational sociology,this article contends that network fields and the communicated cultural meanings are mutually constituted. The author used Latent Dirichlet allocation(LDA)topic model and social network analysis techniques to examine 51 288 Weibo posts published by users concerned for labor rights. This article reveals the relationship between community structures and community focal topics. Specifically,the result of LDA topic modeling shows that the focal topics regarding labor issues can be categorized into four groups,namely workers' culture and welfare,predicaments and problems,strikes(rights defending actions)and labor organizations,social institutions,and labor rights. Analysis of interaction patterns among users resulted in five major online communities. Based on the primary topics within communities,these five communities could be labeled as:community for workers' homes in cities,community for workers' culture,community for workers' rights protection actions,community for workers' rights and interests,and community for labor institutions. The results also showed two new trends in relation to labor issues:for one,labor culture and its integration into urban life have garnered increasing online attention with the growth of new generation workers;for another,the Weibo platform provides an interaction channel for labor researchers and labor NGOs,and such interaction facilitates the latter to critically reflect the current conditions or plights of workers from an institutional/structural perspective. This article concludes with a discussion about the significance of utilizing big data analytics to study online culture and social mentality.

Does Online Sentiment Predict Stock Market Indices? The ARDL Bounds Tests Based on Sina-Microblog Data

CHEN Yunsong, YAN Fei

2017, 37(2):  51-73. 

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This study focuses on the relationship between online sentiment and the stock market as both play a significant role in modern life. More specifically, based on a time series analysis of Sina-Microblog data and SSE composite index data, this paper explores whether and how Sina-Microblog feeds affect stock market trends in China. We extracted the frequency of occurrence of stock market-related terms on Sina-Microblog to construct an indicator of online market sentiment. Considering the complexity of the effects of online sentiment on the process of decision-making, we divided the stock market into low volatility and high volatility to analyze the effects. Granger tests using the T-Y process and co-integration analyses based on bound tests using the ARDL model show that:1) the indicator of online market sentiment in previous 1-3 days is a statistically significant predictor of the daily SSE composite index; 2) there is long-term relationship between online market sentiment and the SSE composite index; 3) the relationship is insignificant when the market volatility is low, and 4) the relationship is mediated by the capital flow into the stock market. As an empirical study of the online sentiment influences real economic and social consequences, this paper contributes to our understanding of the vital role that social media plays in the economic and social process.

Relative Income and Subjective Well-Being: Examining Multiple Reference Groups of Rural-to-Urban Migrant Workers in China

WU Hania, WANG Junxiu

2017, 37(2):  74-105. 

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In spite of their lower socioeconomic position in comparison to urban citizens, migrant workers usually report higher subjective well-being. Two interpretations address this inconsistency between objective socioeconomic status and subjective well-being judgement:homogeneous reference group hypothesis (HRG) and the prospect of upward mobility hypothesis (PUM). These two theories imply that migrant workers may choose different reference groups when engaging in social comparison. On one hand, HRG suggests that migrant workers may compare their income with that of other farmers in their origins, therefore their lower income status relative to urban workers won't hurt their evaluation of well-being. On the other hand, PUM suggests urban workers are migrant workers' reference group, acting as a signal of their income status in the future; thus the positive effect from expectation of upward mobility would overwhelm the negative influence of current lower income status. Based on large-scale nationally representative survey data, we test the above hypotheses by constructing multiple reference groups of migrant workers (i.e. farmers, migrant workers and urban workers). Our findings support the homogeneous reference group hypothesis:holding one's own income constant, the more other farmers in same province earn, the less satisfied migrant workers are, indicating migrant workers' higher income status relative to other farmers has a significant effect on their subjective well-being. Furthermore, the mysterious subjective well-being premium of migrant workers over urban citizens shrinks dramatically, even to negative, after including the average income of their rural peers. Nevertheless, the prospect of upward mobility hypothesis is not supported:the average income of other urban workers shows no significant influence, and it may not result from the depressing effect of the prospect of upward mobility.

Redistribution and the Change of Class Differences of Subjective Well-Being, 2005-2013

HONG Yanbi

2017, 37(2):  106-132. 

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Using CGSS2005 and CGSS2013, this paper analyzes the class differences of subjective well-being (SWB) between 2005 and 2013, and attempts to explore the effects of state redistribution capability on this change. First, the longitudinal comparison finds that the SWB of all classes improved significantly during that period, however, due to the potential measurement issues, such a conclusion should be regarded with caution. Second, the differences between occupational classes can be explained by variations in income and education. Nevertheless, the model R² in 2013 is much smaller than the R² in 2005, indicating a possible change in the pattern of SWB formation. Third, the degree of SWB improvement of lower classes is significantly higher than middle- and upper classes (managers and professionals). An analysis on satisfaction in year-to-year comparison also shows a significant decrease of satisfaction among managers and professionals from 2005 to 2013. Fourth, HLM analyses reveal that the enforcement of state redistribution ability plays an important role in the changes of classes differences on SWB. Under the relatively low level of state macro tax collection and redistribution of 2005, the increased ability of both tend to benefit high income groups more; while at a much more effective level of 2013, the reinforcement of state macro tax collection and redistribution appear to have the same effects on all income groups across the board. These results show that the state redistribution power has somewhat a limited impacton SWB of different income groups. This could be indicative of a new phase in Chinese social structure, in which the power of redistribution plays a strong role on individuals' life choices and well-being.

Freud's Theater of Case History: Confessor and Life World (II)

SUN Feiyu

2017, 37(2):  133-165. 

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This paper is a sequel to A Genealogy of Modern Confession:Confessor and Life World (I). Upon the theoretical framework laid out in the previous paper, the author selected five case histories of Freud's psychoanalysis as the focus of this study. Through an analysis of John O'Neil's work on Freud, the paper places psychoanalytical confession and its theory within the tradition of classical social theory and western civilization. The question of reason and being in the life world is the focal point of the discussion. Treating the five cases as one body, the author looks into the various aspects of this "body with its history" in Freudian confession:beginning and rapture, travel and return, classification of civilization, existence and sacredness of the life world. Freud's basic assumption is that every important topic of civilization in human history is most concretely expressed by the confessing body and everyday life stories. Finally, the author argues that, in line with Hegel, reason must first fall onto the Da-sein and then the life world. With regard to confession, there are two kinds of reason:reason as "form of being" and reason as "will of life." The later derives from the state of Da-sein and is probably the truly difficult part of reason. From this point of view, what Kant hoped for the Enlightenment might be possibly achieved by the Freudian clinical techniques.

State Control and Doctors' Abuse of Clinical Autonomy: An Empirical Analysis of Doctors' Clinical Practice in Chinese Public Hospitals

YAO Zelin

2017, 37(2):  166-192. 

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Medical doctors enjoy a high degree of professional autonomy because of their highly specialized knowledge and skills that cannot be easily scrutinized by untrained outsiders. Thus,the question of effective social supervision of medical profession remains an important issue in sociology of occupations. This study compiles government statistics,existing literature as well as fieldwork data from Beijing public hospitals to provide an analysis of the working conditions and clinic practices of medical doctors in urban China. The study finds that Chinese medical professionals are dependent on public hospitals,the dominant healthcare delivery system in China. They have no corporate autonomy enabling them to negotiate with the state over working conditions,service compensations and salary. This resulted in a distorted market value of medical professionals. However,the monopoly of public health system places hospitals and physicians in a position of control over both patients and pharmaceutical companies,making possible for doctors to turn their prescription privilege into means for personal economic gains. "Red Envelops",kickbacks and over-prescriptions become standard compensations for doctors' state regulated relatively modest salaries. This abuse of clinical autonomy by medical professionals has been pervasive and persistent in China,a clear indication of not just the failure of the state supervision and regulation but also the failure of self-monitoring professionalism. The study suggests that reforms in ending the monopoly of public healthcare system,encouraging medical professionals' participation in policy decision making process,and allowing for private practice are some of the necessary steps to deal with the problem.

The System of Special Commissioners and the Early Labor Movement of the CCP: Illustrated by History of the Anyuan Worker Movement (1921-1925)

MA Xuejun

2017, 37(2):  193-215. 

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Existing literature on the CCP led labor movement places particular emphasis on the revolutionary discourse and analysis of class struggle, but less attention to the organization form of the CCP led labor movement from the perspective of organizational sociology. This paper chooses the early Anyuan labor movement as its case study, and analyzes and compares the work effectiveness of the CCP special commissioners Li Lisan and Liu Shaoqi for the purpose of exploring the organizational form of the system of special commissioners in the CCP led labor movement. Although Anyuan was an important early base of the workers' movement of the CCP, the existing research contributes little on the subject of its historical process and the organizational form of the CCP led the Anyuan labor movemen. This study argues that Li Lisan created the Anyuan labor movement through his personal resources,but his successor Liu Shaoqi failed to sustain the Anyuan movement. It shows that the system of special commissioners in the CCP was responsible for the rise and fall of the Anyuan labor movement. In the early stage of the CCP led labor movement, neither the class consciousness of the workers nor the will of the central CCP committee determined the happening of the labor movement, Rather it depended on the personal resources of the CCP special commissioners. The actual work effectiveness of special commissioners are not only related to their personal resources,but also closely related to the commissioners' position in the CCP. The special commissioner system caused tension between the CCP unified leadership and individual commissioners. This led to the complex question of the relationship between professional revolutionary organizations and the masses in revolution. Specific analysis of the early system of special commissioners of the CCP, helps us to pay attention to the organization of the CCP led the labor movement, and also helps us to understand the early form of organization development and the evolution of the CCP.

More than Upbringing: Parents' Support and the Effect on Filial Duty

XU Qi

2017, 37(2):  216-240. 

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The prior research about intergenerational relationships in a Chinese context usually focuses on filial support to parents but rarely pays attention to parental support to adult children, and its impact on children's feedback. In this paper, we summarize the existing literature on this topic and argue that parental support to adult children not only can solve real life needs but also lay the foundation for receiving filial return in the future. Based on the pilot survey of China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS) in 2012, we found that in today's China parents are providing abundant support for their adult children such as financial help and childcare. This support (particularly childcare) has a significant positive effect on children's immediate and future filial return. In comparison to rural families, this positive effect is much stronger in urban families.This to some extent indicates that the foundation of filial piety in China has changed with the development of modernization. On one hand, both parents and children need each other's support at some particular points of life cycle; therefore, intergenerational support in the future will be bidirectional rather than unidirectional. On the other hand, with the weakening of filial piety children's support to parents may change from unconditional support to conditional support. Whether or not children receive parental support in adulthood may become an important factor or condition of the amount of their support provided to parents.