Editorial Board:
Editor:
George H. Conklin,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Board:
Bob Davis,
 North Carolina
 Agricultural and
 Technical State
 University

Richard Dixon,
 UNC-Wilmington

Ken Land,
 Duke University

Miles Simpson,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Ron Wimberley,
 N.C. State University

Robert Wortham,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Editorial Assistants

John W.M. Russell,
 Technical
 Consultant

Austin W. Ashe,
 North Carolina
 Central University

® 
Volume 7, Number 1

Spring 2009

Special Focus:
W.E.B. Du Bois

Robert Wortham
Special Section Editor

Outline of Articles

1. W.E.B. Du Bois and Demography: Early Explorations
   by Robert A. Wortham
   Du Bois' contributions to demographic research in sociology, although at least 15 years earlier than the recognized work by Thompson, has been unacknowledged, even as it broke new ground in documenting the demographic patterns of African Americans in Philadelphia.  His contributions are recounted here, along with a plea that Du Bois be recognized as a trail blazer in the field of social demography. 
2. W.E.B. Du Bois and the Sociology of the African American Family
   by Mindy M. Saari
   W. E. B. Du Bois took an empirical, scientific approach in his attempt to document African American family life at the turn of the twentieth century, and he consistently argued that inequality was grounded in social structures that could be changed. As a social scientist, he worked to promote change by empirically documenting the "Negro Problems" and addressing the African American community's continued limited access to accepted social norms regarding family life.
3. The Berlin Years: The Influence of German Thought and Experience on the Development of Du Bois' Sociology 
   by Stacey Weger
   Despite being historically well received for his many contributions to literature, civil rights, and political advocacy, W.E.B. Du Bois' contributions to the development of scientific sociology have been understated.  It is evident that the teachings of several key faculty at the University of Berlin, in particular, those of Gustav Schmoller and Max Weber, played a significant role in forming Du Bois' attitudes towards social research and reform, and in laying out a blueprint for his future practices in the field.  The influence of Du Bois' education in Europe is explored as is his contribution to the theoretical basis of sociology as a discipline.
4. Methodological Triangulation and the Social Studies of Charles Booth, Jane Addams, and W.E.B. Du Bois 
   by Shannon O'Connor 
   Du Bois' study was funded by the University of Pennsylvania and was closely tied to the "Settlement Movement."  The goal of the study was to understand the causes of the social problems of African Americans residing in the seventh ward.  Du Bois gathered data and generated empirical findings that he felt would expose the oppressive nature of treatment toward African Americans.  It was his hope that these findings would provide a basis for social improvement.
5. The Impact of Occupational Status on Household Chore Hours among Dual Earner Couples 
   by Megumi Omori and Danielle Taana Smith
   Previous studies on the who does what about routine chores in the household have tended to neglect the occupational structure and its influence on the amount of time spent on housework.  Using NSFH data, it is found that married couples' household chore hours vary by their occupational status: couples in higher status occupations spend significantly fewer hours on household chores as compared to their counterparts in lower status occupations. 
6. Digital Television, Convergence, and the Public: Another Digital Divide? 
   by Jason Smith 
   While 85 percent of Americans pay to receive television signals through satellite or cable companies, 15 percent still receive their television using over-the-air signals.  With the eliminination of analog television signals, the 15 percent of households have had to make significant changes in their viewing technology.  These households tend to be elderly, poor, minority and rural.  Signal coverage areas will be cut back in practice, since government assumed a viewer would have an antenna on a 30 foot pole.  Few do, and governmental programs delibertely hid this engineering fact.  It is argued that digitalism has neglected the public use of the airways and created yet one more digital divide. 
7. A Book Review of For Durkheim, by Edward A. Tiryakian, ISBN: 978-0-7546-7155-8
   by George H. Conklin
   In 17 chapters, Edward A. Tiryakian provides the reader with an exhaustive analysis of the sociology of Emile Durkheim and his influence on the discipline today.  Presenting a lifetime of scholarship about Durkheim, the book For Durkheim pulls together for the first time in one place the author's detailed analysis of many aspects of Durkheim's scholarship which have been influential over the past 100 years.  Several of the chapters are available for the first time in English.  This book is useful for any advanced undergraduate student and essential and required for graduate students, and will serve as the basis for many additional professional articles on the role of theory in modern sociology. 
    
    
   
   

    

     ©2009 by the North Carolina Sociological Association