Robert
Hanneman : Research Areas of Interest
Mathematical and computational sociology
Bibliography
I invite you to sift through a bibliography of my published work.
Current Projects
Typologies of world system position and military intervention in politics
Comparisons of QCA, LCA, and Logit modeling for event models
Niche space and organizational ecology in the United States salt industry, 1790-1990
Governance and agency in the the United States salt industry, 1915-1995
Mathematical and computational sociology:
My main interests have been in the formalization of sociological theories as mathematical models, and the study of the properties of these models by use of computer simulation. I primarily follow the "systems dynamics" tradition of Jay Forrester, although I have interests and familiarity with agent-based (e.g. "complexity") systems, network models, and more conventional "mathematical" models.
Past work (see bibliography) includes a monograph on the method of systems dynamics simulation with a number of elaborated examples, and articles on Marx, Pareto, Collins, and others.
Current projects include formalizations of some of Jonathan Turner's and other's work in macro-societal dynamics. The goal is to provide formalizations as continuous-state continuous-time mathematical models of many major sociological theories, and to explore the range of behavior and internal logic of these models.
Links about simulation and modeling
Links about the "Systems Dynamics" method
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Political and military sociology:
Past work (see bibliography) includes monographs and related articles on comparative medical care delivery systems, educational system structure and performance, welfare and income maintenance, and income distribution in the United States and several western European countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. Generally, my perspective is macro-organizational and political. Most studies focus on the dynamic interaction of the organizational structure (delivery systems and state apparatus), the mobilization of interest groups (providers, consumers, regulators, etc.), and system performance (effectiveness, efficiency, equality of distribution, etc.).
A narrower interest is in the study of military coup d'etat. Using perspectives derived mostly from comparative politics and the sociology of the military, I have done several classifications and predictive models directed toward understanding military coups worldwide in the bi-polar era (1947-1989). Currently, I am working on an article that contrasts several alternative classifications of world-system position of nations (political versus economic) in terms of their utility for understanding military interventions into politics in the period from 1947 to 1989.
Another current work (mostly methodological) contrasts Ragin's "Qualitatative Comparative Analysis" method with Latent Class analysis and logistic regression as methods for describing and predicting patterns of successful coup activity. We find virtues to the use of all three approaches as providing differing descriptive insights to the same data.
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I have worked on several projects that seek to apply (and secondarily test) organizational theory. The rise and decline of populations of worker cooperative enterprises in Israel, which I studied with Rusty Russell is one application of population ecology theory. We find that environmental and institutional factors, as well as density and population dynamics models are needed to explain the case. We also looked at one of Russell's continuing interests in detail in Israel: why do cooperative enterprises "degenerate" by hiring non-member labor?
Both themes (institutional factors in population dynamics and labor utilization) continue as themes in part of my current work with Russell. The focus has changed to contemporary Russia, where we are examining the process of the emergence of new organizational populations from the formerly state dominated sectors of the economy, and examing whether labor utilization practices (esp. use of part time and contract labor) are driven more by institutional traditions or by cost and transactional efficiencies.
I am also engaged in two projects studying the American salt industry. The industry provides an interesting site for examining two issues of interest: the evolution of organizational communities and problems of markets and economic governance.
One study examines the longer term (1790-1990) transformation of the social structure of economic production in the American salt industry. The rise and fall of various communities of producers are traced and explained by both exogeneous (external competition, changes in niche space, regulation, etc.) and internal (technology, innovations of organizational form, cooperation and competition) factors. Again, we learn that the basic models of organizational dynamics and population ecology have a good bit of validity in understanding the long-term dynamics of the niche, fields, and organizational communities in this industry -- but that numerous other factors were also very important.
A second study deals with the theoretical issues of collective action and agency in the governance of economic sectors. The emergence and transformations of the association of American salt producers (nee "Salt Producer's Association, currently "Salt Institute") are traced over the period from 1915 to the 1990s. The goal is to understand changes in the structure of the assocation, it's agency relation with the manufactures, and its scope of activity. These changes are shaped by two sets of forces. Externally, changes in the niche space, technology, regulatory, and competitive regimes impose opportunities and constraints on governance by modifying the nature and cost of collective goods. Internally, changes in the numbers and character of the actors (manufacturers), and their hetrogenity and resource distributions modify the exchange bargains that give rise to collective action in the form of association among them.
Links to WWW sites regarding the salt industry
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I have done several articles examining predictors of the placement of severely and profoundly retarded children outside the home. These are collaborations with Dr. Jan Blacher (School of Education, U.C.R.), who is a specialist in special education; my primary interest in this area is methodological.
From time to time I have done needs-assessment and program evaluation survey research on a small scale. Most of these works are shown in my service record.
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