William E Thompson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3594873 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William E Thompson |
| GIVEN NAMES | William E |
| FAMILY NAME | Thompson |
| SIGNATURE | THOMPSON W E |
| AFFILIATIONS | East Texas A&M University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 259 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1983 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Pulling Back the Curtain on Qualitative Research
A High By Any Other Name: Exploring the Motivations for Consumption of 'Legal Highs
A large number of legal, semi-legal, synthetic, and organic drugs are sold online or through commercial vendors as novelties, often labeled as "not for human consumption." It is fairly common knowledge, however, that many, if not all, of the purchasers of such products buy them for personal use. This study conducted ethnographic interviews with 26 synthetic and organic drug users over a five month period. Using a grounded theory approach, the aut…
Learning the student role four decades later: A sociological analysis of 21st century kindergarten as academic boot camp
This study examines if the “kindergarten as academic boot camp” analogy proposed by Harry Grace (1972) is accurate today. Is kindergarten analogous to boot camp, or, because kindergarten is a domain generally designed, structured, and carried out by women, does the military boot camp analogy marginalize the important gender dimension? Using a feminist perspective inspired by Standpoint theory, pedagogical texts for kindergarten programs in Texas …
Growin' Grass: Paradise by the Sodium Light
This qualitative study describes members of a little-known and little-researched subculture: small-time marijuana cultivators in the United States. Couched within a symbolic interaction theoretical framework, extensive ethnographic interviews were conducted with eighteen marijuana growers who cultivate cannabis plants in their homes for small sales and personal use. This study creates a typology of growers based on motivation for growing and tech…
Mature Motorcyclists: Violating Age Norms and Loving It
Age norms tell us at what ages members of society consider it appropriate for us to become potty trained, enter and exit school, start and stop driving a car, get married, have children, retire from work, and even die. So, at what age, if any, should a person start riding a motorcycle? More importantly, at what age should a motorcyclist stop riding? The author conducted ethnographic interviews with approximately 90 motorcyclists over the age of f…
Don't Call Me 'Biker Chick: Women Motorcyclists Redefining Deviant Identity
The majority of literature on women who participate in the world of motorcycling focuses on females associated with outlaw motorcycle clubs and hardcore bikers. Roles for those women tended to be subservient and demeaning. Women are the fastest growing segment in today's contemporary world of middle- and upper-middle-class motorcycling, where they fulfill more meaningful roles whether they are passengers or riders of their own bikes. This descrip…
Pseudo-Deviance and The 'New Biker' Subculture: Hogs, Blogs, Leathers, and Lattes
This article explores the pseudo-deviant world of the "new biker" subculture, comparing and contrasting it to previous research on "outlaw bikers." Using participant observation and ethnographic interviews, the author uses a symbolic interactionist perspective to describe and analyze how and why contemporary "bikers," many of whom are well-educated middle- and upper middle-class professionals, use the symbols of outlaw bikers and earlier motorcyc…
Managing the Stigma of Topless Dancing: A Decade Later
A decade ago we (Thompson and Harred 1992) conducted ethnographic interviews with over 40 topless dancers in seven Gentlemen's Clubs in a major metropolitan city in the Southwest with a population of approximately one million people. Our research focused on how the dancers managed the stigma of their deviant occupation. We found that while the dancers used a variety of stigma management techniques, for analytical purposes they could be collapsed …
Note on Thorson and Powell: Undertakers' Sense of Humor
Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology
Part I THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 1 Discovering Sociology What Is Sociology? Sociology and Critical Thinking The Development of Sociology Contemporary Sociology Looking to the Future: Sociology in the Twenty-First Century 2 Doing Sociology Globalization, Diversity, and Types of Knowledge Sociology and Scientific Knowledge Types of Research and Research Designs The Relationship between Theory and Methods Social Research and the Media Looking to …
Topless dancers: Managing stigma in a deviant occupation
This paper describes and analyzes how topless dancers manage the stigma related to their deviant occupation. It represents approximately nine months of limited participant observation and ethnographic interviewing at seven topless bars in a major metropolitan city in the Southwest with a population of approximately 1 million people. A structured interview schedule was utilized to obtain data from over 40 topless dancers in six different clubs. In…
The Academic Elite in SixSocial Science Disciplines: Linkages Among Top-Ranked Graduate Departments
In 1981 the National Academy of Sciences initiated an evaluation by faculty of the quality of doctoral programs in the social sciences. Changing Times listed the top tell percent of all graduate programs in the social sciences based upon a combination 01two variables from the National Academy study which tile magazine believed constituted the best measures of program quality. Given the subjective nature of the evaluation process which produced th…
Juvenile Delinquency: A Sociological Approach
Most chapters include Reading Objectives, Introduction, Summary, Integration: Questions and Topics for Study and Discussion, and References. Preface. I. CONFORMITY, DEVIANCE, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. Introduction: The Sociological Perspective and Focus on Juvenile Delinquency. 1. Juvenile Delinquency: The Act, Actor, and Audience. What Is Juvenile Delinquency? Synthesized Definition of Delinquency. 2. Sociological Overview: Society, Norms, Confo…
Handling the stigma of handling the dead: Morticians and funeral directors
This paper analyzes the ways in which morticians and funeral directors—people who make their living by handling the dead—attempt to overcome the stigma associated with their work. It reflects over 2 years of field work involving extensive ethnographic interviews with 19 morticians and funeral directors in four different states. The qualitative analysis reveals that morticians and funeral directors are acutely aware of the stigma associated with t…
Myth, identity, and social interaction: Encountering Santa Claus at the mall
Elitism Among Political Scientists: Subjectivity and the Ranking of Graduate Departments
Becoming the Easter Bunny: Socialization into a Fantasy Role
Courtship Violence: Toward a Conceptual Understanding
VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study by Thompson was to propose a clear conceptual definition of courtship violence. METHODOLOGY: A non-experimental design was employed to explore issues of conceptualization. Three primary components of courtship violence were examined - the ideological, cultural and moral aspects of the cultural dimension; the normative and legal systems of the social dimension; and the psychological, emotional…
The Academic Elite in American Anthropology: Linkages Among Top-ranked Graduate Programs
The Academic Elite in Sociology: A Reassessment of Top-Ranked Graduate Programs
Changing Times (1983) listed the top eleven graduate programs according to a National Academy of Sciences study. Given the questionable and subjective nature of the evaluation process which produced these ratings this paper examined the composition of the faculties of these top eleven departments. It was found that these departments were substantially linked to each other by hiring each others' graduates, and hence, enhancing each others' reputat…
An empirical test of Hirschi's control theory of delinquency
Hirschi's control theory of delinquency (1969) contends that lack of attachment to peers, parents, and school leads to a lack of conventional attitudes, which ultimately leads to juvenile delinquency. In order to test this theory, data were collected from questionnaires administered to 724 students in four high schools and three juvenile correctional institutions in the Southwest. Findings from this study indicate that when subjected to path anal…
Dennis Brutus: An Interview
No abstract
Hanging tongues: A sociological encounter with the assembly line
Juvenile Delinquency Explained: A Test of Containment Theory
Topless dancers: Managing stigma in a deviant occupation
This paper describes and analyzes how topless dancers manage the stigma related to their deviant occupation. It represents approximately nine months of limited participant observation and ethnographic interviewing at seven topless bars in a major metropolitan city in the Southwest with a population of approximately 1 million people. A structured interview schedule was utilized to obtain data from over 40 topless dancers in six different clubs. In…
Managing the Stigma of Topless Dancing: A Decade Later
A decade ago we (Thompson and Harred 1992) conducted ethnographic interviews with over 40 topless dancers in seven Gentlemen's Clubs in a major metropolitan city in the Southwest with a population of approximately one million people. Our research focused on how the dancers managed the stigma of their deviant occupation. We found that while the dancers used a variety of stigma management techniques, for analytical purposes they could be collapsed …
Hanging tongues: A sociological encounter with the assembly line
Handling the stigma of handling the dead: Morticians and funeral directors
This paper analyzes the ways in which morticians and funeral directors—people who make their living by handling the dead—attempt to overcome the stigma associated with their work. It reflects over 2 years of field work involving extensive ethnographic interviews with 19 morticians and funeral directors in four different states. The qualitative analysis reveals that morticians and funeral directors are acutely aware of the stigma associated with t…
Pseudo-Deviance and The 'New Biker' Subculture: Hogs, Blogs, Leathers, and Lattes
This article explores the pseudo-deviant world of the "new biker" subculture, comparing and contrasting it to previous research on "outlaw bikers." Using participant observation and ethnographic interviews, the author uses a symbolic interactionist perspective to describe and analyze how and why contemporary "bikers," many of whom are well-educated middle- and upper middle-class professionals, use the symbols of outlaw bikers and earlier motorcyc…
Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology
Part I THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 1 Discovering Sociology What Is Sociology? Sociology and Critical Thinking The Development of Sociology Contemporary Sociology Looking to the Future: Sociology in the Twenty-First Century 2 Doing Sociology Globalization, Diversity, and Types of Knowledge Sociology and Scientific Knowledge Types of Research and Research Designs The Relationship between Theory and Methods Social Research and the Media Looking to …
An empirical test of Hirschi's control theory of delinquency
Hirschi's control theory of delinquency (1969) contends that lack of attachment to peers, parents, and school leads to a lack of conventional attitudes, which ultimately leads to juvenile delinquency. In order to test this theory, data were collected from questionnaires administered to 724 students in four high schools and three juvenile correctional institutions in the Southwest. Findings from this study indicate that when subjected to path anal…
Don't Call Me 'Biker Chick: Women Motorcyclists Redefining Deviant Identity
The majority of literature on women who participate in the world of motorcycling focuses on females associated with outlaw motorcycle clubs and hardcore bikers. Roles for those women tended to be subservient and demeaning. Women are the fastest growing segment in today's contemporary world of middle- and upper-middle-class motorcycling, where they fulfill more meaningful roles whether they are passengers or riders of their own bikes. This descrip…
Myth, identity, and social interaction: Encountering Santa Claus at the mall
Becoming the Easter Bunny: Socialization into a Fantasy Role
The Academic Elite in American Anthropology: Linkages Among Top-ranked Graduate Programs
Juvenile Delinquency Explained: A Test of Containment Theory
A High By Any Other Name: Exploring the Motivations for Consumption of 'Legal Highs
A large number of legal, semi-legal, synthetic, and organic drugs are sold online or through commercial vendors as novelties, often labeled as "not for human consumption." It is fairly common knowledge, however, that many, if not all, of the purchasers of such products buy them for personal use. This study conducted ethnographic interviews with 26 synthetic and organic drug users over a five month period. Using a grounded theory approach, the aut…
The Academic Elite in Sociology: A Reassessment of Top-Ranked Graduate Programs
Changing Times (1983) listed the top eleven graduate programs according to a National Academy of Sciences study. Given the questionable and subjective nature of the evaluation process which produced these ratings this paper examined the composition of the faculties of these top eleven departments. It was found that these departments were substantially linked to each other by hiring each others' graduates, and hence, enhancing each others' reputat…
Growin' Grass: Paradise by the Sodium Light
This qualitative study describes members of a little-known and little-researched subculture: small-time marijuana cultivators in the United States. Couched within a symbolic interaction theoretical framework, extensive ethnographic interviews were conducted with eighteen marijuana growers who cultivate cannabis plants in their homes for small sales and personal use. This study creates a typology of growers based on motivation for growing and tech…
Mature Motorcyclists: Violating Age Norms and Loving It
Age norms tell us at what ages members of society consider it appropriate for us to become potty trained, enter and exit school, start and stop driving a car, get married, have children, retire from work, and even die. So, at what age, if any, should a person start riding a motorcycle? More importantly, at what age should a motorcyclist stop riding? The author conducted ethnographic interviews with approximately 90 motorcyclists over the age of f…
Dennis Brutus: An Interview
No abstract
Hanging tongues: A sociological encounter with the assembly line
Juvenile Delinquency Explained: A Test of Containment Theory
An empirical test of Hirschi's control theory of delinquency
Hirschi's control theory of delinquency (1969) contends that lack of attachment to peers, parents, and school leads to a lack of conventional attitudes, which ultimately leads to juvenile delinquency. In order to test this theory, data were collected from questionnaires administered to 724 students in four high schools and three juvenile correctional institutions in the Southwest. Findings from this study indicate that when subjected to path anal…
The Academic Elite in Sociology: A Reassessment of Top-Ranked Graduate Programs
Changing Times (1983) listed the top eleven graduate programs according to a National Academy of Sciences study. Given the questionable and subjective nature of the evaluation process which produced these ratings this paper examined the composition of the faculties of these top eleven departments. It was found that these departments were substantially linked to each other by hiring each others' graduates, and hence, enhancing each others' reputat…
Courtship Violence: Toward a Conceptual Understanding
VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study by Thompson was to propose a clear conceptual definition of courtship violence. METHODOLOGY: A non-experimental design was employed to explore issues of conceptualization. Three primary components of courtship violence were examined - the ideological, cultural and moral aspects of the cultural dimension; the normative and legal systems of the social dimension; and the psychological, emotional…
The Academic Elite in American Anthropology: Linkages Among Top-ranked Graduate Programs
Elitism Among Political Scientists: Subjectivity and the Ranking of Graduate Departments
Becoming the Easter Bunny: Socialization into a Fantasy Role
Myth, identity, and social interaction: Encountering Santa Claus at the mall
The Academic Elite in SixSocial Science Disciplines: Linkages Among Top-Ranked Graduate Departments
In 1981 the National Academy of Sciences initiated an evaluation by faculty of the quality of doctoral programs in the social sciences. Changing Times listed the top tell percent of all graduate programs in the social sciences based upon a combination 01two variables from the National Academy study which tile magazine believed constituted the best measures of program quality. Given the subjective nature of the evaluation process which produced th…
Juvenile Delinquency: A Sociological Approach
Most chapters include Reading Objectives, Introduction, Summary, Integration: Questions and Topics for Study and Discussion, and References. Preface. I. CONFORMITY, DEVIANCE, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. Introduction: The Sociological Perspective and Focus on Juvenile Delinquency. 1. Juvenile Delinquency: The Act, Actor, and Audience. What Is Juvenile Delinquency? Synthesized Definition of Delinquency. 2. Sociological Overview: Society, Norms, Confo…
Handling the stigma of handling the dead: Morticians and funeral directors
This paper analyzes the ways in which morticians and funeral directors—people who make their living by handling the dead—attempt to overcome the stigma associated with their work. It reflects over 2 years of field work involving extensive ethnographic interviews with 19 morticians and funeral directors in four different states. The qualitative analysis reveals that morticians and funeral directors are acutely aware of the stigma associated with t…
Topless dancers: Managing stigma in a deviant occupation
This paper describes and analyzes how topless dancers manage the stigma related to their deviant occupation. It represents approximately nine months of limited participant observation and ethnographic interviewing at seven topless bars in a major metropolitan city in the Southwest with a population of approximately 1 million people. A structured interview schedule was utilized to obtain data from over 40 topless dancers in six different clubs. In…
Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology
Part I THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 1 Discovering Sociology What Is Sociology? Sociology and Critical Thinking The Development of Sociology Contemporary Sociology Looking to the Future: Sociology in the Twenty-First Century 2 Doing Sociology Globalization, Diversity, and Types of Knowledge Sociology and Scientific Knowledge Types of Research and Research Designs The Relationship between Theory and Methods Social Research and the Media Looking to …
Note on Thorson and Powell: Undertakers' Sense of Humor
Managing the Stigma of Topless Dancing: A Decade Later
A decade ago we (Thompson and Harred 1992) conducted ethnographic interviews with over 40 topless dancers in seven Gentlemen's Clubs in a major metropolitan city in the Southwest with a population of approximately one million people. Our research focused on how the dancers managed the stigma of their deviant occupation. We found that while the dancers used a variety of stigma management techniques, for analytical purposes they could be collapsed …
Pseudo-Deviance and The 'New Biker' Subculture: Hogs, Blogs, Leathers, and Lattes
This article explores the pseudo-deviant world of the "new biker" subculture, comparing and contrasting it to previous research on "outlaw bikers." Using participant observation and ethnographic interviews, the author uses a symbolic interactionist perspective to describe and analyze how and why contemporary "bikers," many of whom are well-educated middle- and upper middle-class professionals, use the symbols of outlaw bikers and earlier motorcyc…
Don't Call Me 'Biker Chick: Women Motorcyclists Redefining Deviant Identity
The majority of literature on women who participate in the world of motorcycling focuses on females associated with outlaw motorcycle clubs and hardcore bikers. Roles for those women tended to be subservient and demeaning. Women are the fastest growing segment in today's contemporary world of middle- and upper-middle-class motorcycling, where they fulfill more meaningful roles whether they are passengers or riders of their own bikes. This descrip…
Growin' Grass: Paradise by the Sodium Light
This qualitative study describes members of a little-known and little-researched subculture: small-time marijuana cultivators in the United States. Couched within a symbolic interaction theoretical framework, extensive ethnographic interviews were conducted with eighteen marijuana growers who cultivate cannabis plants in their homes for small sales and personal use. This study creates a typology of growers based on motivation for growing and tech…
Mature Motorcyclists: Violating Age Norms and Loving It
Age norms tell us at what ages members of society consider it appropriate for us to become potty trained, enter and exit school, start and stop driving a car, get married, have children, retire from work, and even die. So, at what age, if any, should a person start riding a motorcycle? More importantly, at what age should a motorcyclist stop riding? The author conducted ethnographic interviews with approximately 90 motorcyclists over the age of f…
Learning the student role four decades later: A sociological analysis of 21st century kindergarten as academic boot camp
This study examines if the “kindergarten as academic boot camp” analogy proposed by Harry Grace (1972) is accurate today. Is kindergarten analogous to boot camp, or, because kindergarten is a domain generally designed, structured, and carried out by women, does the military boot camp analogy marginalize the important gender dimension? Using a feminist perspective inspired by Standpoint theory, pedagogical texts for kindergarten programs in Texas …
A High By Any Other Name: Exploring the Motivations for Consumption of 'Legal Highs
A large number of legal, semi-legal, synthetic, and organic drugs are sold online or through commercial vendors as novelties, often labeled as "not for human consumption." It is fairly common knowledge, however, that many, if not all, of the purchasers of such products buy them for personal use. This study conducted ethnographic interviews with 26 synthetic and organic drug users over a five month period. Using a grounded theory approach, the aut…
Pulling Back the Curtain on Qualitative Research
Sociology (19 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Criminology (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Social science (10 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Anthropology (7 works) · Ethnography (7 works) · Law (7 works)