Encyclopedia of Sociology

BRITISH SOCIOLOGY

Progress made in some is being undermined by
the spread of HIV and political conflict. The drug
therapies that have reduced mortality from HIV in
developed countries have so far proven too costly
for widespread use in Africa and political unrest
continues.

Declines in infant and child mortality from
infectious diseases have been largely responsible
for the historical increase in life expectancy around
the world. As a result, life expectancy has in-
creased far more at birth than at age sixty (Figure
4). Heart disease, cancer, and cerebrovascular dis-
eases have become the major causes of death in the
United States (Peters et al. 1998, p. 7), other
developed countries, and some developing coun-
tries. Bringing these chronic diseases under con-
trol has proven to be difficult. Research suggests
that both genetic composition and unhealthy be-
haviors affect the development of such chronic
diseases over time. In the United States where
health education campaigns have stressed the link
between these diseases and obesity, use of tobac-
co, and lack of sufficient physical activity, mortality
has declined from heart disease since 1950 and
from cancer since 1990. If these trends continue,
gains in life expectancy at older ages will accelerate.

REFERENCES

Hoyert, D., Kenneth Kochanek, and Sherry Murphy
1999 ‘‘Deaths: Final Data for 1997.’’ National Vital
Statistics Reports, vol. 47, no. 19. Hyattsville, Md.:
National Center for Health Statistics.

Population Reference Bureau 1998 1998 World Popula-
tion Data Sheet. Washington, D.C.: Population Refer-
ence Bureau.

——— 1980 1980 World Population Data Sheet. Washing-
ton, D.C.: Population Reference Bureau.

Shryock, Henry, and Jacob Siegel 1976 The Methods and
Materials of Demography. San Francisco: Academ-
ic Press.

United Nations 1998 Demographic Yearbook, 1996. New
York: United Nations.

——— 1998 World Population Prospects, 1996. New York:
United Nations.

U.S. Bureau of the Census 1994 ‘‘Population Projec-
tions for States by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic
Origin: 1993 to 2020.’’ Current Population Reports,
series P-25, no. 1111. Washington, D.C.: Govern-
ment Printing Office.

——— 1975 Historical Statistics of the United States, Coloni-

al Times to1970. Washington D.C.: Government Print-

ing Office.

Ventura, Stephanie, Joyce Martin, Sally Curtin, and T. J.

Mathews 1998 ‘‘Report of Final Natality Statistics,

1996.’’ Monthly Vital Statistics Report, vol. 46, no. 11,

Supp. Hyattsville, Md.: National Center for Health

Statistics.

DEBORAH A. SULLIVAN

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

BISEXUALITY

See Sexual Orientation, Sexually Transmitted

Diseases.

BLACK STUDIES

See African-American Studies; Affirmative Ac-

tion; Discrimination; Prejudice; Race.

BRITISH SOCIOLOGY

In a global age, the concept of British sociology

poses an interesting question with regard to the

viability of national sociologies. Neither academic

disciplines nor the subjects studied fit easily into

national boundaries. An academic’s closest col-

league may be in New York or Delhi rather than in

Lancaster or Birmingham. Key figures in British

sociology, such as Dahrendorf, Westergaard, and

Bauman are not British but have spent some or all

of their careers working in British institutions

(Halsey 1989). As sociologists working in Britain

they were well placed to investigate questions

related to British society. Then there are the Brit-

ish sociologists who have left Britain to research

and teach elsewhere; John Goldthorpe to Sweden

and Germany, and John Hall and Michael Mann to

the United States, for example. British sociologists

have often studied other nations too: Ronald Dore

focuses on Japan, David Lane on Russia, and John

Torrance on Austria to name a few. With all of

these international influences exemplifing the pres-

ent status of sociology in Britain, how ‘‘British’’

then is British sociology? This entry briefly ex-

plores the range of sociology that has developed in