Consumer credit in comparative perspective

We review the literature in sociology and related fields on the fast global growth of consumer credit and debt and the possible explanations for this expansion. We describe the ways people interact with the strongly segmented consumer credit system around the world—more specifically, the way they access credit and the way they are held accountable for their debt. We then report on research on two areas in which consumer credit is consequential: its effects on social relations and on physical and mental health. Throughout the article, we point out national variations and discuss explanations for these differences. We conclude with a brief discussion of the future tasks and challenges of comparative research on consumer credit.Accepted manuscrip

Pursuit of Fairness in Household Financial Arrangements Among Young Middle-Class Couples in Poland

Drawing on ethnographic research into household money practices among young middle-class couples in Warsaw, Poland, this article shows that normative concerns about the fair use of domestic money shape household budgeting rules. The practical division of funds into ‘mine’, ‘yours’ and ‘ours’ reflects what couples running a household together consider morally right. Focusing on couples’ practical and moral reasoning, I show the set of expectations and the moral logic they employ to achieve fairness in their household financial arrangements. The analysis of two models of domestic money allocation – the 50–50 model, which is based on a couple’s equal contributions, and the joint-money model, which involves a couple’s recognition of mutual obligations – highlights how fairness is articulated in rules about equality, independence and solidarity. By studying couples through time as they experience significant life changes, I show how the rules of fairness come to be challenged and how what is considered fair is questioned or even contested. I argue that turning points such as taking out a mortgage together or having a child produce new expectations and imaginaries about the future and prompt couples to question the rules of fairness and consequently to change their money practices.Introduction Research and field sites The rules of fairness, the fairness of rules Balancing equality and solidarity Conclusion Declaration of Conflicting Interests Funding Acknowledgements Reference

Digital Householding: Calculating and Moralizing Domestic Life through Homemade Spreadsheets

Based on ethnographic fieldwork among young heterosexual middle-class couples living together in Warsaw and its suburbs, this article explores the role of their homemade accounting and budgeting spreadsheets in the manufacture of domestic economic life. We argue that such digital forms actively intervene in the representation, constitution, shaping, and performing of their respective households as calculative agencies and moralized domains. We present and analyse a case study of five couple's householding with software, and based on that analysis call for an extension of the current interest in the generative role of financial devices from markets to households.Introduction Exploring the domestic lives of spreadsheets Ethnographic case study Discussion and conclusion Reference

Conducting Research Online – Principal Methodological Issues

With the widespread Internet access and increased importance of this medium in everyday life, the web also becomes more and more vital tool in conducting social and psychological research. The Internet research might be conducted by using many different metods: from interviews and focus groups, through questionnaires and experiments to data bases. The topis of research online might concern many different issues, nort necessarily related to the Internet itself. The article discusses possibilities related to conductiong Internet research by presenting various methods and advantages of online research. However, the main part shows and discusses the basic problems and challenges of using online research. The authors point to the issues which should be considered in order to ensure the quality of social science methodology and suggest how to handle different sources of errors. In the first place, problems related to the response rate will be presented, such as motivation to participate in the research, non-response errors, and dropouts. The next part of the article identifies problems related to the measurement error as a result of non-standarized situation, different skills of respondents nature od computer-madiated communication and technical obstacles. The final part presents ethical aspects of conducting research online and discussed situation of a respondent on the Internet and possibilities of using the Internet content.Wraz z upowszechnianiem się dostępu do Internetu oraz wzrostem jego znaczenia, medium to staje się również coraz ważniejszym narzędziem w prowadzeniu badań społecznych i psychologicznych. Badania internetowe mogą być prowadzone przy użyciu rozmaitych technik - od wywiadów i fokusów, poprzez ankiety i eksperymenty, aż po wykorzystanie olbrzymich zasobów danych - tekstów i zapisów aktywności użytkowników. Problematyka badań realizowanych przez Internet może dotyczyć wielu różnych zagadnień, niekoniecznie związanych z samym Internetem. Niniejszy artykuł omawia pokrótce możliwości związane z prowadzeniem badań przez Internet, pokazując różne metody oraz zalety badań online. Jednak zasadnicza część pracy przedstawia i dyskutuje najważniejsze problemy związane z prowadzeniem badań w sieci oraz zarzuty, jakie są takim badaniom stawiane. Autorzy pokazują, o czym należy pamiętać, aby internetowe badania spełniały standardy metodologii nauk społecznych i jak radzić sobie z różnymi źródłami błędów. W pierwszej kolejności omówiona została problematyka badanej populacji i doboru próby. W dalszej części poruszone zostały problemy związane z realizacją próby [response rate], motywacją do udziału w badaniu i brakiem odpowiedzi. Szczególnym przypadkiem jest tu problem rezygnacji w trakcie badania [dropout]. Następna część przedstawia problemy związane z realizacją badania w Internecie oraz błędy pomiaru wynikające z braku standaryzacji sytuacji badania, różnych kompetencji osób badanych, natury internetowej komunikacji oraz ograniczeń technicznych. Ostatnia część prezentuje etyczne aspekty prowadzenia badań internetowych, w tym sytuację osoby badanej w Internecie oraz możliwości wykorzystania treści i danych zastanych