Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Investigating Patterns of Cooperation among Beijing Marketplace Vendors: Models, Experiments, and Ethnography

研究生卡尔·W·麦凯布在布鲁斯·温特哈尔德博士的指导下，将调查北京市场商贩中国的日常生活中的合作现象。在非亲属的大群体中合作是人类物种表现出的最独特的行为之一。然而，在如何最好地解释这种形式的人类社会性的问题上，社会科学领域仍然存在很大的分歧。研究人员将调查和评估用于研究合作行为的理论模型和方法。将被研究的模型是亲缘选择、互惠利他主义、基于理性选择的平衡关系模型和文化群体选择。每个模型都会预测个体在做出合作决策时所依据的背景信息。利用民族志访谈和观察以及实验性的经济游戏，麦凯布将记录北京市场中个人日常生活中的合作模式的数据。访谈和观察将侧重于记录合作模式和相关的社会关系。这些方法也将被用来确定个体是否像理论模型预测的那样注意各种形式的背景信息。实验经济游戏将产生一个跨文化可比的数据集，可以与最近关于合作的其他研究进行比较。通过收集人种学数据和实验经济游戏的结果，麦凯布还将能够评估实验游戏方法在多大程度上反映了这种受控环境之外的个人行为。了解个人如何以及何时进行或不进行合作对于理解文化演变和经济发展政策具有重要意义。这项研究还将对社会科学家的教育做出重大贡献。

Graduate student Carl W. McCabe, supervised by Dr. Bruce Winterhalder, will investigate the phenomenon of cooperation in the daily lives of marketplace vendors in Beijing, China. Cooperation in large groups of non-kin is among the most distinctive behaviors exhibited by the human species. However, large disagreements remain across the social sciences about how best to account for such forms of human sociality. The researcher will investigate and assess both theoretical models and methods used to study cooperative behaviors. The models to be investigated are Kin Selection, Reciprocal Altruism, a Rational-Choice-Based model of Equilibrating Relationships, and Cultural Group Selection. Each model makes predictions about the contextual information that individuals attune to when they make decisions about cooperation. Using ethnographic interviews and observations as well as experimental economic games, McCabe will record data on patterns of cooperation in the daily lives of individuals in a Beijing marketplace. Interviews and observations will focus on recording patterns of cooperation and associated social relationships. These methods will also be used to determine if individuals pay attention to forms of contextual information as predicted by theoretical models. Experimental economic games will produce a data set that is cross-culturally comparable with other recent research on cooperation. By collecting both ethnographic data and results of experimental economic games, McCabe will also be able to assess how well the experimental game methodology is a reflection of individual behaviors outside of such controlled settings. Understanding how and when individuals do or do not cooperate is significant for understanding cultural evolution and for economic development policy. The research also will contribute significantly to the education of a social scientist.