@article{THESIS,
      recid = {134},
      author = {Graziul, Christopher},
      title = {Venues: Locating Social Context},
      school = {Ph.D.},
      address = {2016-06},
      number = {THESIS},
      pages = {165},
      abstract = {The role of physical space in social life has been a part  of sociological research for over a century. However, this  role has often been ambiguous. Qualitative researchers  often provide rich accounts of individual spaces, such as  Anderson's A Place on the Corner, whereas quantitative  researchers often develop grand spatial models of  collective behavior, such as Butts' Generalized Location  Systems. Here I introduce a new analytic object, termed a  venue, that allows us to extend and unify research  involving these different spatial scales. Venues are  discrete physical spaces with an ostensible purpose and  material culture, such as a restaurant. They are presented  as a pivotal component of a multiscalar model of social  behavior that integrates both the smaller spaces that host  social situations and the geographic regions that  constitute communities into a coherent analytic framework.  To demonstrate this pivotal role, I first describe how  venues facilitate the relationship between physical space  and social possibility by providing both guidelines for  social behavior and opportunities for challenging these  behavioral expectations. I then explore the implications of  locating venues within a larger geographic region, asking  how the features of this multiscalar system can influence  the lives of local residents. Specifically, I use a novel  combination of geocoded survey data and census data to show  how venue scarcity can shape the religious and political  life of a local community. Scholars often explore these  topics through the lens of ideological commitment, but I  find evidence that the materiality of everyday life also  plays a role in these behaviors: Communities with fewer  venues of a certain type (e.g. supermarkets, drug stores,  etc.) are home to (1) residents that are more likely to be  socially embedded in their relgious congregation, (2)  residents that are less likely to vote for a Republican  Presidential candidate, and (3) religious congregations  that are more likely to offer secular activities such as  hobby groups and sports teams. Based on this evidence, I  argue that venues are a useful analytic tool for  understanding how the multiscalar role of physical space  comes to shape the social life of local communities and  their residents.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/134},
}