Download or read book Sociological Theory in Use RLE Social Theory written by Kenneth Menzies and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Central to most sociologists’ self-image is the claim that their theories are based on research. However, using a random sample of 680 articles appearing in major American, British and Canadian journals, Dr Menzies shows that in some areas of sociology the wide gap between theory and research means that much of sociological theory is virtually untested. He explains how theory is embodied in eight particular types of research, critically examines these research theories, and contrasts them with the positions of modern theorists. The sample of journal articles also permits a comparison of British, American and Canadian sociology. By contrasting on how researchers us theories, Dr Menzies is able to reassess several theories. For instance, symbolic interactionist research uses embedded causal claims and stands in a dialectical relationship to other sociological research, while the research version of conflict theory depends on external causes to explain social change. The implications of using statistical techniques like factor analysis and regression are also considered in relation to the form of explanation.
Download or read book Sociology and Social Research RLE Social Theory written by Geoff Payne and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A social science which has become so remote from the society which pays for its upkeep is ultimately doomed, threatened less by repression than by intellectual contempt and financial neglect. This is the message of the authors of this book in this reassessment of the evolution and present state of British sociology. Their investigation analyses the discipline as a social institution, whose product is inexorably shaped by the everyday circumstances of its producers; it is the concrete outcome of people’s work, rather than a body of abstract ideas. Drawing upon their varied experience as teachers and researchers, they identify three major trends in contemporary sociology. First, that the discipline’s rapid expansion has led to a retreat from rigorous research into Utopian and introspective theorising. Second, that the concept of sociological research is being taught in a totally false way because of this, and encourages ‘research’ within a wholly academic environment. Third, that the current unpopularity of sociology with academics, prospective students and politicians is no coincidence, but a reflection of the conditions under which sociology is now produced and practised. In Sociology and Social Research the authors suggest substantial changes in sociological research, the way in which it is carried out and the conditions under which it is undertaken. Their book is a timely warning to fellow sociologists when the profession is under attack as a result of public expenditure cuts.
Download or read book Social Theory and Political Practice RLE Social Theory written by Brian Fay and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-27 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the question of how our knowledge of social life affects, and ought to affect, our way of living it. In so doing, it critically discusses two epistemological models of social science – the positivist and the interpretive – from the viewpoint of the political theories which, it is argued, are implicit in these models; moreover, it proposes a third model – the critical – which is organised around an explicit account of the relation between social theory and practical life. The book has the special merit of being a good overview of the principal current ideas about the relation between social theory and political practice, as well as an attempt at providing a new and more satisfactory account of this relationship. To accomplish this task, it synthesises work from the analytic philosophy of social science with that of the neo-Marxism of the Frankfurt school.
Download or read book Studies in Social and Political Theory RLE Social Theory written by Anthony Giddens and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The studies which comprise this book are essentially organized around a critical encounter with European social theory in its 'classical period' – i.e. from the middle years of the nineteenth century until the First World War – and have the aim of working out some of the implications of that encounter for the position and prospects of the social sciences today. The issues involved relate to the following series of problems: method and epistemology; social development and transformation; the origins of 'sociology' in nineteenth-century social theory; and the status of social science as critique. In each of these areas, Giddens develops views that challenge existing orthodoxies, and connects these ideas to a reconstruction of social theory in the contemporary era.
Download or read book Discovering Sociology RLE Social Theory written by John Rex and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor John Rex was one of Britain’s most eminent sociologists, and a teacher of a whole generation of sociology students. In this book he presents a stimulating introduction to the major issues of sociological theory and gives an account of the perspective which has informed his thinking and writing. He deals with the objectives of sociological investigation, the methods it uses and how in these respects it resembles or differs from natural science and history. He goes on to discuss the work of Weber, Durkheim, Marx, Engels, Mills and other important theorists, and concludes with a convincing demonstration of the continuing relevance of the Weberian tradition to the study of sociology.
Download or read book The Science of Society written by Stephen F. Cotgrove and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sociology of Sport and Social Theory written by Earl Smith and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2010 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sociology of Sport and Social Theory presents current research perspectives from major sport scholars and leading sociologists regarding issues germane to the sociology of sport while addressing traditional and contemporary sociological theories.
Download or read book Rationality and the Social Sciences RLE Social Theory written by S.I. Benn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concepts of rationality that are used by social scientists in the formation of hypotheses, models and explanations are explored in this collection of original papers by a number of distinguished philosophers and social scientists. The aim of the book is to display the variety of the concepts used, to show the different roles they play in theories of very different kinds over a wide range of disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, political science and anthropology, and to assess the explanatory and predictive power that a theory can draw from such concepts.
Download or read book Sociological Practice written by Derek Layder and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1998-09-04 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this textbook, Derek Layder offers a better understanding of the links between theory and research, and provides an analysis of the relationship between the two. He develops clear usable strategies to encourage theory development in the practical context of social research, and introduces a new approach - adaptive theory - which can be used to generate new theory as well as develop existing theory in conjunction with empirical research. Layder concludes by providing an outline of new rules of sociological method that show how adaptive theory can be put into practice.
Download or read book Ideas and Intervention RLE Social Theory written by Joe Bailey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-13 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theorizing in sociology has increasingly become a self-generating and self-fulfilling activity, as sociologists absorb theory as an isolated and formalist part of their discipline. Joe Bailey believes that sociological theory should be a contribution to practical social intervention. His book presents a practical view of social theorizing as an activity at which sociologists are skilled and which they could teach to the interventionist professions. The relation between theory and practice is defined as one in which theory guides practice and makes explicit necessary choices. A description of disciplines and professions is provided as a basis for examining social intervention in three areas – law, social work and urban planning. The author considers some exemplary contributions which sociological theorizing could and should provide, and concludes by proposing a pluralist view of theory as the best strategy for a sociology relevant to practice.
Download or read book Sociological Theory RLE Social Theory written by Keith Dixon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-26 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most professional sociologists claim that sociology is, or ought to be, a theoretical science. Keith Dixon argues here that this claim is formulated in such a way that a proper evaluation of its status is extremely difficult, and that the contingent objections to the possibility of sociological theorizing are sufficiently strong for such activity to be labelled as pretence. He believes that pretence to the theoretical is a hindrance to the development of sociology proper. It devalues significant empirical work by giving status to research findings only in so far as they relate to often arbitrarily conceived 'theoretical' concerns; it leads to a systematic neglect of the historical dimension in the explanation of human behaviour; and it sets up ideals of explanation whose pursuit leads to sterility, frustration and even intellectual corruption. Keith Dixon emphasizes, however, that in attacking the contingent possibility of theory, he does not mean to devalue empirical expertise, analytic skill or the exercise of disciplined speculative intelligence. The argument of his book is that intelligence can only flourish when released from the constraints of attempting to justify the unjustifiable.
Download or read book Science and the Sociology of Knowledge RLE Social Theory written by Michael Mulkay and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-07 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How far is scientific knowledge a product of social life? In addressing this question, the major contributors to the sociology of knowledge have agreed that the conclusions of science are dependent on social action only in a very special and limited sense. In Science and the Sociology of Knowledge Michael Mulkay's first aim is to identify the philosophical assumptions which have led to this view of science as special; and to present a systematic critique of the standard philosophical account of science, showing that there are no valid epistemological grounds for excluding scientific knowledge from the scope of sociological analysis. The rest of the book is devoted to developing a preliminary interpretation of the social creation of scientific knowledge. The processes of knowledge-creation are delineated through a close examination of recent case studies of scientific developments. Dr Mulkay argues that knowledge is produced by means of negotiation, the outcome of which depends on the participants' use of social as well as technical resources. The analysis also shows how cultural resources are taken over from the broader social milieu and incorporated into the body of certified knowledge; and how, in the political context of society at large, scientists' technical as well as social claims are conditioned and affected by their social position.
Download or read book Introduction to the Social Sciences RLE Social Theory written by Maurice Duverger and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-10 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor Duverger at last provides the student with an overall view of the methodology of the social sciences. He briefly traces the origin of the notion of a social science, showing how it emerged from social philosophy. Its essential elements and pre-conditions are described; the splintering of social science into specialist disciplines is explained, and the need for a general sociology confirmed. The techniques of observation used by social scientists are dealt with in some detail and the unity of the social sciences is illustrated by examples of the universal application of these techniques. Documentary evidence in its various forms are described along with the basic analytical techniques, including quantitative methods and content analysis. Other methods of gathering information through polls, interviews, attitude scales and participant observation are all described. Professor Duverger brings together the different kinds of analysis used to assess the information thus gathered. Arguing that observing and theorizing are not two different stages or levels of research, he examines the practical value and difficulties of general sociological theories, partial theories and models and working hypotheses. He both describes and assesses the limitations of experiment and the scope of comparative methods in the social sciences. He then gives elementary instructions for using and assessing the value of mathematical techniques. The possibilities of presenting social phenomena through graphs and charts are also explored. There are useful book lists and diagrams.
Download or read book The Rational and the Social RLE Social Theory written by James Robert Brown and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To paraphrase Marx, sociologists have only interpreted science; the point is to improve it. The Rational and the Social attempts both. It begins by sketching recent sociological approaches to science, notably the strong programme – Bloor’s ‘science of science’ and Barnes’s ‘finitism’ – and that of the ‘anthropologists in the lab’, Collins and Latour and Woolgar. The author argues that although sociological accounts are valuable in many respects, when morals are drawn about the structure and epistemology of science, they are badly flawed. In rejecting the sociological theory of science, it is not necessary to conclude that science develops without reference to the social. James Robert Brown argues for an alternative account. He proposes a novel way of viewing the history of science as a source of evidence for how to do good science and argues that the most important aspect of methodology is that it is comparative. Rival theories are evaluated by comparison and the contribution of the social to this process is inevitable and should be acknowledged. This is the challenge to science.
Download or read book Agency and Structure RLE Social Theory written by Piotr Sztompka and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A striking feature of the human condition is its dual, contradictory, inherently split character; on the one hand, autonomy and freedom; on the other, constraint and dependence on social structure. This volume addresses this central problem of the linkage between human action and social structure in sociological and social science theory. Contributions cover several different approaches to the agency-structure problematic, and represent the work of a number of leading international sociologists. Their efforts point to a reorientation of social theory, both on philosophical and methodological levels.
Download or read book The Study of Society RLE Social Theory written by Kathleen Joan Heasman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-26 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Dr Heasman begins by stating some central questions and answers concerning sociology and how we are to set about studying society. It goes on to deal with family groupings and social differences; with education and the part it plays in socialization; with the meaning and the importance of social differences; and with the relative importance of work and leisure and the ways in which leisure can be used. It considers the effects of the change in the size of the population in the last hundred years upon social life in Britain, examines the problems of social change and looks at order in society and the way it is affected by different forms and aspects of government. The result is a thorough, comprehensive, but at all times lucid, introduction to the subject.
Download or read book The Science of Society written by Stephen Frederick Cotgrove and published by Routledge Library Editions: So. This book was released on 2014-08-04 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two main criteria have guided the selection and presentation of the material for this text-book. Firstly, there is the claim that sociology is a science. Throughout, the emphasis has been on presenting sociological perspectives rather than conveying a mass of factual information. Science is essentially analytical. And sociology, if it is to justify its claim to be a science, must be more than simply 'political arithmetic', counting heads and providing demographic data for governments. Secondly, science, like other intellectual activities, can be exciting. The emphasis throughout is on the sociological study of industrial society, with particular reference to modern England. After an introductory discussion of sociological perspectives, there are chapters on each of the major sub-systems of society; the family, the educational system, the economy, the political system and belief systems. The book ends with three chapters on major social processes: social differentiation and stratification, organization, and finally, social change, including a discussion of deviancy and disorganization.
