Sociology And Social Research Rle Social Theory

Author : Geoff Payne,Robert Dingwall,Judy Payne,Mick Carter
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317650843

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Sociology and Social Research (RLE Social Theory) by Geoff Payne,Robert Dingwall,Judy Payne,Mick Carter Pdf

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.

Author : Kenneth Menzies
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317657187

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Sociological Theory in Use (RLE Social Theory) by Kenneth Menzies Pdf

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.

Author : Anthony Giddens
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 414 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317650645

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Studies in Social and Political Theory (RLE Social Theory) by Anthony Giddens Pdf

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.

Author : S.I. Benn,G.W. Mortimore
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651277

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Rationality and the Social Sciences (RLE Social Theory) by S.I. Benn,G.W. Mortimore Pdf

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.

Author : Stephen F. Cotgrove
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 1975
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0043000541

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The Science of Society by Stephen F. Cotgrove Pdf

Author : Derek Layder
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 1998-09-04
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781446236826

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Sociological Practice by Derek Layder Pdf

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.

Author : Joe Bailey
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 162 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2014-08-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651772

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Ideas and Intervention (RLE Social Theory) by Joe Bailey Pdf

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.

Author : Maurice Duverger
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 337 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2020-09-10
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781000155891

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Introduction to the Social Sciences (RLE Social Theory) by Maurice Duverger Pdf

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.

Author : Mark L. Wardell,Stephen P. Turner
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2014-08-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651000

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Sociological Theory in Transition (RLE Social Theory) by Mark L. Wardell,Stephen P. Turner Pdf

Current sociological theories appear to have lost their general persuasiveness in part because, unlike the theories of the ‘classical era’, they fail to maintain an integrated stance toward society, and the practical role that sociology plays in society. The authors explore various facets of this failure and possibilities for reconstructing sociological theories as integrated wholes capable of conveying a moral and political immediacy. They discuss the evolution of several concepts (for example, the social, structure, and self) and address the significant disputes (for example, structuralism versus humanism, and individual versus society) that have dominated twentieth-century sociological thought. Their ideas and analyses are directed towards an audience of students and theorists who are coming to terms with the project of sociological theory, and its relationship with moral discourses and political practice. The authors of these essays are sociological theorists from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. They are all established, but not ‘establishment’ authors. The book contains no orthodoxies, and no answers. However, the essays do contribute to identifying the range of issues that will constitute the agenda for the next generation of sociological theorists.

Author : Brian Fay
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 120 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652298

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Social Theory and Political Practice (RLE Social Theory) by Brian Fay Pdf

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.

Author : Michael Mulkay
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 138 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2014-08-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651178

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Science and the Sociology of Knowledge (RLE Social Theory) by Michael Mulkay Pdf

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.

Author : Brian Fay
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 107 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652281

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Social Theory and Political Practice (RLE Social Theory) by Brian Fay Pdf

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.

Author : Byrne, David
Publisher : Policy Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2011-02-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781847424501

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Applying Social Science by Byrne, David Pdf

This important book examines how social science is applied now and how it might be applied in the future in relation to social transformation in a time of crisis.

Author : Stephen Frederick Cotgrove
Publisher : Routledge Library Editions: So
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2014-08-04
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1138784044

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The Science of Society by Stephen Frederick Cotgrove Pdf

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.

Author : Piotr Sztompka
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652588

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Agency and Structure (RLE Social Theory) by Piotr Sztompka Pdf

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.