Department of Sociology, IPFW
Patrick J. Ashton
PARADIGMS IN SOCIOLOGY
Paradigm = a consensual framework for generating and guiding research
— it is a fundamental image of the subject matter within a science
— it is the broadest unit of consensus within a science; it differentiates scientific communities
Components:
Exemplars = standard problem solutions
Axioms = statements that are seen as self-evident or “universally” accepted as true
Image of the subject matter = general concept of the nature of the phenomenon
studied and the most appropriate unit of analysis
Theories = sets of general, logically-interrelated propositions which attempt to explain
and/or interpret the relationships among phenomena
Methods = processes and tools for empirical investigation
SOCIAL FACTS PARADIGM
Exemplar:
Axiom:
Emile Durkheim, esp. Rules of the Sociological Method; Suicide
Society is a reality sui generis; facts therefore can only be explained by other social facts.
Image of
Social entities and processes are real. Social facts are external and coercive on
the Subject the individual. Against psychological reductionism. Focus is on social structure,
Matter
and its effect on individual thought and action.
Theories:
Structural-functionalism (Parsons, Merton, Davis, Moore)
Conflict theory (Coser, Dahrendorf, Collins)
Systems theory (Buckley)
Methods:
survey; historical-comparative
SOCIAL DEFINITION PARADIGM
Exemplar:
Max Weber’s work on social action
Axiom:
Definition of the situation:
(W.I. Thomas)
“A situation defined as real is real in its consequences.”
Image of
the
Subject
Matter
Focus is on social process and intersubjectivity — i.e., how actors define their
social situations and the effect of these definitions on action and interaction. Weber’s
definition of sociology: “A science which attempts the interpretative understanding
of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects.”
Theories:
Action theory (Weber, early Parsons)
Symbolic Interactionism (Mead, Cooley, Blumer, Stryker)
Labeling theory (Becker, Scheff)
Phenomenological sociology (Weber, Schutz)
Ethnomethodology (Garfinkel)
Dramaturgical analysis (Goffman)
Methods:
observation
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR PARADIGM
Exemplar:
B.F. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity
Axiom:
Human social behavior can only be explained in terms of the principles of individual
behavior. Focus is on individual behavior within an environment, both physical and
social.
Image of
the
Subject
Matter
“One does not see ideas and values when one looks at society, but rather how people
live, how they raise their children, how they gather or cultivate food, what kinds of
dwellings they live in, what they wear, what games they play, how they treat each
other, how they govern themselves, and so forth.” (Skinner)
Goal is to understand and predict human behavior within a stimulus-response framework.
Theories:
Exchange theory (Homans)
Structural exchange theory (Blau)
Rational choice theory (Coleman)
Methods:
experiment
SOCIAL RELATIONS PARADIGM
Exemplar:
Karl Marx, esp. Capital
Axiom:
Society is a totality of social relations; all parts are mutually interrelated in an organic
whole — i.e., they are basically different sides of the same thing. Facts are not isolated
and separate — or separable — things.
Image of
the
Subject
Matter
Social phenomena are neither logically independent nor static. Marx, for instance,
assumes movement and interconnectedness and then sets out to examine why some
social forms appear to be fixed and unchanging. “With the philosophy of internal
relations, the problem is never how to relate the separate entities but how to disentangle a
relation or group of relations from the total and necessary configuration in which they
exist.” (Ollman)
Theories:
Marxist political economy (Sweezy, Burawoy)
Structuralism (Althuser, Poulantzas, Godelier)
Critical theory (Habermas, Marcuse)
World systems theory (Wallerstein, Gunder Frank)
Postmodernism (Baudrillard, Lyotard, Laclau)
Socialist feminism (Mitchell, Hartmann, Eisenstein, D. Smith, hooks)
Methods:
historical-comparative