Making Sense of Social Theory

Making Sense of Social Theory PDF Author: Charles H. Powers
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9781442201194
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Making Sense of Social Theory opens by carefully exploring what it means to follow the scientific method in a field like sociology. The author goes on to analyze sociology as a genuine science with a body of explanatory insights. It does this by (a) considering the major insights of key thinkers (including Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Mead, among others), (b) distinguishing different analytical frameworks (especially exchange, symbolic interactionism, conflict, and structural-functionalism) in terms of their underlying assumptions, and (c) revealing compelling social science explanatory insights in the form of predictive principles that can be applied in understanding processes of change at work in the social world (from face-to-face encounters to major historical trends). Sociological theory is applied in ways that make its relevance and power apparent. In reading this book, theory no longer stands divorced from real-world research or practice. Making Sense of Social Theory clearly establishes the pertinence of sociology's great theoretical insights for all social science researches and practitioners. Book jacket.

Making Sense of Social Theory

Making Sense of Social Theory PDF Author: Charles H. Powers
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9781442201194
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Get Book Here

Book Description
Making Sense of Social Theory opens by carefully exploring what it means to follow the scientific method in a field like sociology. The author goes on to analyze sociology as a genuine science with a body of explanatory insights. It does this by (a) considering the major insights of key thinkers (including Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Mead, among others), (b) distinguishing different analytical frameworks (especially exchange, symbolic interactionism, conflict, and structural-functionalism) in terms of their underlying assumptions, and (c) revealing compelling social science explanatory insights in the form of predictive principles that can be applied in understanding processes of change at work in the social world (from face-to-face encounters to major historical trends). Sociological theory is applied in ways that make its relevance and power apparent. In reading this book, theory no longer stands divorced from real-world research or practice. Making Sense of Social Theory clearly establishes the pertinence of sociology's great theoretical insights for all social science researches and practitioners. Book jacket.

A Good Book, In Theory

A Good Book, In Theory PDF Author: Alan Sears
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442600977
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
This highly original and compelling book offers an introduction to the art and science of social inquiry, including the theoretical and methodological frameworks that support that inquiry. The new edition offers coverage of post-modernism and Indigenous ways of knowing, as well as a discussion of the research process and how to communicate arguments effectively. The result is a book that blends the best of earlier editions with updates that provide a strong foundation in critical thinking, rooted in the social sciences but relevant across disciplines.

Making Sense of Marx

Making Sense of Marx PDF Author: Jon Elster
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521297059
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description
A critical examination of the social theories of Karl Marx.

Making Sense of Social Research

Making Sense of Social Research PDF Author: Malcolm Williams
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761964223
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This accessible, well-judged text provides students with a matchless introduction to generic research skills.

Social Theory for Today

Social Theory for Today PDF Author: Alex Law
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1473911141
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 659

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Book Description
This book is distinctive for extending the usual sociological reach, reopening territory that has lain fallow, set aside from the well-ploughed fields of orthodox social theory. In doing so, Law not only produces fresh insight into familiar theorists but guards against collective forgetting of the sociological canon. - Professor Bridget Fowler, University of Glasgow "An excellent book, it will be welcomed and read widely by advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars in sociology, cultural studies, social theory and beyond." - Professor Chris Shilling, University of Kent Social Theory for Today guides students through the ‘turns’ of past and present social theory as it attempts to wrestle with a recurring sense of crisis in social relations and social theory. Drawing on both classical and contemporary sources, Alex Law provides readers with a firm grasp of competing perspectives. Too often social theories attempt to dominate the field by casting rival theorists, past and present, as deluded fools, while the more familiar ‘big names’ in social theory are subject to ever-increasing commentary that runs in ever-decreasing circles. This survey of social theory and crisis lessens the temptation to engage in internal theoretical polemics and esoteric wordplay. Social theory must become practical and specific if it is to become a means of orientation for uncertain times. This is a must-read for upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students looking for a vibrant and extended understanding of social theory.

Making Sense of Science

Making Sense of Science PDF Author: Steven Yearley
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780803986923
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
This volume demystifies science studies and bridges the divide between social theory and the sociology of science.

Making sense of theory and its application to social work practice

Making sense of theory and its application to social work practice PDF Author: Phil Musson
Publisher: Critical Publishing
ISBN: 1911106678
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Do you struggle to get your head around the application of theory and associated methods of intervention to social work practice? Making sense of theory and its application to social work practice is here to help you with a fresh approach written with the ‘non- theoretician’ in mind. After exploring the expectations and limits of application of theory to practice, Phil Musson sets about describing theories of explanation and their associated methods of intervention in an accessible way. He follows this by looking at theoretically driven approaches and their associated methods of intervention. One generic case study is used throughout, tweaked slightly but maintaining the same service users and issues so you can see how the theory of explanation or approach and the associated method of intervention is applied. You are also able to sharpen up your critical thinking skills as the author invites you to reflect on the theories of explanation and approaches discussed. Making Sense of Theory and its Application to Social Work Practice will be immensely valuable to both social work students and practitioners.

Making Sense, Making Worlds

Making Sense, Making Worlds PDF Author: Nicholas Onuf
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136219463
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Nicholas Onuf is a leading scholar in international relations and introduced constructivism to international relations, coining the term constructivism in his book World of Our Making (1989). He was featured as one of twelve scholars featured in Iver B. Neumann and Ole Wæver, eds., The Future of International Relations: Masters in the Making? (1996); and featured in Martin Griffiths, Steven C. Roach and M. Scott Solomon, Fifty Key Thinkers in International Relations, 2nd ed. (2009). This powerful collection of essays clarifies Onuf’s approach to international relations and makes a decisive contribution to the debates in IR concerning theory. It embeds the theoretical project in the wider horizon of how we understand ourselves and the world. Onuf updates earlier themes and his general constructivist approach, and develops some newer lines of research, such as the work on metaphors and the re-grounding in much more Aristotle than before. A complement to the author’s groundbreaking book of 1989, World of Our Making, this tightly argued book draws extensively from philosophy and social theory to advance constructivism in International Relations. Making Sense, Making Worlds will be vital reading for students and scholars of international relations, international relations theory, social theory and law.

Rethinking Social Theory

Rethinking Social Theory PDF Author: Roger Sibeon
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761950691
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Identifies and explores unresolved controversies and ambiguities in present day sociological theorizing.

Making Sense of Beliefs and Values

Making Sense of Beliefs and Values PDF Author: Craig N. Shealy, PhD
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
ISBN: 0826104533
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 712

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Book Description
Social psychologists have studied beliefs and values, and related constructs such as "attitudes" and "prejudice" for decades. But as this innovative and interdisciplinary book convincingly demonstrates, the scientific examination of beliefs and values now influences research and practice across a range of disciplines. Specifically, this edited volume explores the many cutting edge implications and applications of Equilintegration or EI Theory and the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI). Grounded in twenty years of research and practice, EI Theory seeks to explain the processes by which beliefs, values, and worldviews are acquired and maintained, why their alteration is resisted, and under what circumstances they are modified. Based upon EI Theory, the BEVI is a comprehensive analytic tool which examines how and why we come to see ourselves, others, and the larger world as we do as well as the influence of such processes on multiple aspects of human functioning. Edited by the developer of the EI model and BEVI method, and informed by contributions from leading U.S. and international scholars, this book features captivating research findings and pioneering practice applications. Research-focused chapters explain how the EI model and BEVI method increase our conceptual sophistication and methodological capacity across a range of areas: Culture, Development, Environment, Gender, Personality, Politics, and Religion. Practice-oriented chapters demonstrate how the BEVI is used in the real world across a range of applied domains: Assessment, Education, Forensics, Leadership, and Psychotherapy. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, this fascinating and timely volume speaks to many of the most pressing issues of our day, by illuminating why we believe what we believe, and demonstrating how our beliefs and values may be assessed, explained, and transformed in the real world. Key Features: Presents an interdisciplinary theoretical model and innovative assessment method derived from two decades of work on the etiology, maintenance, and transformation of beliefs and values Features contributions from leading scholars from the U.S. and internationally, demonstrating the many implications and applications of this cutting edge approach for research and practice Demonstrates the importance of "making sense of beliefs and values" in addressing many of the most pressing issues of our day