What Has Sociology Achieved?

281 Pages·1990·27 MB·English

by  Christopher G. A. Bryant, Henk A. Becker (eds.)

WHAT HAS SOCIOLOGY ACHIEVED?
Also by Christopher G. A. Bryant
POSITIVISM IN SOCIAL THEORY AND RESEARCH
SOCIOLOGY IN ACTION
Also by Henk A. Becker
IMPACT ASSESSMENT TODAY (editor with A. L. Porter)
SOCIOLOGIE EN VERZORGINGSSTAAT (editor with P. Glasbergen)
What Has Sociology
Achieved?
Edited by
Christopher G. A. Bryant
University of Salford
and
Henk A. Becker
Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 978-0-333-46046-7 ISBN 978-1-349-20518-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20518-9
© Christopher G. A. Bryant and Henk A. Becker 1990
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1990
ISBN 978-0-312-03671-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
What has sociology achieved?/edited by Christopher G. A. Bryant and
Henk A. Becker.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-03671-3
1. Sociology-Congresses. I. Bryant, Christopher G. A.
II. Becker, H. A.
HM13.W48 1990
301----dc20
89-10721
CIP
In memory of
Nicholas C. Mullins
1939-88
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
Notes on the Contributors x
1 Introduction
Christopher G. A. Bryant and Henk A. Becker 1
2 Achievement in the Analytical Tradition in Sociology
HenkA. Becker 8
3 From Cognitive Style to Substantive Content:
Programmat ics and Pragmatics in the Development of
Sociological Knowledge
Robin Williams 31
4 The Sociological Study of History: Institutions and Social
Development
Stephen Mennell 54
5 Tales of Innocence and Experience: Developments in
Sociological Theory since 1950
Christopher G. A. Bryant 69
6 Methodological Achievements in Sociology over
the Past Few Decades with Special Reference to the
Interplay of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
Peter Abell 94
7 Successful Applications of Sociology
Martin Bulmer 117
8 Sociology in America
Nicholas C. Mullins 143
9 Sociology in Britain: A Going Concern
John Eldridge 157
10 What Has Sociology Achieved? The French Paradox
Philippe Bernoux 179
11 Sociology in Germany: Institutional Development
and Paradigmatic Structure
Ansgar Weymann 204
vii
viii Contents
12 What Dutch Sociology Has Achieved
Leo Laeyendecker 221
13 Strategies for Future Development in Sociology
WilA. Arts and HenkA. Becker 238
14 Conclusions
HenkA. Becker and Christopher G. A. Bryant 248
Index 259
Preface and
Acknowledgements
The thinking behind this volume is set out in the Introduction. Briefly,
we have been concerned that, in an age when continued financial and
other support for teaching and research in sociology cannot be taken for
granted, sociologists have often made their predicament worse by their
failure to present a clear statement of the achievements of sociology in
the western world in the second half of this century. In order to begin to
remedy this, we invited a number of sociologists to contribute papers to
a symposium at Noordwijk in the Netherlands from 26 to 29 November
1987. We are very grateful to the Netherlands Science Foundation and
the University of Utrecht for their financial support for the symposium,
and to Lizette Jongen for her help with its organization.
All but two of the chapters of this book are derived from papers
presented in person at N oordwi j k. One of the exceptions is the chapter
on American sociology. Illness prevented Nicholas Mullins from
travelling to Noordwijk but he sent his paper for the other participants
to discuss in his absence. It was with great sadness that we learned in
July 1988 of his death and it is the wish of all the contributors to this
volume that it be dedicated to his memory. The other exception is the
chapter on French sociology. We failed in our protracted endeavours
to get a French sociologist to join us at Noordwijk, but shortly
afterwards we made contact with Philippe Bernoux and we were
delighted when he agreed to write for us.
Both symposium and book are products of the link between the
Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University of
Salford and the Research Group on Planning and Policy of the
University of Utrecht. We are grateful to our colleagues for their
comments and encouragement and to our Universities for the travel
funds which have enabled us to meet, plan and edit in both Salford and
Utrecht. We also wish to thank the following for permission to
reproduce tables and figures: Professor W. W. Baldamus for Table
3.1; Sociology, the journal ofthe British Sociological Association, for
Figure 7.3; and the University of California Press for Figure 13.1. Last,
but very definitely not least, we should like to thank Sheila Walker for
typing and photocopying with good humour and great patience.
Salford CHRISTOPHER G. A. BRYANT
Utrecht HENK A. BECKER
IX
Notes on the Contributors
Peter Abell is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology
and Social Policy, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH,
England.
Wil A. Arts is a Research Fellow in Sociology in the Department of
Economics, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, PO Box 1378, 3000
DR Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Henk A. Becker is Professor of Sociology and the Methodology of
Social Research in the Research Group on Planning and Policy,
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Utrecht, PO Box 80.108,3508
TC Utrecht, Netherlands.
Philippe Bernoux is Director of Research in the Groupe Lyonnais de
Sociologie Industrielle (CNRS), University of Lyon II, Maison
RhOne-Alpes des Sciences de I'Homme, 14 avenue Berthelot, 69007
Lyon, France.
Christopher G. A. Bryant is Professor of Sociology in the Department
of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Salford, Salford M5
4WT, England.
Martin Bulmer is a Reader in the Department of Social Science and
Administration, London School of Economics, Houghton Street,
London WC2A 2AE, England.
John Eldridge is Professor of Sociology in the Department of
Sociology, University of Glasgow, 61 Southpark Avenue, Glasgow
G 12 8FL, Scotland.
Leo Laeyendecker has now retired but was formerly Professor of
Sociology in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leiden, 242
Stationsplein, 2312 AR Leiden, Netherlands.
Stephen Mennell is a Reader in the Department of Sociology,
University of Exeter, Amory Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4
4RJ, England.
x