Routledge Library Editions: Social Theory: Functionalism, Exchange And Theoretical Strategy (rle Social Theory)
by Michael Mulkay /
2014 / English / PDF
12.6 MB Download
M.J. Mulkay traces the development of certain recent versions of
functionalism and exchange theory in sociology, with special
attention to 'theoretical strategy'. He uses this term to refer
to the policies which theorists adopt to ensure that their work
contributes to their long range theoretical objectives. Such
strategies are important, he believes, because they place limits
on the theories with which they are associated. He shows how each
of the theorists he studies devised a new strategy to replace the
unsuccessful policies of a prior theory in a process of
'strategical dialectic'. This often has unforeseen consequences
for the direction of theoretical growth, and the author
interprets changes in theoretical perspective largely as products
of these strategical innovations.
M.J. Mulkay traces the development of certain recent versions of
functionalism and exchange theory in sociology, with special
attention to 'theoretical strategy'. He uses this term to refer
to the policies which theorists adopt to ensure that their work
contributes to their long range theoretical objectives. Such
strategies are important, he believes, because they place limits
on the theories with which they are associated. He shows how each
of the theorists he studies devised a new strategy to replace the
unsuccessful policies of a prior theory in a process of
'strategical dialectic'. This often has unforeseen consequences
for the direction of theoretical growth, and the author
interprets changes in theoretical perspective largely as products
of these strategical innovations.
