Social theory

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Social Theory?s Relation to Hard Science

Main Article: Sociology vs. Social Theory

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Social theory always had an uneasy relationship to the more classic academic disciplines; many of its key thinkers never held a university position.

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Unlike disciplines within the ?objective? natural sciences -- such as physics or chemistry -- social theorists are less likely to use the scientific method and other fact-based methods to prove a point. Instead, they tackle very large-scale social trends and structures using hypotheses that cannot be easily proved, except by the history and time, which is often the basis of criticism from opponents of social theories. Extremely critical theorists, such as deconstructionists or postmodernists, may argue that any type of research or method is inherently flawed. Many times, however, social theory is defined as such because the social reality it describes is so overarching as to be improvable. The social theories of modernity or anarchy might be two examples of this.

Related Topics:
Objective - Natural sciences - Physics - Chemistry - Scientific method - Hypotheses - Deconstructionists - Postmodernists - Modernity - Anarchy

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However, social theories still play a major part in the sciences of sociology, anthropology, economics, and others. Objective science-based research often begins with a hypothesis formed from a social theory. Likewise, science-based research can often provide support for social theories or spawn new ones.

Related Topics:
Sociology - Anthropology - Economics

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Statistical research grounded in the scientific method, for instance, that finds a severe income disparity between women and men performing the same occupation can complement the underlying premise of the complex social theories of feminism or patriarchy.

Related Topics:
Income disparity - Feminism - Patriarchy

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In general, and in particular among adherents to pure sociology, social theory has an appeal because it takes the focus away from the individual (which is how most humans look at the world) and focuses it on the society itself and the social forces which control our lives. This sociological insight (often termed the sociological imagination) has appealed to students and others dissatisfied with the status quo because it looks beyond the assumption that societal structures and patterns are purely random.

Related Topics:
Pure sociology - Sociological imagination - Random

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