Constructing Social Research Objects is the third volume on theoretically driven methodology in the social sciences edited by Hkon Leiulfsrud and Peter Sohlberg. This essential new volume explains how to identify sociological research objects, and explores the art of living theory.
Theoretical concepts such as social structure, the Global South, social bonds, organizations and management are examined and developed by a broad range of the discipline's most influential authors. The methodological chapters-including critical notes on sociology and the uses of statistics, the value of thought experiments in sociology, how to research subjects in time and space, and the academic 'star war' between Pierre Bourdieu and Dorothy E. Smith-offer indispensable insights for researchers and students interested in theoretical construction work in the social sciences.
Contributors are: Gran Ahrne, Michela Betta, Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen, Michael Burawoy, Raju Das, David Fasenfest, Raimund Hasse, Johs Hjellbrekke, Hkon Leiulfsrud, Emil A. Ryrvik, John Scott, Peter Sohlberg, Karin Widerberg and Richard Swedberg.
Table of Contents:
Preface
List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction
Håkon Leiulfsrud and Peter Sohlberg
2 How Do You Establish the Research Object in Sociology?
Richard Swedberg
3 Historical Epistemology, Sociology, and Statistics
Johs Hjellbrekke
4 Constructing Social Structure
John Scott
5 Constructing the Conceptual Tools for the Global South
David Fasenfest and Raju J. Das
6 The Significance of Social Bonds
Göran Ahrne
7 Organisations as a Sociological Research Object
How Schools Reproduce Inequality
Raimund Hasse
8 Broken Promises and Lost Qualities
Constructing Management as a Research Object in Sociology and Anthropology
Emil André Røyrvik
9 On Thought Experiments in Sociology and the Power of Thinking
Michela Betta and Richard Swedberg
10 Constructing and Researching the Object in Time and Space
Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen
11 Academic Star Wars
Pierre Bourdieu and Dorothy E. Smith on Academic Work
Karin Widerberg
12 Living Theory
Reflections on Four Decades of Teaching Social Theory
Michael Burawoy
13 Postscript
Peter Sohlberg and Håkon Leiulfsrud
Index
