SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION: ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS OF VALUE IN THEORY CONSTRUCTION

Rasak, Bamidele (2014) SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION: ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS OF VALUE IN THEORY CONSTRUCTION. Journal of Social Sciences and Public Policy, 6 (1). pp. 181-191.

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The core aspects of how sociological Explanation and Interpretation characteristically operate are especially visible in what may be called “traditions of inquiry”. Such traditions form around substantive debates such as why capitalism emerged in Europe, or how social background affects individual performances on IQ tests. In debates like these, both differing approaches and contending paradigms account come into confrontation. There are three types of Paradigms in sociology; Social fact paradigms, social definition and social behavioural paradigms. These paradigms have their various methods or an approach through which social reality is constructed. Constructing social reality or giving sociological explanation of any social situation does not present much difficulty, but the question of which explanation is scientific, or which paradigm(s) will represent a true knowledge or adequate analyses of social phenomena is the major problem of sociology. The study examines the different sociological paradigms (positivism and phenomenology) and the various explanations that emerge from them. It will also examine other sociological explanations that either belongs to the above two paradigms or does not fit into any of the paradigms. Also, attempt is made to identify some of the problems or limitations of sociological explanation-mostly the problems of conceptualization of social facts, problems of values or ideologies, subjectivity of action, measurement and relativism. Keywords: Sociological Explanation, Phenomenology, Positivism, Symbolic Interactionism,Functionalist Explanation

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