The Nature and Types of Sociological Theory

Download or read book The Nature and Types of Sociological Theory written by Don Martindale and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1998. This is Volume XI of twenty-two in a series on Social Theory and Methodology. Notions are widespread that sociological theory is either an industrious activity on the drawing boards of the architects of fantasy or a branch of esoterics operating in a shadowy realm of semi-darkness. The present study holds neither of these conceptions of sociological. The present study’s function is to illuminate the difference between one theory and another. The power and reliability of a theory are not always evident all at once. A theory may have a power to explain what was not originally anticipated; it may also disclose the existence of problems it cannot explain.