Actions and Structure: Research Methods and Social Theory / Edition 1

by Nigel G. Fielding

Overview

Social scientists have always recognised a divergence between approaches which emphasise the constraining power of social structure and those which interpret society through the cumulative effects of actions of individuals. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the latter through the micro-sociology of everyday life. Social scientists are now taking stock of the implications of micro-sociological research for the analysis of structure and the macro-level theory of society. In Actions and Structure the value of micro-sociological research for the analysis of social order is assessed. Individual chapters evaluate new research approaches from discourse and conversational analysis, mathematical, interactionist and phenomenol

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803981478
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	10/01/1988
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Nigel Fielding, BA (Sussex) MA (Kent) Ph D (LSE), is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Surrey, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a member of the Community of Experts of the European Science Foundation, and served on the Mixed Methods Research Association’s presidential task force on the future of mixed methods.

His interests in research methodology include mixed methods, socio-spatial methods, qualitative software, interview methods, field observation, and digitally-mediated fieldwork. Nigel has authored/edited 27 books, many in research methodology, including The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods, Sage, 2018 (second edition), with Grant Blank and Ray Lee.

Table of Contents

Between Micro and Macro - Nigel Fielding
The Micro-Social Order - Karin Knorr-Cetina
Autonomy Among Social Theories - Wes Sharrock and Rod Watson
Semiotics and Social Theory - Peter K Manning
Micro-Sociology and Power - Paul Rock
Micro-Sociology and Micro-Economics - Colin Clark and Trevor Pinch
Micro-Sociology and the ‘Duality of Structure' - John Brewer
Individual and Social Connections - John Scott and Peter Cowley
The ‘Structuration' of Action - Peter Abell
Micro-Sociology and Macro Theory - Nigel Fielding

Editorial Reviews

‘This collection takes on issues of the first importance for sociology. The opening 'theory' chapters attempt to refine our understanding of the ontological configurations involved in perceiving structure and agency as a duality. Then comes the great novelty of the work in that the remaining papers address the issue of how knowledge of this duality should inform empirical research.... at the micro level there is knowledgeability in abundance here and Fielding and SAGE are to be congratulated for getting it out.' - Sociology

From the Publisher