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Finding, and Correcting, My Mistakes

michael{at}banton.demon.co.uk

Mistakes are inherent in the process of research but can illuminate it. Some of the author’s mistakes have been false assumptions shared with others of his generation. His early work lacked a sufficiently sharp focus for him to be able to make any interesting mistakes. In 1967 he claimed that race was used as a role sign when he should have claimed that phenotypical differences were so used. He tended to take race as a synonym for colour, and failed to appreciate that a social construct could not be a basis for a general theory. His subsequent attempts to correct these mistakes are outlined.

Key Words: collective action • methodological individualism • mistakes • Popper • race relations

Sociology, Vol. 39, No. 3, 463-479 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0038038505052488


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