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Social Divisions, Social Mobilities and Social Research: Methodological Issues after 40 YearsUniversity of Plymouth, geoffp{at}btinternet.com As sociology diversified, and under other academic pressures, British sociologists became `hyper-specialized' in subject expertise and methodology. Exploring multidimensional social life requires knowing about more than one field and having skills in more than one method. The retreat from quantitative methods, however good our qualitative methods, loses opportunities to contribute to important issues, particularly those in the public arena, at the boundaries of the discipline, or which take numerical form. This argument is developed through three recent examples: a critique of Erikson's view of British sociology and the BSA; the socio-economic circumstances of minority ethnic groups; and the isolation of social mobility analysis from political discourse. An approach based on an integrated view of social divisions and expanded methodological pluralism, in which we moderate our claims to sociological generalization, is proposed as a way forward.
Key Words: BSA • hyper-specialization • methodological pluralism • public sociology • qualitative methods • quantitative methods • social mobility
Sociology, Vol. 41, No. 5,
901-915 (2007) This article has been cited by other articles:
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