Exploring Trends and Challenges in Sociological Research

SHS Web of Conferences

Due to digital technology, data production has grown exponentially, creating enormous enthusiasm within the scientific community for “big data”. This socio-technical phenomenon gives rise to dualities and conflicting attitudes in sociology: unlimited synchronic numerical data against classical data at risk of expiry, rigorous methodological process as opposed to a stagnation of the protocol. And has put in a vice the research techniques and their associated modes of resonance. In this article, from a consultation of the literature, three fundamental aspects will be subject to explore: the forced adjustment of the domain, the transformations of the methods of data collection, and the models of reasoning about the theory. In the outcome, the vast availability of digital data show how far the digital has invaded sociology by announcing the embarrassment of classical researchers facing big data, the obsolescence of traditional techniques and the change of models reasoning. Moreover, thr...

PREPRINT SocArXiv, 2024

The article argues that a degree in sociology provides academic qualification rather than professional qualification, and hence sociology cannot be practised. The practice of sociology lacks scientific legitimacy and ethical legitimacy. Even though it cannot be practised, sociology can be applied, in the sense that it can be used in various fields. It informs decisions and actions either by using existing sociological knowledge and theories or by generating new knowledge through conducting sociological research. The article highlights that sociologists are taught in universities to conduct fundamental research rather than applied research, that they conduct fundamental research regardless of context, and thus, they do not truly respond to the knowledge needs of the beneficiaries. This article presents the necessity of a clearer methodological distinction between fundamental and applied research and proposes a clarification of the role theory plays in the latter. It emphasises the idea that theory is not only not prioritised but is also not even mandatory in applied research.

Social Thought and Research, 2019

2000

does not accept unsolicited reviews. The invitation to review a book assumes that the prospective reviewer has not reviewed that book for another scholarly journal. Comments on reviews must be less than 300 words and typed doublespaced. Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. CS reserves the right to reject any comment that does not engage a substantive issue in a review or is otherwise inappropriate.

2007

does not accept unsolicited reviews. The invitation to review a book assumes that the prospective reviewer has not reviewed that book for another scholarly journal. Comments on reviews must be less than 300 words and typed doublespaced. Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. CS reserves the right to reject any comment that does not engage a substantive issue in a review or is otherwise inappropriate. Authors of reviews are invited to reply. Book reviews in CS are indexed in Book Review Index, published by Gale Research Company.

Journal of Sociology, 2017

In What Use is Sociology? Michael-Hviid Jacobsen and Keith Tester (Bauman, 2014) pose a series of double-edged questions to the (now deceased) prolific sociologist Zygmunt Bauman : Does your productivity reflect an attempt to keep the conversation going or, by contrast, is it an attempt to make the conversation happen? Put another way, is your productivity a sign of the presence or absence of dialogue? Or is it a more simple case that the sociological vocation makes us all Puritans, working hard in our calling, without ever knowing if we are destined for the secular salvation of being heard? (2014: 62) Bauman, impressed, responds that perhaps we are now indeed all Puritans, but by 'decree of history rather than by choice'. In an age of intellectual super abundance and high turnover, 'messages, however loud and bright, nowadays come with a "use by" date printed or presumed, and vanish as fast as they appear'. For this reason, he says, '"to keep the conversation going" you have "to make it happen"-repeatedly, untiringly' (2014: 62-3). Bauman's call to keep the sociological discourse going, particularly at a time when the world appears to require a continuous reorientation, has been taken up by the outgoing

2019

This course is focused on understanding and practicing relevant research methodologies for the investigations of sociological issues related to terrorism, extremism, social movements and political violence. Students will explore the research process through engaged scholarship that is methodologically rigorous, and focused on the development of an original research project. Through an engagement with the Prosecution Project (tPP) data set, students will be introduced to a variety of research methods, theoretical positions, and ethical pitfalls hidden through the field of research. Through a focus on both qualitative and quantitative methods, students will practice selecting the best method and data sources, and the basics of how these methods are deployed. Special attention will be paid to issues of knowledge extraction versus knowledge construction, the cooptation of academic research for criminalization and securitization, and the role of action-oriented, community-based, participatory research as a manner of social justice engagement. Students will spend time studying and applying specific research methods including descriptive and inferential statistics, content analysis and typology methods, textual analysis including corpus linguistics and discourse analysis, ground theory, event analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, case study, mapping and GIS, social network analysis, and other emergent methods of data science. Students will have the opportunity to present various components of their research process to the class and engage in peer-review. It is expected that at the conclusion of the course, students will have produced a piece of original research suitable for publication and presenting to a wider academic world. Student Learning Outcomes 1. Identify and understand the steps involved in the research process, and evaluate appropriate methodologies for exploring particular research problems. 2. Investigate ethical issues surrounding the research process paying special attention to issues of intentionally, design, power, and the ethical responsibility of the researcher. 3. Workshop various research methods commonly found in the social sciences, paying particular attention to their benefits and challenges, as well as their applicability for furthering a research agenda situated in a social justice framework. 4. Experience the complete research process-from conceptualizing design to presenting findings in a public forum-focused around constructing a research plan, collecting data, analyzing data and generating findings. 5. Collaborate in the shared process of learning, practicing and refining research methods as well as aspects of public scholarship including peer review, conference presenting and publishing.

questions addressed in this symposium are the following: Are the general theoretical or empirical claims of these books persuasive, and are they well supported by the data that are presented by the authors? Are these books persuasive because they adhere to certain methodological rules or standards, if only implicitly? And what are those rules or standards? Or are these books powerful or persuasive despite, or even because of, their lack of methodological rigor, conventionally understood? And would these books have been improved appreciably had they been more methodologically self-conscious or differently designed?

SAGE, 2007

This issue celebrates the 40th anniversary of the British Sociological Association's 'flagship' journal, Sociology. Of the 'big three' non-specialist sociology journals based in Britain, it is the youngest, with The British Journal of Sociology founded at the LSE in 1950 and the Sociological Review founded by the Sociological Society in 1908 and relaunched at Keele University in its new series in 1952. All three journals have reflected the strengths of British sociology, its healthy diversity and its openness to publication by sociologists outside the UK. Sociology, however, has, in addition, become the recognized voice of the profession.