This Article Résumé Resumen Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Reed, I. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Review Essay: Social Theory, Post-Post-Positivism and the Question of Interpretation

University of Colorado, isaac.reed{at}colorado.edu

These four statements concerning the shape and structure of sociological knowledge evidence a shifting trend in epistemology beyond the skepticism of `post-positivism'. Each considers how, in the beginning of the 21st century, sociological knowledge can and should be constructed. The answers are varied, as are the approaches to the problem, revealing that the new, positive, era of social knowledge is not so much a consensus as a set of contentious disagreements about how to interpret social life — and about what, exactly, the status of these interpretations is.

Key Words: epistemology • interpretation • post-positivism • rational action theory • theory

International Sociology, Vol. 23, No. 5, 665-675 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0268580908094467


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?