SOCY 122 Study Guide - Final Guide: Anthony Giddens, Metatheory, Social Forces

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Social Sci, Edu and Soc Work - Sociology
• Course: SOCY 122
• Professor: Rob Beamish

Document Summary

Why are social theories discourses and what are the implications of this mode of analysis and explanation? (week 14) Jeffery alexander argues that theories in the social sciences are discourses . Social theories are discourses because unlike the natural sciences, there are too many variables to isolate the effects of any particular one, and the theory acts as a discourse about what variables are more or less influential. This implies that all of the theories in the social sciences are debatable and are not true in absolute terms, but rather exist as a guideline through a very complex world. How is this important for understanding the relationship between structure and agency? (week 14) According to anthony giddens the basic domain of study of the social sciences is neither the experiences of the individual actor, nor the existence of any form of social totality, but social practices ordered across space and time .