Many of the entries in the glossary are adapted from Bullock, A. & Trombley, S. (1999) The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, Third Edition. HarperCollins
Determinism
The theory that the world, or nature, is everywhere subject to causal law, that
every event in it has a cause. If it is true, then every event that actually
happens has to happen, since it logically follows from a description of the
conditions of its occurrence, together with the relevant laws of nature, that
it occurs. In social theories, contrasted with voluntarism.
Empiricism
The theory (1) that all concepts are derived from experience and (2) that all
statements claimimg to express knowledge depend for their justification on experience.
Epistemology
The philosophical theory of knowledge, which seeks to define it, distinguish
its principal varieties, identify its sources, and establish its limits.
Ethnomethodology
The sociological study of everyday activities, however trivial, concentrating
on the methods used by individuals to report their commonsense practical actions
to others in acceptable rational terms.
Idiographic
The study of particular cases (e.g. persons, social groups, works of art). Contrasted
with nomothetic.
Interpretive sociology
Any sociological theory or approach that emphasises that humans give meaning
to social reality before deciding how they are going to act, requiring explanations
to refer to the subjective states of social actors.
Logical Positivism
Body of philosophical doctrine asserting the meaninglessness of propositions
that are neither verifiable by empirical observation nor demonstrable by analysis.
Metaphysical utterances are thereby rendered meaningless.
Nominalism
A denial of the existence of abstract entities of any kind, i.e. those which
cannot be accommodated within the natural world of concrete things existing
in space and time and subject to causality. Contrasted with realism.
Nomothetic
The search for general laws or theories which will cover whole classes of cases.
Contrasted with idiographic.
Normative
Concerned with rules, recommendations or proposals, as contrasted with mere
description of the statement of matters of fact.
Ockham's razor
The principle of ontological economy, usually formulated as 'Entities are not
to be multiplied beyond necessity'.
Ontology
The theory of existence itself: it differentiates between 'real existence' and
'appearance' and investigates the different ways in which entities belonging
to various logical categories (physical objects, numbers, abstractions, etc.)
may be said to exist.
Phenomenology
Method of philosophical enquiry, developed by Husserl, starting from a scrupulous
inspection of one's own mental, particularly intellectual, processes. Assumptions
about causes, consequences and wider significance of the mental processes are
excluded ('bracketed').
Positivism
The view that all true knowledge is scientific. So named by French philosopher
Auguste Comte (1798 - 1857). A scientifically oriented form of empiricism.
Commonly used as an abbreviation for logical
positivism.
Realism
The view that universals have a real substantial existence, independently of
being thought. Contrasted with nominalism.
Reliability
A measure of how consistently coding against indicator variables is carried
out (e.g. by different people and/or at different times).
Symbolic interaction
The process of seeing yourself as others see you, a necessary condition of playing
social roles.
Validity
A measure of how accurately theoretical, concept variables are depicted in
empirical, indicator variables: 'a measure of the
extent to which you are measuring what you think you are measuring' (Brown
& Dowling, 1998).
Voluntarism
Any theory that emphasises the role of the will in mental life. In social
theories it emphasises the individual choice in decision-making, which it
considers as not entirely determined by external conditions. Contrasted with
a deterministic view of human behaviour.