Who's Afraid of Positivism? A comment on Shilling and Abraham

Bibliographic Data

ID11635504
AuthorsM Hammersley (0000-0001-6842-6276, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume16
Issue2
Pages243-246
Publication date1995-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0142-5692 • E-ISSN: 1465-3346
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0142569950160207
OpenAlexW2090133738
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited9

This paper is a response to articles by Shilling and Abraham, which were concerned with the relationship between Giddens’ structuration meta‐theory, differentiation‐polarisation theory, and positivism. Despite their conflicting conclusions, both authors criticise my reconstruction of differentiation‐polarisation theory, and I try to clarify the nature of that reconstruction and the theory it represents. It seems to me that these articles display misunderstandings of, and unwarranted prejudice against, positivism; though they are of course by no means alone in this. I suggest that while the sort of debate in which these authors engage is welcome, there needs to be a more open‐minded approach towards the theoretical and methodological resources available to sociologists of education, including those frequently dismissed as positivist

Education theory · Epistemology · Higher education · Political science · Positivism · Prejudice (legal term · Social science · Sociology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology

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