Is Homans tautological
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20455276 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Henry J Travers (James Madison University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1979 |
| Volume | 1979 |
| Issue | 20 |
| Pages | 80-92 |
| Publication date | 1979-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South African Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0258-0144 • E-ISSN: 1999-9135 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02580144.1979.10429293 |
| OpenAlex | W1992978896 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
Execution of an axiomatization of Homans' exchange theory of interpersonal behavior by the present investigator has prompted reexamination and clarification of many chronic issues central both to Homans' analyses and to sociological theory and research at large. Often debated in the critical literature on Homans' work, these perennially lively issues represent complicated tangles of controversies bearing on such problems as reductionism, formalization, codification of divergent perspectives, the theory-data chasm, and causality. This paper reappraises one such issue, tautology. After an outline of the axiomatization, the tautology criticisms of Homans' theory are considered, in the context of the general sociological problem of tautology. A sociologically novel axiomatic tool for identifying tautologies is then employed; the criticisms are resolved; and implications of the approach for sociological inquiry are suggested
Epistemology · Reductionism · Sociology · Computer Science · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Philosophy
Philosophy of Social Science
Theory and methods of social research.
Theories in social psychology
The structure of sociological theory
Handbook of Social Psychology
Science and Human Behavior
Verbal behavior.
The Structure of Science
Methodology in social research
Symposium on sociological theory
Social behavior
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
Introduction to Logic
Uses and Misuses of Tautologies in Social Psychology
Systemic Analysis and Exchange Theory
A Behavioral Model of Man
Social Exchange Theory
Social Theory and Social Structure
Decisions and Exchange
Cumulative Sociological Knowledge
Second Thoughts
Psychological Reductionism, Methodological Individualism, and Large-Scale Problems
An Axiomatic Theory of Urbanization
The Logical Adequacy of Homans' Social Theory
Behavioral Theory in Sociology
Learning and Social Behavior
On Causality in Social Science
Homans in the Skinner Box
Homans on Exchange
A Formalized Theory of the Self-Concept
Two Critiques of Homans' Social Behavior
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |