Becoming a Science
Sociology at a Milestone
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3863441 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eugene C Johnsen (University of California, Santa Barbara, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 545-548 |
| Publication date | 2008-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0094-3061 • E-ISSN: 1939-8638 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/009430610803700612 |
| OpenAlex | W2044786996 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
tating as linguistic tic you know intrud ing in much of modern speech. This is trivial of course but usage seems like a sop to those needing motivation. Far more problem atic is use of concepts that are never intro duced or are introduced later in book. On p. 4 we are told that the square root of a number is a radical of order two. Despite notation after sentence, a naive reader could be forgiven for wondering what is a 'radical'? In chapter 3, determinants and per mutation matrices are used well before they are introduced. In chapter 5, he uses d as a symbol for derivatives and suddenly switches to symbol for partial derivatives without explanation. True, it is explained four pages later but ordering is still off. Worse, some equations slink into prose without com ment or explanation. The book requires an instructor and/or a reader knowledgeable in mathematics to follow arguments, a fea ture contradicting the only required material is knowledge of high school algebra and geometry (p. xxii). Mathematics is used in social sciences either explicitly in formal models or implicitly Toolkit Essays 545
Archaeology · Milestone · Social science · Sociology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · History · Social Power and Status Dynamics
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |