Rational Choice, Empirical Research, and the Sociological Tradition

1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Hedstrom ◽  
R. Swedberg
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Sociological Tradition

Support for the System

1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Green
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Political Sociology ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
Empirical Theory ◽  
Conception Of Man

So-called ‘general theory’, or ‘systems theory’, is now nearly friendless among political scientists. The charm it once held as an ordering framework for empirical research has given way to that of the economic models of the rational choice school. While the successor paradigm was self-consciously reacting against the ‘over-socialized’ conception of man underlying systems theory and political sociology in general, much of its broader appeal was founded on similar claims: the promise of a testable, empirical theory, and an aspiration to complete generality. Perhaps these two goals will turn out to be irreconcilable; there is some plausibility in the view that, in practical affairs anyway, the idea of a general empirical theory is a contradiction in terms. In this article, however, I wish to examine a problem for systems theory which is not due to this tension, one which has gone unnoticed, and which has survived the decline and fall of the research programme.

Understanding China's Rising Rights Consciousness

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 ◽  
pp. 638-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lorentzen ◽  
Suzanne Scoggins
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Stabilizing Effect ◽  
Rights Consciousness

AbstractClaims that China's people are exhibiting a rising “rights consciousness” have become commonplace, with some suggesting this phenomenon is driving political change. Yet it is often unclear what the concept means, leading to ambiguous or contradictory conclusions from field research. In order to create a basis for more systematic analysis, we develop a rational choice framework that characterizes three different factors that could lead to rights-conscious behaviour: changing values, changing government policies, and changing expectations of the behaviour of others. What rising rights consciousness implies for social stability can vary dramatically, depending on which change is at work. Rights consciousness resulting from changes in values or in shared expectations of behaviour is destabilizing for the CCP's continued rule, whereas rights consciousness derived from government policies has a stabilizing effect. While in practice these can be interrelated in complex ways, empirical research would benefit from greater attention to these distinctions.

Sociology as Practical Philosophy and Moral Science

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Vandenberghe
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Moral Science ◽  
Sociological Tradition ◽  
Norms And Values

The philosophical assumptions that organize moral sociology as practical philosophy are the outcome of a secular quest to investigate the principles, norms and values behind the constitution of society. As a protracted response to the whole utilitarian-atomistic-individualistic tradition that systematically deemphasizes the constitutive role that morality plays in the structuration of self and society, the sociological tradition has continued, by its own means, the tradition of moral and practical philosophy in theoretically informed empirical research of social practices. Going back to classic moral philosophy, I want to show in this article how social theory is involved in the quest for ‘the good life with and for the others in just institutions’ (Ricoeur).

scholarly journals Beyond drink, drainage and divorce? What the Sociological Society did for British sociology

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1212-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Plamena Panayotova
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
History Of Sociology ◽  
Sociological Tradition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sociological Society ◽  
British Sociology

This article improves upon our current understanding of the Sociological Society’s contributions to the development of sociology in Britain. It challenges the assessment of the Society’s legacy made by Philip Abrams in 1968 and the more recent conclusions reached by scholars who contributed to a debate published in The Sociological Review in 2007. The article is built on original findings garnered from empirical research undertaken at The Sociological Review’s archives in Keele. It shows that, despite achieving some results in its attempts to introduce a particular type of sociology into Britain, the influence of the Society in establishing, both institutionally and intellectually, a sociological tradition was largely unsuccessful. A limited legacy, however, does not mean that the history of the Society is of little importance in the history of sociology in this country; on the contrary, as this article attempts to highlight, the Society deserves a critical examination precisely because of its limited legacy.

Rational Choice and its Limits for the Solution of Social and Legal Problems

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-54
Author(s):  
Simon Deakin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Collective Learning ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Third ◽  
Legal Problems ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This chapter addresses a number of methodological issues arising from the behavioural turn in law and economics and its claim to have established more realistic foundations for both positive and normative analysis. The first is whether models are necessarily better for being more realistic. Friedman’s proposal that the less realistic a model, the more useful it is as a basis for the identification of hypotheses, is rejected on the grounds that this is liable to direct research down fruitless or even erroneous paths. However, models such as the rationality axiom remain approximations of reality, not revealed truths. This leads on to a consideration of the second issue which is whether behavioural research should lead us to reject the rationality axiom. The claim that human beings are systematically wrong in their decision making is shown to be theoretically unsound and empirically unproven. Rather, theory and empirics alike suggest that rationality has a basis in social learning and institutional framing. The third issue concerns the normative conclusions to be drawn from behavioural law and economics. It is suggested that empirical research does not justify privileging ‘libertarian paternalism’ over alternative approaches to law and regulation. In the era of surveillance capitalism and the panoptic state, it is more than timely to reflect on the merits of collective learning and participatory decision making, democratic practices with adaptive qualities neglected by behavioural law and economics.

scholarly journals Municipal management in the south of Russia: managerial tools ensuring efficiency

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (Extra-E) ◽  
pp. 607-613
Author(s):  
Aleksandr V. Dyatlov ◽  
Vitaly V. Kovalev ◽  
Svetlana A. Tikhonovskova ◽  
Elena L. Kharitonova
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Third ◽  
Municipal Management ◽  
Rational Alternative

To establish the potential opportunities to achieve more efficiency of municipal management in the theory and practice of using the tools of state managerialism. This article uses rational choice theory, which is based on the idea of three forms of capital: physical, human and social. These forms are transformed into a set of resources used by the actor to achieve the goal in the process of choosing the most rational alternative. There was the research and presentation of its results on the third empirical indicator. The empirical research was carried out for the practical use of the developed theoretical model. Substantively this research will focus on such aspects of the activities of self-governments as work for indicators, management in the form of service delivery, restructuring of government bodies, effectiveness of interaction with civic activists and business communities.

scholarly journals Institutionalisation and implementation of the selected participatory instruments. The case of Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (57) ◽  
pp. 113-134
Author(s):  
Anna Kołomycew
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
New Institutionalism ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Final Part ◽  
The Third ◽  
Rational Choice Institutionalism ◽  
Depth Interviews

The article traces the process of the institutionalisation of selected elements of the mechanisms of public participation, whose consequence was the unification of the rules of implementation and formalisation. The process, however, did not result in an increase in civic engagement on the part of the citizens of all the territorial units under consideration. The article presents the outcome of both quantitative and qualitative (in-depth interviews) research conducted by the author in Polish municipalities. The theoretical framework of the article is provided by ‘new institutionalism’, and especially by ‘rational choice institutionalism’. The structure of the article is as follows: the first part focuses on the principles of new institutionalism with reference to the mechanisms of public participation. The second part presents a succinct analysis of the step-by-step institutionalisation of selected participatory mechanisms that have ensued in recent years. The third part contains a methodological overview of empirical research, while the fourth, and final, part includes the outcome of the research and its interpretation.

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