Author: Peter Hedstrom Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9781139447331 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 192
Book Description
Over the past few decades serious reservations have been expressed about the explanatory power of sociological theory and research. In this important book, leading social theorist Peter Hedström outlines the foundations of an analytically oriented sociology that seeks to address this criticism. Building on his earlier influential contributions to contemporary debates, Professor Hedström argues for a systematic development of sociological theory so that it has the explanatory power and precision to inform sociological research and understanding. He discusses various mechanisms of action and interaction and shows how strong links can be forged between the micro and the macro, and between theory and empirical research. Combining approaches to theory and methodology and using extensive examples to illustrate how they might be applied, this clear, concise and original book will appeal to a broad range of social scientists.
Author: Dave Elder-Vass Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1139488198 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 235
Book Description
The problem of structure and agency has been the subject of intense debate in the social sciences for over 100 years. This book offers a solution. Using a critical realist version of the theory of emergence, Dave Elder-Vass argues that, instead of ascribing causal significance to an abstract notion of social structure or a monolithic concept of society, we must recognise that it is specific groups of people that have social structural power. Some of these groups are entities with emergent causal powers, distinct from those of human individuals. Yet these powers also depend on the contributions of human individuals, and this book examines the mechanisms through which interactions between human individuals generate the causal powers of some types of social structures. The Causal Power of Social Structures makes particularly important contributions to the theory of human agency and to our understanding of normative institutions.
Author: Pierre Demeulenaere Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1139497960 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 331
Book Description
Mechanisms are very much a part of social life. For example, we can see that inequality has tended to increase over time, and that cities can become segregated. But how do such mechanisms work? Analytical sociology is an influential approach to sociology which holds that explanations of social phenomena should focus on the social mechanisms that bring them about. This book evaluates the major features of this approach, focusing on the significance of the notion of mechanism. Leading scholars seek to answer a number of questions in order to explore all the relevant dimensions of mechanism-based explanations in social sciences. How do social mechanisms link together individual actions and social environments? What is the role of multi-agent modelling in the conceptualization of mechanisms? Does the notion of mechanism solve the problem of relevance in social sciences explanations?
Author: Gianluca Manzo Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 1118762738 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 508
Book Description
Demonstrates the power of the theoretical framework of analytical sociology in explaining a large array of social phenomena Analytical Sociology: Actions and Networks presents the most advanced theoretical discussion of analytical sociology, along with a unique set of examples on mechanism- based sociology. Leading scholars apply the theoretical principles of analytical sociology to understand how puzzling social and historical phenomena including crime, lynching, witch-hunts, tax behaviours, Web-based social movement and communication, restaurant reputation, job search and careers, social network homophily and instability, cooperation and trust are brought about by complex, multi-layered social mechanisms. The analyses presented in this book rely on a wide range of methods which include qualitative observations, advanced statistical techniques, complex network tools, refined simulation methods and creative experimental protocols. This book ultimately demonstrates that sociology, like any other science, is at its best when it dissects the mechanisms at work by means of rigorous model building and testing. Analytical Sociology: • Provides the most complete and up-to-date theoretical treatment of analytical sociology. • Looks at a wide range of complex social phenomena within a single and unitary theoretical framework. • Explores a variety of advanced methods to build and test theoretical models. • Examines how both computational modelling and experiments can be used to study the complex relation between norms, networks and social actions. • Brings together research from leading global experts in the field in order to present a unique set of examples on mechanism-based sociology. Advanced graduate students and researchers working in sociology, methodology of social sciences, statistics, social networks analysis and computer simulation will benefit from this book.
Author: Peter Hedström Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521596879 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 356
Book Description
The advancement of social theory requires an analytical approach that systematically seeks to explicate the social mechanisms that generate and explain observed associations between events. These essays, written by prominent social scientists, advance criticisms of current trends in social theory and suggest alternative approaches. The mechanism approach calls attention to an intermediary level of analysis in between pure description and story-telling, on the one hand, and grand theorizing and universal social laws, on the other. For social theory to be of use for the working social scientist, it must attain a high level of precision and provide a toolbox from which middle range theories can be constructed.
Author: Michael Sappol Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691186146 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 445
Book Description
A Traffic of Dead Bodies enters the sphere of bodysnatching medical students, dissection-room pranks, and anatomical fantasy. It shows how nineteenth-century American physicians used anatomy to develop a vital professional identity, while claiming authority over the living and the dead. It also introduces the middle-class women and men, working people, unorthodox healers, cultural radicals, entrepreneurs, and health reformers who resisted and exploited anatomy to articulate their own social identities and visions. The nineteenth century saw the rise of the American medical profession: a proliferation of practitioners, journals, organizations, sects, and schools. Anatomy lay at the heart of the medical curriculum, allowing American medicine to invest itself with the authority of European science. Anatomists crossed the boundary between life and death, cut into the body, reduced it to its parts, framed it with moral commentary, and represented it theatrically, visually, and textually. Only initiates of the dissecting room could claim the privileged healing status that came with direct knowledge of the body. But anatomy depended on confiscation of the dead--mainly the plundered bodies of African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans, and the poor. As black markets in cadavers flourished, so did a cultural obsession with anatomy, an obsession that gave rise to clashes over the legal, social, and moral status of the dead. Ministers praised or denounced anatomy from the pulpit; rioters sacked medical schools; and legislatures passed or repealed laws permitting medical schools to take the bodies of the destitute. Dissection narratives and representations of the anatomical body circulated in new places: schools, dime museums, popular lectures, minstrel shows, and sensationalist novels. Michael Sappol resurrects this world of graverobbers and anatomical healers, discerning new ligatures among race and gender relations, funerary practices, the formation of the middle-class, and medical professionalization. In the process, he offers an engrossing and surprisingly rich cultural history of nineteenth-century America.
Author: Jayson E Street Publisher: Syngress ISBN: 0128042826 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 235
Book Description
Dissecting the Hack: The V3rb0t3n Network ventures further into cutting-edge techniques and methods than its predecessor, Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network. It forgoes the basics and delves straight into the action, as our heroes are chased around the world in a global race against the clock. The danger they face will forever reshape their lives and the price they pay for their actions will not only affect themselves, but could possibly shake the foundations of an entire nation. The book is divided into two parts. The first part, entitled "The V3rb0t3n Network," continues the fictional story of Bob and Leon, two hackers caught up in an adventure in which they learn the deadly consequence of digital actions. The second part, "Security Threats Are Real" (STAR), focuses on these real-world lessons and advanced techniques, as used by characters in the story. This gives the reader not only textbook knowledge, but real-world context around how cyber-attacks may manifest. "The V3rb0t3n Network" can be read as a stand-alone story or as an illustration of the issues described in STAR. Scattered throughout "The V3rb0t3n Network" are "Easter eggs"—references, hints, phrases, and more that will lead readers to insights into hacker culture. Drawing on "The V3rb0t3n Network," STAR explains the various aspects of reconnaissance; the scanning phase of an attack; the attacker's search for network weaknesses and vulnerabilities to exploit; the various angles of attack used by the characters in the story; basic methods of erasing information and obscuring an attacker's presence on a computer system; and the underlying hacking culture. - All new volume of Dissecting the Hack by Jayson Street, with technical edit by Brian Martin - Uses actual hacking and security tools in its story – helps to familiarize readers with the many devices and their code - Features cool new hacks and social engineering techniques, in real life context for ease of learning
Author: Oyinkan Braithwaite Publisher: Anchor ISBN: 0385544243 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 178
Book Description
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • “A taut and darkly funny contemporary noir that moves at lightning speed, it’s the wittiest and most fun murder party you’ve ever been invited to.” —MARIE CLAIRE Korede’s sister Ayoola is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead, stabbed through the heart with Ayoola’s knife. Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood (bleach, bleach, and more bleach), the best way to move a body (wrap it in sheets like a mummy), and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit. Korede has long been in love with a kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where she works. She dreams of the day when he will realize that she’s exactly what he needs. But when he asks Korede for Ayoola’s phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and how far she’s willing to go to protect her.
Author: Peter Hedström Publisher: OUP Oxford ISBN: 0191615234 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 795
Book Description
Analytical sociology is a strategy for understanding the social world. It is concerned with explaining important social facts such as network structures, patterns of residential segregation, typical beliefs, cultural tastes, and common ways of acting. It explains such facts by detailing in clear and precise ways the mechanisms through which the social facts were brought about. Making sense of the relationship between micro and macro thus is one of the central concerns of analytical sociology. The approach is a contemporary incarnation of Robert K. Merton's notion of middle-range theory and presents a vision of sociological theory as a tool-box of semi-general theories each of which is adequate for explaining certain types of phenomena. The Handbook brings together some of the most prominent sociologists in the world. Some of the chapters focus on action and interaction as the cogs and wheels of social processes, while others consider the dynamic social processes that these actions and interactions bring about.
Author: Heidi Strengell Publisher: Popular Press ISBN: 9780299209742 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 324
Book Description
In a thoughtful, well-informed study exploring fiction from throughout Stephen King's immense oeuvre, Heidi Strengell shows how this popular writer enriches his unique brand of horror by building on the traditions of his literary heritage. Tapping into the wellsprings of the gothic to reveal contemporary phobias, King invokes the abnormal and repressed sexuality of the vampire, the hubris of Frankenstein, the split identity of the werewolf, the domestic melodrama of the ghost tale. Drawing on myths and fairy tales, he creates characters who, like the heroic Roland the Gunslinger and the villainous Randall Flagg, may either reinforce or subvert the reader's childlike faith in society. And in the manner of the naturalist tradition, he reinforces a tension between the free will of the individual and the daunting hand of fate. Ultimately, Strengell shows how King shatters our illusions of safety and control: "King places his decent and basically good characters at the mercy of indifferent forces, survival depending on their moral strength and the responsibility they may take for their fellow men."
Author: Peter Hedstrom
Author: Dave Elder-Vass
Author: Pierre Demeulenaere
Author: Gianluca Manzo
Author: Peter Hedström
Author: Michael Sappol
Author: Jayson E Street
Author: Oyinkan Braithwaite
Author: Peter Hedström
Author: Heidi Strengell