Theorizing theory: Invitation to a broader conversation about ‘theory’ in sociology
Peer reviewed, Journal article
Published version
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3094699Utgivelsesdato
2023Metadata
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- Publikasjoner fra Cristin [3593]
- SAM - Institutt for sosialfag [524]
Originalversjon
10.1111/soc4.13085Sammendrag
'Theory’ is a seminal term in sociology. Sociologists tend to
ask that articles, chapters and monographs are ‘theoretical’,
‘develop theory’ or ‘make a theoretical contribution’. Yet, as
demonstrated in Gabriel Abend’s 2008 article ‘The Mean-
ing of ‘Theory’, it is generally unclear what sociologists mean
when they talk about theory. Abend distinguishes seven
different meanings sociologists tend to impute to ‘theory’
and argues that no single definition can usefully capture
these substantively different meanings. Counter to Abend,
we propose and defend a minimal and versatile theory of
theory, which does capture the important common denom-
inators in sociologists' various uses of the term theory. The
major strengths of our proposal are that it enables informed
and synthetic discussion and fosters reflexivity about differ-
ences and similarities between different types of theory.
Our minimal theory of theory thus serves as an invitation to
a broader conversation about theory in sociology.