1. BEHAVIORAL SOCIOLOGY OR BEHAVIORAL SOCIOLOGY.
- Author
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Blau, Peter M.
- Subjects
- *
SOCIOLOGY , *REDUCTIONISM , *PHILOSOPHY , *SOCIAL structure , *SOCIAL sciences - Abstract
In her paper, Molm raises whether behavioral sociology is an appropriate perspective for distinctly sociological analysis or does it lead to psychological reductionism. In the first section of the paper, where she distinguishes behavioral sociology from behavioral psychology, Molm adopts a sociological focus that is in agreement with my conception of it. The discussion in the second section of the paper seems to depart from the sociological perspective of the first section. Most of Molm's paper deals with microsociological studies, and her contribution which should be acknowledged is that she recognizes the dangers of psychological reductionism. In concluding her article, she notes that a main difference between behavioral and other sociologists is the methodological one that the former tend to prefer laboratory experiments and the latter research in natural settings. The nature of the explanatory theory depends on the conception of social structure. The theory seeks to explain the pattern of structure of social relations in terms of the structure or distribution of social positions.
- Published
- 1981