ON THE DESIRABILITY AND POSSIBILITY OF A POSITIVE SOCIOLOGY

Abstract

The current crisis of sociological theory is due to our failure to do sociology as a positive science‐our failure to accept both explanation and prediction as the goal of theorizing, and to use predictive power as the primary criterion for assessing theories. It is argued that sociology as a positive science can advance sociological theory. It is also argued that a positive science of sociology is possible by correcting four major fallacies‐i.e., fallacies concerning controlled experiments, realism of assumptions, subjectivity, and complexity.

Citation

Liu, C. (1996), "ON THE DESIRABILITY AND POSSIBILITY OF A POSITIVE SOCIOLOGY", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 103-135. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb013252