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Journal ArticleDOI

On the use of definitions in sociology

01 Aug 2020-European Journal of Social Theory (SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England)-Vol. 23, Iss: 3, pp 431-445
TL;DR: Different types of definitions may seem marginal to the sociological enterprise, but can be very useful; however, they can also lead to serious errors as mentioned in this paper, and examples of both are given in this article.
Abstract: Definitions may seem marginal to the sociological enterprise but can be very useful; however, they can also lead to serious errors. Examples of both are given in this article. Different types of de...
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Aug 1972-Nature
TL;DR: The Social Contexts of Research as mentioned in this paper is a collection of articles about the social context of research in the 1970s and 1980s, edited by Saad Z. Nagi and Ronald G. Corwin. Pp. xii + 409.
Abstract: The Social Contexts of Research. Edited by Saad Z. Nagi and Ronald G. Corwin. Pp. xii + 409. (John Wiley: New York and London, August 1972.) £5.65.

1,206 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Sep 1990-Nature
TL;DR: America's Struggle for Leadership In Technology by Jean-Claude Derian, MIT: 1990, p. 309.
Abstract: America's Struggle for Leadership In Technology. By Jean-Claude Derian. MIT: 1990. Pp 309. £26.95, & dollar;29.95.

122 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Project anvatquynhon.xyz as discussed by the authors is a volunteer effort to create and share e-books online and has many thousands of free and legal books to download in PDF as well as many other formats.
Abstract: Project anvatquynhon.xyz has many thousands of free and legal books to download in PDF as well as many other formats. Site is a high quality resource for free eBooks books.Give books away. Get books you want. You can easily search by the title, author and subject.Site is a volunteer effort to create and share e-books online. No registration or fee is required, and books are available in ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats.You may download books from anvatquynhon.xyz. It is known to be world's largest free ebook site. Here you can find all types of books like-minded Fiction, Adventure, Competitive books and so many books. Search for the book pdf you needed in any search engine.

34 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a consensus holds that guanxi, understood as dyadic connections consolidated affectively and mobilized to achieve the purposes of members, exists in three forms (family, friendship and acquaintance) distinguished by the strength of felt obligation between participants.
Abstract: A consensus holds that guanxi, understood as dyadic connections consolidated affectively and mobilized to achieve the purposes of members, exists in three forms (family guanxi, friendship guanxi, and acquaintance guanxi) distinguished by the strength of felt obligation between participants It is also held that through practices of fictive kinship friendship guanxi may merge with family guanxi This article challenges these propositions and the assumptions underlying them Obligations of kinship and guanxi obligations are fundamentally dissimilar and the term “family guanxi” is redundant Pseudo-family ties do not provide access to kin relations and their resources but instead affirm the distinction between family- and friendship-ties Finally, because guanxi is cultivated by its participants, friendship guanxi and acquaintance guanxi are not distinct forms but rather are different possible stages of guanxi formation The article goes on to consider the sources of these confusions, namely, common-language terms employed in sociological analysis, certain assumptions concerning Chinese culture, and finally methodological commitments that privilege latent structures of strong ties The strength of guanxi ties, on the other hand, volitionally cultivated and indifferent to structural determination, fluctuates through agentic practices

13 citations


Cites background from "On the use of definitions in sociol..."

  • ...More recently it has been acknowledged that “If the everyday meaning is used, the research will have difficulty in creating a sociological analysis and may instead end up with one that is based on folk wisdom” (Swedberg 2019, p. 5)....

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1949

13,688 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Mar 1983-Language
TL;DR: Lakoff and Johnson as discussed by the authors present a very attractive book for linguists to read, which is written in a direct and accessible style; while it introduces and uses a number of new terms, for the most part it is free of jargon.
Abstract: Every linguist dreams of the day when the intricate variety of human language will be a commonplace, widely understood in our own and other cultures; when we can unlock the secrets of human thought and communication; when people will stop asking us how many languages we speak. This day has not yet arrived; but the present book brings it somewhat closer. It is, to begin with, a very attractive book. The publishers deserve a vote of thanks for the care that is apparent in the physical layout, typography, binding, and especially the price. Such dedication to scholarly publication at prices which scholars can afford is meritorious indeed. We may hope that the commercial success of the book will stimulate them and others to similar efforts. It is also a very enjoyable and intellectually stimulating book which raises, and occasionally answers, a number of important linguistic questions. It is written in a direct and accessible style; while it introduces and uses a number of new terms, for the most part it is free of jargon. This is no doubt part of its appeal to nonlinguists, though linguists should also find it useful and provocative. It even has possibilities as a textbook. Lakoff and Johnson state their aims and claims forthrightly at the outset (p. 3):

7,812 citations


"On the use of definitions in sociol..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Besides prototype theory, there is also exemplar theory, theory theory, semantic networks theory and Lakoff’s theory of metaphors (e.g. Lakoff and Johnson, 1980; Novak and Canas, 2008; Margolis and Laurence, 2014)....

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Book
01 Jan 1946
TL;DR: A collection of Max Weber's key papers is presented in this article with a new preface by Professor Bryan S. Turner, who was one of the most prolific and influential sociologists of the twentieth century.
Abstract: Max Weber (1864-1920) was one of the most prolific and influential sociologists of the twentieth century. This classic collection draws together his key papers. This edition contains a new preface by Professor Bryan S. Turner.

5,657 citations


"On the use of definitions in sociol..." refers background in this paper

  • ...This would be in the spirit of Max Weber’s statement that scholars should always be honest and explicit about facts that are ‘inconvenient’ from their own perspective (Gerth and Mills, 1946: 147; Collier, Hidalgo and Maciuceanu, 2006: 241, n.10).6...

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  • ...I mean facts that are inconvenient for their party opinions’ (Gerth and Mills, 1946: 147)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the hypothesis that the members of categories which are considered most prototypical are those with most attributes in common with other members of the category and least attributes with other categories and found that family resemblance offers an alternative to criterial features in defining categories.

5,002 citations


"On the use of definitions in sociol..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...Some years after Wittgenstein’s pioneering analysis, which is generally seen as having ended the so-called classical theory of the concept, cognitive scientist Eleanor Rosch presented a similar analysis (e.g. Rosch and Mervis, 1975; Rosch, 1978; 1987; Earl, 2018)....

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Journal ArticleDOI

3,597 citations


"On the use of definitions in sociol..." refers background in this paper

  • ...And social action, to recall, constitutes the basic unit in Weber’s definition of sociology (Weber, 1978: 4, 26–7)....

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  • ...…a social relationship and an order, Weber presents the following definition: ‘A social relationship will be referred to as “conflict” (Kampf) insofar as action is oriented intentionally to carrying out the actor’s own will against the resistance of the other party or parties’ (Weber, 1978: 38)....

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  • ...One is that sociology is not concerned with producing a definition that somehow represents ‘the truth’, in the way that, say, law or ethics do (Weber, 1978: 4)....

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  • ...The first chapter of Economy and Society is devoted to the presentation and explication of the basic concepts of sociology (Weber, 1978: 3–62)....

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  • ...A definition is often accompanied by an explication, which has as its task to explain and throw light on the definition (e.g. Merton, 1966; Weber, 1978: 57, n.4)....

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