Realist social theory : the morphogenetic approach
TL;DR: The Morphogenetic Cycle: the basis of the morphogenetic approach 7. Structural and cultural conditioning 8. The morphogenesis of agency 9. Social elaboration.
Abstract: Building on her seminal contribution to social theory in Culture and Agency, in this 1995 book Margaret Archer develops her morphogenetic approach, applying it to the problem of structure and agency. Since structure and agency constitute different levels of stratified social reality, each possesses distinctive emergent properties which are real and causally efficacious but irreducible to one another. The problem, therefore, is shown to be how to link the two rather than conflate them, as has been common theoretical practice. Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach not only rejects methodological individualism and holism, but argues that the debate between them has been replaced by a new one, between elisionary theorising and emergentist theories based on a realist ontology of the social world. The morphogenetic approach is the sociological complement of transcendental realism, and together they provide a basis for non-conflationary theorizing which is also of direct utility to the practising social analyst.
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TL;DR: A realist framework, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods, is advocated for the sociology of education as discussed by the authors, and it is argued that the quantification of these properties is most satisfactorily achieved within a materialist theory of measurement.
Abstract: A realist framework, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods, is advocated for the sociology of education. The case for a 'numbers and narratives' approach is supported by an analysis of several fundamental problems. Realist forms of sociological explanation require specification of properties at the three distinct levels of social structure, individual disposition, and action within social practice. It is argued that the quantification of these properties is most satisfactorily achieved within a materialist theory of measurement. Many of the problems that arise with quantitative work are shown to have their origin in an inadequate theory of measurement and to be sustained by an unsound concept of 'statistical explanation'. It is concluded that the most satisfactory response to these problems, however, lies not in the celebration of qualitative work, situated in a relationship of opposition, but in the development of an integrated structure-disposition-practice explanatory scheme for the sociolog...
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01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: Moore as discussed by the authors pointed out that it is impossible to analyze social movements if one confines the effort to making an analysis of political power relations, or if one trusts on the automatism that accumulated frustration and anger will produce insurrection.
Abstract: When Barrington Moore († 2005) in the 1987 book The Social Bases of Obedience and Revolt addressed the question of why people at the bottom of society would most often accept their lot, and only in exceptional circumstances take to the barricades, he underscored what anthropologists had been discovering whenever they studied social movements: to understand collective action, the political and “grievances” focuses will not do. It is impossible to analyze social movements if one confines the effort to making an analysis of political power relations, or if one trusts on the automatism that, in the end, accumulated frustration and anger will produce insurrection. Moore’s approach was anthropological in the sense that he explicitly took account of the aspirations and doubts, and the adherence to the “lived normality,” of the rank and file of the people who, if at all, make social movements. His study of the harsh lot of industrial workers in early twentieth century Germany attempted to explain why overwhelming majorities were hesitant to rebel, and why, if they did, they often demanded piecemeal improvements rather than radical, structural changes. The participant’s vantage point and culture, at the micro-level of lived and shared daily life, took central stage in his analysis.
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TL;DR: This article investigated the ways in which educational research has achieved impact on practice from the perspective of the researchers and found that most research is "invisible" to education practitioners because it is embedded in educational policies, technologies, and services.
Abstract: Although there are policy calls for educational research to discover ‘what works’ and thereby inform decision making directly, the research literature argues instead for research to have a ‘conceptual’ impact on practice. Empirical studies also suggest that, when teachers use research, their use is conceptual; research influences the content and the process of their thinking, changing attitudes and perceptions and making educational decision making more intelligent. This study investigates the ways in which educational research has achieved impact on practice from the perspective of the researchers. A sample of highly-rated impact case studies in the UK’s research assessment exercise (REF2014) were subject to content analysis, using qualitative coding techniques. Analysis shows that most research is ‘invisible’ to education practitioners because it is embedded in educational policies, technologies, and services. This ‘invisible use’ is unlikely to realise the conceptual benefits claimed for resear...
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TL;DR: The authors explored the potentials and the problems that accompany systematic collaboration between neuroscience and social science and concluded that methodological problems will be the most difficult to resolve, and strategies to facilitate collaboration are discussed.
Abstract: New opportunities for systematic collaboration between neuroscience and social science have opened up in recent years, and some of the potentials and the problems that accompany them are explored with reference to Damasio's work. Systematic collaboration and integration might yield benefits for metatheoretical, theoretical and substantive inquiry, but will be impeded by language, conceptual and methodological problems. Strategies to facilitate collaboration are discussed, and it is concluded that methodological problems will be most difficult to resolve.
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...A second set of problems connected with this experimental practice concerns its implicit presumption of a stance called methodological individualism: the presumption that the social world is merely the outcome of the aggregate of the actions and decisions of the individuals from whom it is constituted ( Archer, 1995 )....
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TL;DR: This study examines motivations of high performing volunteers in a newspaper digitisation CS project, initiated by the National Library of Australia, and finds that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations play a critical role in their continued participation.
Abstract: Crowdsourcing CS by cultural and heritage institutions engage volunteers in online projects without monetary compensation. Uncertainty concerning online volunteer motivation has led to a growing body of academic research. This study contributes to that debate, by extending focus to CS volunteer work in nonprofit cultural institutions where no monetary benefit is offered to volunteers. This study examines motivations of high performing volunteers in a newspaper digitisation CS project, initiated by the National Library of Australia. Volunteers are motivated by personal, collective, and external factors, and these motivations change over time. Volunteers initially show intrinsic motivations, though both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations play a critical role in their continued participation. Volunteer contributions range from data shaping e.g., correcting digitised optical character recognition data to knowledge shaping e.g., shaping historical data through tagging and commenting, but also through development of norms and social roles. The locus of motivation intrinsic or extrinsic also changes with different kinds of contributions. The distinction between data and knowledge shaping contributions, and the locus and focus of motivation behind these activities, has implications for the design of CS systems. Design for improved usability through cognitive and physical system affordances and development of social mechanisms for ongoing participation is discussed.
43 citations