Complexity in Theory and in Practice Cover Image

Socjologiczny syndrom Münchhausena. Złożoność w teorii i praktyce
Complexity in Theory and in Practice

Author(s): Radosław Sojak
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: complexity; reduction of complexity; research styles; sociology

Summary/Abstract: The article grasps the relation of sociology towards the issue of social complexity in terms of the general systems theory (particularly – the theory of social systems by Niklas Luhmann). The analysis focuses on the intrasystemic process of complexity reduction. Hence the question: How sociology copes with the world’s complexity turns into the question: How sociology manages its own complexity. The category of ‘research style’ inspired by the theories of Harrison White, Pierre Bourdieu and Ludwik Fleck is introduced for a preliminary analysis of the question. The three dominant research styles within sociology are distinguished: textual, survey and identity style. None of them, as the author argues, facilitates the management of sociology’s complexity.

  • Issue Year: 211/2013
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 51-66
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish