An Empirical Comparison of Ritzer's Paradigms and Similar Metatheories: Comment on Freidheim

Elizabeth A. Freidheim (see SA 28:4/80K9688) has attempted to test the approach of George Ritzer (Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science, Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1975) to the analysis of sociology. However, her approach misreads Ritzer's definition of a paradigm as entailing consensus on sci...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social forces 1980-12, Vol.59 (2), p.513-517
Main Authors: Harper, Diane Blake, Sylvester, Joan, Walczak, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capitalism
Commentary
Conceptual frameworks
Factor analysis
Incommensurability of scientific theories
Metatheories
Misinterpretation
Paradigm/Paradigms
Rotation
Sociology
Trait theory
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Elizabeth A. Freidheim (see SA 28:4/80K9688) has attempted to test the approach of George Ritzer (Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science, Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1975) to the analysis of sociology. However, her approach misreads Ritzer's definition of a paradigm as entailing consensus on scientific procedure. Further, her attempt to test incommensurability assumes that any theorist can be identified with exactly one paradigm, while Ritzer regards paradigm bridging figures as possible. Finally, her empirical tests are conceptually unclear & have many technical problems. In An Empirical Comparison of Ritzer's Paradigms and Similar Metatheories: Response to Harper, Sylvester, and Walczak, Elizabeth A. Freidheim (Mundelein college, Chicago, Ill) notes that the work criticized was not an attempt to test Ritzer's types, but an attempt to determine whether they produced empirically different modes of work. This question is important to an understanding of the actual nature of theory in the social sciences. W. H. Stoddard.
ISSN:0037-7732
1534-7605
DOI:10.1093/sf/59.2.513