Constructing Social Theory

Constructing Social Theory discusses the nature of social theory and theoretical orientations. Organized by forty-three theoretical orientations in seven domains--exchange, power, adaptation/reinforcement, social bond, altruism, functionalism, and identity--the text includes a tutorial on how to identify an appropriate theoretical orientation and create a theory given a particular research question. Bell separates the theoretical orientation of causal logic from theory itself, illuminating the mechanisms of scientific revolutions where new theoretical orientations are created, and the procedures of normal science, in which theories are developed using the logic of existing theoretical orientations.

David C. Bell is professor of sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis