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Citation

Bollen, Kenneth A. & Lilly, Adam G. (2023). Continuity and Change in Methodology in Social Forces. Social Forces, 101(3), 1069-1080.

Abstract

Methodological questions related to research design, measurement, and analysis have been intertangled with how we know, learn, and predict social phenomena. They are questions shared by sociology and all the sciences. The methodological articles published in Social Forces (SF) have been driven by and have driven trends in sociology and sociological methodology. In turn, sociological methodology has been influenced by econometrics and psychometrics. Qualitative and quantitative methodology articles are integral to the 100-year history of SF. Quantitative research may involve statistical analyses, simulations, measurement issues, and/or formal mathematical models while examples of qualitative research include ethnographies, textual analyses, participant observation methods, in-depth case studies, comparative histories, or naturalistic observations. Furthermore, methodological issues are implicitly and explicitly central to many substantive empirical articles. Our focus in this essay is on SF articles that had methodology as their central topic rather than providing an inventory of methods that appear in substantive papers. Articles on different substantive areas are covered by other essays in this series. Our aim is to understand trends in methodology as reflected in SF articles.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac133

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2023

Journal Title

Social Forces

Author(s)

Bollen, Kenneth A.
Lilly, Adam G.

Article Type

Essay

ORCiD

Bollen - 0000-0002-6710-3800
Lilly - 0000-0002-3740-1540