Formal Sociology and the Art of Identifying Social Patterns

• In Event: 3246 - Theories of Interaction Orders and Ordered Interactions

Abstract

Inspired by Georg Simmel's formal sociology, this is an attempt to establish a methodology for theorizing at a high level of generalizability. The paper analyzes the cognitive principles underlying analogical theorizing, with particular emphasis on decontextualization and focus.

Author

• Eviatar Zerubavel, Rutgers University