Decoding our Secret Language: Communication Differences between Sociological and Managerial Languages

• In Event: 30259 - Public Sociology and Engaged Scholarship Part I

Abstract

This paper explores specific dimensions of linguistic differences between sociology and management sciences in two parts. First, we collected communication advice for career development from LinkedIn and Indeed.com. Relevant language characteristics included sentence length, sentence structure, use of adjectives, verbs, pronouns, and specific language preferences among, other linguistic elements. Once the principles were identified, we analyzed 10 years (2014-2023) speeches of presidential addresses by the American Sociological Association and the American Academy of Management. I compared how those speeches aligned with the specific communication advice previously identified. Despite the academic nature of the venues for the speech deliveries, the content from the American Academy of Management closely aligns with communication recommendations, while speeches in Sociology tended to disregard those rules. Differences in the language of Managerial Sciences and Sociology may prove an obstacle to projects of applied and public Sociology for market based (for profit).

Author

• Martha A. Martinez, DePaul University