Sociological Theory Quotes

Liberals have invented whole college majors - psychology, sociology and women's studies - to prove that nothing is anybody's fault.

Max Weber was right in subscribing to the view that one need not be Caesar in order to understand Caesar. But there is a temptation for us theoretical sociologists to act sometimes as though it is not necessary even to study Caesar in order to understand him. Yet we know that the interplay of theory and research makes both for understanding of the specific case and expansion of the general rule.

Anyway, that was the germ of the idea and of course... you know this was early days of sociology and whatever, especially on television.

Whatever sociology may be, it is the result of constantly asking the question, what is the meaning of this?

Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: You become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?

Pierre Bordieu was right: "The all powerful is he who does not wait but makes others wait. Absolute power is the power to make oneself unpredictable and deny other people any reasonable anticipation, to place them in total uncertainty by offering no scope for their capacity to predict."

Sociological critics are waste makers.

Sociology should... be thought of as a science of action-of the ultimate common value element in its relations to the other elements of action.