The Paradigm Concept and Sociology: A Critical Review

Two concepts of paradigm that are often applied to the analysis of the status of sociology are classified: Thomas S. Kuhn's "Second Thoughts on Paradigms" (in The Structure of Scientific Theories, Suppe, Frederick [Ed], Urbana: U of Illinois Press, 1974) & Margaret Masterman's "The Nature of a Paradigm" (in Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, Lakatos, Imre, & Musgrave, Alan [Eds], Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 1970). Noting the central notion of the exemplar in the concept, it is argued that sociologists concentrate almost exclusively on the less important, more general meanings of the paradigm concept, thus losing the major thrust of Kuhn's argument. Sociology -- which has relatively few exemplars, lacks a clear-cut puzzle-solving tradition, & tends to operate from discipline-wide perspectives -- is not a mature science; attempts to treat it as such in Kuhn's framework are misguided. 2 Tables, 47 References. Modified HA