Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Core concepts and common ground: The relational basis of our discipline

Publication ,  Journal Article
Smith-Lovin, L
Published in: Social Forces
January 1, 1999

The core of sociology is the key thing that we share as sociologists - the basic way of viewing social life that makes us distinctive as a discipline. This core is the content that we have to communicate to a larger public. largue that the disciplinary form that best develops a core is a structure in which there are a high density of positive network ties within the discipline, relatively weak subdivisions within the discipline, and a lower density of ties linking us to outside institutions. I use structural and social psychological theory to talk about the interactional dynamics that weaken this optimal disciplinary structure. The hope is that these theoretical insights will help us deal productively with some of the major social changes that are occurring within our field. I end with eight theoretically derived propositions to guide our behavior toward these ends. © The University of North Carolina Press.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Social Forces

DOI

ISSN

0037-7732

Publication Date

January 1, 1999

Volume

78

Issue

1

Start / End Page

1 / 23

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 1608 Sociology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Smith-Lovin, L. (1999). Core concepts and common ground: The relational basis of our discipline. Social Forces, 78(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/78.1.1
Smith-Lovin, L. “Core concepts and common ground: The relational basis of our discipline.” Social Forces 78, no. 1 (January 1, 1999): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/78.1.1.
Smith-Lovin L. Core concepts and common ground: The relational basis of our discipline. Social Forces. 1999 Jan 1;78(1):1–23.
Smith-Lovin, L. “Core concepts and common ground: The relational basis of our discipline.” Social Forces, vol. 78, no. 1, Jan. 1999, pp. 1–23. Scopus, doi:10.1093/sf/78.1.1.
Smith-Lovin L. Core concepts and common ground: The relational basis of our discipline. Social Forces. 1999 Jan 1;78(1):1–23.
Journal cover image

Published In

Social Forces

DOI

ISSN

0037-7732

Publication Date

January 1, 1999

Volume

78

Issue

1

Start / End Page

1 / 23

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 1608 Sociology