SOC 6550 - [How to Theorize in Social Science]

Spring. Next offered 2016-2017. 4 credits.

R. Swedberg.

While it is common in social science to have courses in modern and classical theory, the focus in this course is on teaching the students how to theorize or produce theory themselves. In order to learn how to produce a theory, or add to an existing theory, one needs to learn how to generalize, form concepts, construct types and typologies and in general use their sociological imagination. How to explain also represents an integral part of theorizing and can take many different forms. Students will learn theorizing through weekly exercises and account for their progress in a final, summary paper.