Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

What Is Theory?

Social Theory versus Ideology

The Parts of Social Theory

Aspects of Theory

The Dynamic Duo

Conclusion

Theory and Research

One of the major functions of theory is to order experience with the help of concepts.

It also selects relevant aspects and data among the enormous multitude of “facts”

that confront the investigator of social phenomena.

—Lewis Coser,“The Uses of Classical Sociological Theory,”p. 170

The percent of people who regularly smoke cigarettes has declined in the United States.

We suspect that the decline is due to public campaigns that warned about the dangers of

smoking to health. We find that more educated, higher income people tend to smoke less

than less educated and low-income people. A theory of social resources suggests that this

is because people who are educated and have higher incomes read more, have a long-

term time horizon, and have more resources to make lifestyle adjustments compared to

less educated and low-income people. However, smoking is more than a health issue. It

can also be a symbolic fashion statement and lifestyle issue of cultural taste. Likewise,

education and income level indicate more than knowledge and resources but also suggest

membership in different class cultures (i.e., the ways people of different social classes

culturally distinguish themselves). A theory of cultural taste suggests that people adopting

an upper-middle-class lifestyle would not smoke because it is culturally less fashionable

for their class. In contrast, people who adopt a working-class lifestyle would be more

likely to smoke in part because it is a feature of their class culture. Other aspects of class

culture include music taste. Highly educated, high-income people tend to prefer classical

music while less educated, low-income prefer bluegrass and heavy metal music. Logically,

a theory of cultural taste implies that taste in music is related to smoking because of the

different class lifestyles. This is exactly what Pampel (2006) found is happening. But

the results are even more interesting. Both well-educated, high-income people and less

educated, low-income people tend to enjoy jazz. The jazz subculture has long included

smoking. Consistent with cultural taste theory, Pampel found that jazz lovers are more

likely to smoke than nonjazz lovers of the same social class.

From Chapter 3 ofSocial Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches,7/e. W. Lawrence Neuman.
Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education. Published by Allyn & Bacon. All rights reserved.