Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

The Production Of Knowledge In Applied Sociology, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

This paper examines knowledge resulting from applied sociology, namely from sociological research oriented towards resolving practical problems rather than providing new contributions to our understanding of social phenomena. Departing from James Coleman’s analytical distinction between ‘the world of discipline’ and ‘the world of action’, I draw a conceptual framework which depicts the main dimensions of typical organizational arrangements for doing basic and applied sociological work. Secondly, I analyze applied sociology as a set of social and political conditions where research is produced. These conditions usually give rise to descriptions and, on occasions, to empirical generalizations, whereas results contrasting important theoretical …