Testing Gouldner's coming crisis theory: on the state of contemporary sociological theory

Alvin Gouldner, in his 1970 work The Coming Crisis of Western Sociology, put forth the proposition that the discipline of sociology would soon witness the decline and eventual entropy of the then dominant functionalist theoretical perspective. This thesis is tested vis-a-vis the measurement of influence of the leading figures of four competing theory groups, namely Talcott Parsons (functionalism), George Homans (exchange theory), Erving Goffman (the dramaturgical wing of symbolic interactionism), and Harold Garfinkel (ethnomethodology). The findings provide illuminations of both the past and current state of sociological theory.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Department dc:contributor.department

Sociology

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1990

Author dc:creator

• Chriss, James J.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Fuhrman, Ellsworth R.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Hillery, George A. Jr.
• Bayer, Alan E.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-04142009-040532

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/42071