Who is your favourite sociologist? And why?

Question

Who is your favourite sociologist? And why?

Answer 1

None. I distrust them all. You can learn something but never take them as completely "100% accurates".

Answer 2

For me, it has to be one of the founders of modern sociology, Emile Durkheim. His Rules of the Sociological Method gave sociology its own subject matter which was seperate from psychology and philosophy. His research interests ranged from religion, division of labour, suicide, as well as sociological theory. He was a real giant of the subject.

Answer 3

My favourite sociologist is Niklas Luhmann.

His work is the last attempt to create a general theory of society, it's an hard task, but is the only way for not drown in the see of middle-range theories.

Answer 4

Geert Hofstede.  Did an amazing study back in the 70s on 135 countries around the world and different aspects which were most important to them...he was the first to research and confirm based on a variety of testing and observation things like:

-the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand value individualism and independace as  #1 traits

-most latin american and asian countries value collectivism as an important trait- that's family-orientation, respect for authority, etc.

-countries with the most traditional gender roles are usually the most conservative politically and religiously

-heirarchical societies, such as India w/ the caste system, tend to be less prone to internal civil violence...partly because roles are not always questioned

-lots of other interesting facts...

I just thought it was neat to see some real research on the subject rather than just stereotypes, so people can back up their arguments and figure out why things are the way they are with more of a foundation.