Posted: September 13th, 2017

Nomothetic and idiographic

1.    A continuing tension between nomothetic and idiographic emphases has characterised the development of social thought. From among all the thinkers we have covered during the unit, choose three theorists: one who has put forth a predominantly nomothetic conception of social analysis, one who has espoused a predominantly idiographic conception, and one who has combined both tendencies in her or his conception of anthropology in a relatively more balanced way. Justify why you categorise each thinker as primarily nomothetic, idiographic, or both nomothetic/idiographic by illustrating the explanatory/descriptive tendencies of each with concrete examples of the type of analysis she or he has used. You may wish to provide your own personal evaluation of which perspective you find most compelling, including why you make that choice

Defines Nomothetic and idiographic
Explain how nomothetic and idiographic causes tension in the development of social thought

Talk about the theorist who put forth a predominantly nomothetic conception of social analysis
Justify why you categorise each thinker as primarily nomothetic by explanatory/descriptive tendencies
Provide examples of the type of analysis used

Talk about the theorist who has espoused a predominantly idiographic conception
Justify why you categorise each thinker as primarily idiographic by explanatory/descriptive tendencies
Provide examples of the type of analysis used

Talk about the theorist who has combined both tendencies in her or his conception of anthropology in a relatively more balanced way
Justify why you categorise each thinker as both nomothetic/idiographic by explanatory/descriptive tendencies
Provide examples of the type of analysis used

Finally provide own personal evaluation of which perspective I find most compelling including why I make that choice.

Materials required
Lecture 2: From Folk Anthropology to Enlightenment Social Evolution
•    This lecture describes and explains nomothetic and idiographic
Lecture 7 and 8: Emile Durkheim
•    This lecture describes about nomothetic using functionalism
•    Durkheim, Émile. 1963 Chapter 4: ‘Social Evolution’. In Emile Durkheim, ed. George Simpson. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. Pp. 41-59.
•    Durkheim, Émile. 1960 The Dualism of Human Nature and its Social Conditions. In Emile Durkheim et. al., Essays on Sociology and Philosophy, ed. Kurt H. Wolff. New York: Harper & Row. Pp. 325-340.

Lecture 9: Franz Boas (1858-1942) and his Legacy – Culture History & Ethnographic Particularism
•    From this lecture describe idiographic concept.
•    Boas, Franz 1940 The Limitations of the Comparative Method of Anthropology. In Boas, Race, Language and Culture. New York: The Free Press. Pp. 270-280.
•    Boas, Franz 1932 The Aims of Anthropological Research. Science (New Series) 72(No. 1983): 605-613.
Lecture 10: The structural Functionalism of A.R.Radcliffe-Brown (1881-1959)
Lecture 11: the instrumental Functionalism of Bronislaw Malinowski
•    Malinowski, Bronislaw 1939 The Group and the Individual in Functional Analysis. American Journal of Sociology 44: 938-964.
•    Malinowski, Bronislaw 1960 Chapter 7: ‘The Concept of Function.’ In ‘The Functional Theory’, A Scientific Theory of Culture and other essays. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. (Orig.. published 1944). Pp. 168- 170.
•    Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1952 On the Concept of Function in Social Science. In Structure and Function in Primitive Society: Essays and Addresses. London: Cohen & West. Pp. 178-187. Reprinted in High Points 2nd, pp. 297- 304.
•    Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1998 On Social Structure. In Paul Bohannon and Mark Glazer (eds), High Points in Anthropology. 2nded. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Pp. 304-316. (Also published in The social anthropology of Radcliffe-Brown.Ed. Adam Kuper. London: Routledge&Kegan Paul, 1977. Pp. 25-41.)

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT 🙂