How Do Sociologists Know What They Know? An Examination of Sociology Textbooks for Evidence of Sociological and Scientific Thinking

Abstract

I use qualitative content analysis to uncover how textbooks illuminate the process by which sociologists know what they know. I use the Sociology Literacy Framework (SLF) (Ferguson and Carbonaro 2016) to guide analysis, looking at how textbooks report on the research process and present research findings. Using a sample of 27 textbooks for introductory courses (N = 19) and intermediate elective courses (N = 8) from 12 publishers (copyright dated: 2015-2020), I found weak support for developing the research-focused SLF skills. Textbooks fail to explain and describe how sociologists know what they know. Instead, texts use false equivalence arguments and shortcuts to scientific credibility, among other means. Textbooks do an adequate job describing society using basic descriptive statistical data from think tanks or government sources but provide almost no instruction on how scholars gather or analyze data or draw conclusions about their data.

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“…Textbooks are foundational for constructing the scope of a discipline and convey the insights acquired by a field (Dunham, Cannon, and Dietz 2004;Fitzgerald 2012;Kuhn [1962] 1970; Lynch and Bogen 1997;Kivisto 2022;Perrucci 1980;Tischler 1988). However, numerous scholars have analyzed sociology textbooks and found that they did not reflect the discipline (Babchuk and Keith 1995;Best and Schweingruber 2003;Carroll 2017;Dong 2008;Hamilton and Form 2003;Medley-Rath Forthcoming;Nolan 2003;Puffer 2009;Schweingruber and Wohlstein 2005). For example, several scholars argue that sociology textbooks do not adquately reflect the scientific aspects of the discipline (Keith and Ender 2004;Lynch and Bogen 1997;Medley-Rath Forthcoming).…”

“…However, numerous scholars have analyzed sociology textbooks and found that they did not reflect the discipline (Babchuk and Keith 1995;Best and Schweingruber 2003;Carroll 2017;Dong 2008;Hamilton and Form 2003;Medley-Rath Forthcoming;Nolan 2003;Puffer 2009;Schweingruber and Wohlstein 2005). For example, several scholars argue that sociology textbooks do not adquately reflect the scientific aspects of the discipline (Keith and Ender 2004;Lynch and Bogen 1997;Medley-Rath Forthcoming).…”