On Sociology: Numbers, Narratives, and the Integration of Research and Theory

On Sociology brings together a collection of essays from the last ten years by one of the best-known and influential British sociologist, John H. Goldthorpe. The essays are concerned with the intellectual discovery of contemporary sociology. The collection begins with essays critical of various current tendencies in sociology and moves on to propose a new direction for the sociological mainstream. The essays combine the established strengths of quantitative sociology with recent developments in the theory of social action, especially rational action theory. The book then turns to specific examples of this style of sociology, particularly in the field of social stratification. The final essay takes up related issues in the history of sociology.