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Describing description (and keeping causality) : the case of academic articles on food and eating
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Uprichard, Emma (2013) Describing description (and keeping causality) : the case of academic articles on food and eating. Sociology - The Journal of the British Sociological Association, Volume 47 (Number 2). pp. 368-382. doi:10.1177/0038038512441279 ISSN 0038-0385.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038512441279
Abstract
Recently, Savage and Burrows argued that there is an ‘empirical crisis’ in sociology. They concluded that sociologists should abandon a focus on causality for descriptions that ‘link narrative, numbers, and images’. This article takes up their challenge by using Wordle to depict the changing focus in academic articles on food and eating since 1950. Using this illustrative example, it is argued that their call to abandon causality is problematic for three reasons. Firstly, interpreting description necessarily depends on a causal framework. Secondly, since description becomes part of a mode of production in which context and meaning are inscribed, the question is not whether to reject causality in favour of description, but rather what kinds of description help to explore causality. Thirdly, going beyond description is ethically advantageous for a critical sociological programme. The article concludes that, contrary to Savage and Burrows, description and causality go hand in hand.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Sociology - The Journal of the British Sociological Association | ||||
| Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||
| ISSN: | 0038-0385 | ||||
| Official Date: | 23 April 2013 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Volume 47 | ||||
| Number: | Number 2 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 368-382 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1177/0038038512441279 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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