More on standards in sociology: Replies to Barbera, Przepiorka, Skardhamar, Wang, and Zeng
Ozan Aksoy, Gianluca Manzo, Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund, Werner RaubWe respond to five comments on our position statement, published on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the European Academy of Sociology, in which we proposed three principles for advancing disciplinary standards. Overall, the comments are broadly consistent with our position, primarily extending rather than challenging our main arguments. They constructively enrich the debate we sought to stimulate. The comments and our current response leave aside contested issues such as sociology’s “multi-paradigmatic” nature and the relationship between sociology and activism. We hope to address these topics in subsequent discussions. We remain committed to the view that sociology needs shared basic disciplinary standards alongside diversity in research questions and methods to foster creative scholarship and cumulative knowledge production.