Top down or bottom up

Press, 25 June 1983, Page 18

Top down or bottom up

Sociology. By S. Moore and B. Hendry. Hodder and Stoughton, 1982. 311 pp. $10.95 (paperback). (Reviewed by Ken Strongman) “Sociology” is a text in an educational, so-called Teach Yourself series. It provides a reasonable introduction to the subject and is written plainly and with a youthful vigour hot uncommon among sociologists. The authors begin by giving an admirably brief summary of the major theoretical thrusts in the discipline, making the point very clearly that sociologists either begin at the level of society and work down to the individual, or at the level of individual perceptions and work up to a broader context. Functionalism and Marxism characterise the top down approach, and Interactionism and Ethnomethodology the bottom up. The remainder of “Sociology” takes the reader systematically through the main areas of the subject. We find out about the various sociological perspectives of the family, education, social class and stratification, power,

women, race, poverty, deviancy, crime, work, production and leisure. Finally, a few of the empirical methods are described which enable sociologists to lay claim to the conventions of science. Although “Sociology” is a good, straightforward introduction to the subject, it does have two problems. The effectiveness of Teach Yourself books has never been tested. One suspects that they may well embody some of the poorest possible educational techniques. The other problem comes from the nature of the subject itself. Moore and Hendry characterise the difficulty with unwitting precision. They say: “In fact one of the most exciting things about sociology is the very different conclusions the various competing theories arrive at.” As an academic one can appreciate this, but as an interested observer, concerned about armed offender squads, women’s changing roles, and politics in sport, “exciting” is not quite the word to describe competing conclusions.