Turner, Jonathan

Over the last 35 years, Jonathan H. Turner (b. 1942) has advocated a positivistic view of sociological theory, arguing that the goal of sociology is ultimately the production of abstract laws or principles and analytical models that explain basic social forces operating in all times and places (e.g., Turner 1991). For many years, Turner engaged in metatheoretical analysis, formalizing both early and contemporary theories into propositions and models. The goal of these efforts was to highlight the scientific contribution of the classical theorists to explaining the operative dynamics of the social universe (e.g., Turner 2002b; Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 2002) and to argue that some contemporary theories are better than others as scientific theory. As this advocacy and metatheorizing was being produced, Turner also began ...