Abstract
We examine the structure of sociology using data on overlapping memberships in the disci- pline's visible colleges, the specialty sections of the American Sociological Association. Hypotheses about the structure of joint specialization in sociology are derived fr-om four general theories of professional and scientific specialization: ideational theory, political- economic theory, professional power theory, and intellect tual ciriclelnetwork theory. We an- alyze joint specialty section memberships using multidimensional scaling techniques and produce a spatial model of the discipline's specialty structure. The tightest clusters of spe- cialties arisefrom the confluence of ideational aspects (like shared concepts or subject mat- ter), professional power interests, and social characteristics of members. Although a major division in the discipline is embedded in the political-economic environment of sociology, three cross-cutting dimensions are required to adequately represent the discipline's struc- ture. The main dimensions of differentiation are: (I) conflict versus applied perspec- tives, (2) micro versus macro units of analysis, and (3) ascriptive characteristics of mem- bers. These three dimensions support the validity of political-economic, ideational, and pro- fessional power theories, respectively. Sociologists have described the structure of their discipline and have attributed its per- ceived structural weaknesses to various intellec- tual and social sources (Ad Hoc Committee on ASA 1989; Blalock 1984; Collins 1986; Friedrichs 1970, p. 85; Freidson 1986; Gouldner 1970; Ritzer 1980; Turner and Turner 1990). They have done so despite the paucity of empirical work analyzing sociology's actual structure or the sources of its structure. We describe the structure of sociology through an empirical analysis of overlapping specializations within the discipline. Using joint memberships in the various sections of the American Sociological Association (ASA), we construct visual representations of the struc- ture of sociology. We then interpret this struc- ture, drawing on independent measures of sec-
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