Standards in sociology: A position statement at the 25th anniversary of the European Academy of Sociology

Ozan Aksoy; Gianluca Manzo; Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund; Werner Raub

doi:10.1177/10434631261444988

Standards in sociology: A position statement at the 25th anniversary of the European Academy of Sociology

Ozan Aksoy^*
, Gianluca Manzo
, Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund
, Werner Raub

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Oxford
Sorbonne Université
University of Oslo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

In this note we outline a vision on standards for sociology. The occasion is given us by the 25th anniversary of the European Academy of Sociology (EAS), an institution that aims to promote those standards. We first revisit the founding aims of EAS and evaluate the extent to which they have been realized. We then consider the challenges and opportunities currently facing sociology and the social sciences more broadly and propose three key principles to advance disciplinary standards in sociology. These key principles concern the integration of theory and empirics, open science practices, and engagement with wider societal debates. We conclude by calling for unity in basic disciplinary standards agreed upon by the sociological community, alongside diversity in research questions and methods to foster creative sociological explanations and descriptions.

Original language	English
Journal	Rationality and Society
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10434631261444988
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 22 Apr 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Keywords

european academy of sociology
sociology
standards in sociology

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10.1177/10434631261444988Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "In this note we outline a vision on standards for sociology. The occasion is given us by the 25th anniversary of the European Academy of Sociology (EAS), an institution that aims to promote those standards. We first revisit the founding aims of EAS and evaluate the extent to which they have been realized. We then consider the challenges and opportunities currently facing sociology and the social sciences more broadly and propose three key principles to advance disciplinary standards in sociology. These key principles concern the integration of theory and empirics, open science practices, and engagement with wider societal debates. We conclude by calling for unity in basic disciplinary standards agreed upon by the sociological community, alongside diversity in research questions and methods to foster creative sociological explanations and descriptions.",

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N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

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Standards in sociology: A position statement at the 25th anniversary of the European Academy of Sociology

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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