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The Rhetoric of Sociological Facts 1
Author(s) -
Jasper James M.,
Young Michael P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
sociological forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.937
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1573-7861
pISSN - 0884-8971
DOI - 10.1111/j.1573-7861.2007.00020.x
Subject(s) - rhetorical question , rhetoric , sociology , politics , field (mathematics) , presentation (obstetrics) , epistemology , test (biology) , social science , social movement , law , political science , linguistics , philosophy , medicine , paleontology , mathematics , biology , pure mathematics , radiology
To develop inductively a preliminary list of rhetorical tools that sociologists use in their presentation of facts, we examine three general claims that are widely accepted as having been demonstrated empirically in the field of social movements: social networks are necessary for recruitment of new members; individual mental traits do not matter; and political opportunities are necessary for movement emergence. We identify eight rhetorical tools that helped promulgate these claims as facts. We all use techniques like these, but awareness about them can help us evaluate our arguments and find better ways to test them.