Abstract

Although the degree of specialization varies a great deal within the profession, many sociologists work on a range of different subject matters. In fact, the broad scope of the discipline is according to many one of its greatest attractions. Working on a range of different subject matters is not necessarily an indication of eclecticism, however, because underlying them all often is a coherent approach reflecting the sociologist's notion of how sociology should be done and what type of sociology is important. That is, we all do what we do for a reason, and although we may study entirely different subject matters, our basic approach often will be similar from one study to another. In this paper I use my own research over the last 20 years to illustrate this point.