Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 83

Working out the causal connections involved in identified correlations is often difficult. For instance, there is a strong correlation in modern societies between level of educational achievement and occupational success. The better the grades an individual gets in school, the better paid the job they are likely to get when they leave. What explains this correlation? Research tends to show that it is not formal schooling in itself; levels of educational attainment are influenced much more by the type of home from which the person comes. Children from better-off homes, whose parents take a strong interest in their learning, where books are abundant and a place to study exists, are more likely to do well than those from lowerincome groups where these aspects may not be available. The causal mechanisms here are the facilities that parents are able to provide for their children to study.

Causal connections in sociology should not be understood in too mechanical a way. The attitudes people have and their subjective reasons for acting as they do are causal factors in relationships between variables in social life, and qualitative research is required if we are to gain the kind of in-depth understanding of how individuals interpret their world. Max Weber (1979 [1925]: 13) was clear that sociological work should be explicable at this individual and interactional level, which is where the meaningfulness of social life is produced.

A discussion of some recent ‘critical realist’ approaches which focus on establishing causal mechanisms in social life can be found in chapter 5, ‘The Environment’.