political science job rumors

Things may get weird. Trying to fix the problems.

1. slightlyconfused
   Unregistered

   I've been wondering for a while what exactly are the major differences between political science and political sociology. I get that sociology in general is more resistant to quantitative methods than political science (or at least they're lagging as a discipline as poli sci is behind econ). I get the general obsession with gender/race/class as explanatory variables for everything under the sun. My impression is that political sociologists don't typically think institutions matter as much. But from the standpoint of someone studying gender and politics or public opinion or REP are there any other major differences? Would someone with a PhD in political science be able to get a job in a sociology dept as a political sociologist or would they consider the training incompatible/ inappropriate?

   And just to be clear I did use the search function first. The one post that came up was http://www.poliscijobrumors.com/topic.php?id=21783#post-146727 and while sort of helpful I'd like a bit more information.

   Posted 2 years ago #

2. Lamb shanks with garlic and white beans
   Unregistered

   Is this an actual question, or a passive-agressive slam at political sociology?

   At the end of the day, the only difference their attention to the trendy topics and methods in their field. Personally, I find what's trendy in sociology to be slightly less moronic than what's trendy in Poli Sci, although I'm sure that's a minority view around ehre.

   Posted 2 years ago #

3. Double Cheeseburger with Large Fries
   Unregistered

   Look, truth be told: sociology is harder than political science. Why? Because people in sociology departments are actually intelligent. Why? Because they actually think about problems instead of trying to fit everything into a model, like we do here in "lemmonic" polisci--toppling off the face of the earth chasing after econ. So, no, anyone with a political science PhD in the last 5-7 years will not be getting a job in sociology.

   Posted 2 years ago #

4. bianchi77
   .edu verified member

   I also take issue with the view that political sociology is less quantitative than political science. A number of sociologists use very sophisticated quantitative research designs, just as many political scientists remain qualitative in their orientation. In fact, it's often difficult to tell the two apart (and in fact many early behavioralists were sociologists).

   But to answer the OP's question: a PhD in either political science or sociology should be fine for many jobs, in either field.

   A key difference (though it's a simplification) is that political science tends to focus on the state, while sociology focuses on society.

   Posted 2 years ago #

5. slightlyconfused
   Unregistered

   It wasn't my intention to be passive aggressive towards political sociology or to imply that it's in any way inferior. By "more resistant to quantitative methods" I meant there seem to be more qualitative people in sociology. But, I'm coming from pretty much only studying political science under Americanists and I understand that other PS subfields are less heavily quantitative. The basis for my statement was that there are actually graduate level qualitative methods courses offered in sociology departments that I've looked at and there aren't in political science departments. I'm sure that the top methods people in sociology are as good as the top methods people in PS.

   Posted 2 years ago #

6. abc
   Unregistered

   Sociology isn't less quantitative than political science? Are you high? Compare the journals. Or the books. It's not even close. Yes, there are very quantitative sociologisits. No question there. But to say that, as a whole, the discipline isn't less quantitative than political science is ludicrous.

   BTW, I'm not saying sociology should imitate political science. Far from it. But let's be real.

   Posted 2 years ago #

7. Bruce Western for APSA president
   Unregistered

   A main reason sociology might seem less quantitative than poli sci is because sociology is so balkanized, and a few of the sub-fields (if one can really call them such) are very hostile to scientific realism (though they are still stuck in calling those they dislike positivists). That being said, huge chunks of sociology are much more quantitatively sophisticated than (most) poli sci.

   More generally, the fact is that there's no single unifying object or method of inquiry in soc (if you think it's hard for a quanty Americanist to talk to a qually comparativist, imagine a conversation between someone studying gender, someone doing deviance, and someone doing fiscal sociology). While this certainly gives one more freedom than poli sci might, it also means that there's a lot of bitterness (at least in the departments I'm familiar with) between the different groups, especially when it comes time to make hires. This is doubly the case for those who want to do something other than the contemporary US, as soc has a real problem of being unduly focused on the here and now. Comparativists aren't exactly common.

   At the end of the day, from a strategic angle I can't really see any reason as to why if you want to study politics you'd go into sociology. Even if you want to study something about American politics, there are just a lot more jobs (quant or qual) in poli sci for that than there are in soc.

   Posted 2 years ago #

8. bianchi77
   .edu verified member

   But if the issue is whether to take methodology courses in other disciplines is a good idea or not, then I think th answer is (most often) yes. Being broadly trained and having a wide range of "tools" in your methodological toolkit is always a plus.

   A lot of quantitative folks take extra methods courses in economics, or even statistics. So why can't others take methods courses in sociology, anthropology, or other fields?

   I would say to look closely at your thematic interests. Then, look for any additional training you can find in those areas. For example, if you study religion and politics, sitting in on some courses in a religion or even theology department might not be a bad idea.

   Posted 2 years ago #

9. rice and beans
   Unregistered

   You're completely wrong that Political Science depts don't offer qualitative methods courses. My department offers several.

   Posted 2 years ago #

10. EIEIO
    Unregistered

    As someone who has published research in an area where sociologists and political scientists both contribute (social movements), both fields have used similar approaches and methods to study social movements. However, the sociologists do tend to focus more on the social actors whereas the political scientists are more interested in the interaction between the social actors and the state. But, even there, one finds sociologists who are interesed in the interaction between social actors and the state, so that's a generalization at best.

    I have also found that sociologists often push more structural explanations for some phenomena, whereas political scientists are more comfortable with assuming a certain amount of agency within structures (such as institutions). But, that may be an unfair generalization, based on my limited experience with sociologists.

    Posted 2 years ago #

11. Tamales and cocktails
    Unregistered

    I like all the monikers with food. Are your names what you are eating for dinner?

    Posted 2 years ago #

12. General Tso\'s Chicken and Fried Rice
    Unregistered

    My moniker is because I'm Asian

    Posted 2 years ago #

13. chips and dip
    Unregistered

    I agree with the OP's summary of POLITICAL sociology, but maybe not the rest of the discipline. Political sociology is on average much less quantitative and much much more into bashing the straight white male goyim.

    Posted 2 years ago #

14. rice and beans
    Unregistered

    ^^^ In my case, yes.

    Posted 2 years ago #

15. bianchi77
    .edu verified member

    said:
    I agree with the OP's summary of POLITICAL sociology, but maybe not the rest of the discipline. Political sociology is on average much less quantitative and much much more into bashing the straight white male goyim.

    Then I'm not sure what kind of political sociologists you've been reading. Besides, many in Europe call what we do in the US "political sociology." In many ways, political science is an American invention as those who studied "politics" broke from sociology (and to a lesser extent, history) in the early 1900s to form the APSA. As a discipline, "political science" is a very young discipline. But sociology has a much older pedigree, and it has always included the study of political phenomenon. Maw Weber and others in the 20th century canon were sociologists, not (strictly speaking) political scientists.

    Posted 2 years ago #

16. khakis
    Member

    I suppose if the claim is that political sociology is less quantitative on average than political science is on average, then that seems probably true to me (especially if we think that the apples-to-apples comparison is political sociology to the American politics field in political science). Compare, for example, the list of award winning works from the ASA's Political Sociology section with the award winning works from APSA's Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior section (which is probably the closest comparable section in terms of subject matter and research questions). The ASA's list is a mix of quantitative and qualitative work (including both Jacobs and Shapiro's Politicians Don't Pander and Skocpol's Protecting Mothers and Soldiers). The APSA list is pretty much exclusively quantitative. I think you'd see the same thing if you'd look at graduate syllabi in political sociology at major departments compared to syllabi in political behavior in political science departments.

    Posted 2 years ago #

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