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Open research questions in Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice

493 gap statements mined from Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 5,658 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Recovering the capacity to ask open questions about inequality does not require abandoning the concept of institutional discrimination. Whether the discipline can do this is an open question.

    From empirical hypothesis to moral commitment: how American sociology’s central framework became unchallengeable · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the applications of Coleman's diagram in various fields of sociology. Future research could investigate the limitations of the diagram and potential extensions.

    Explanation in Sociology and Coleman’s Diagram · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to distinguish the diagram from theory and explanation as such. There is a lack of detailed summaries of explanations in terms of kinds of assumptions and implications to which Coleman's diagram refers.

    Explanation in Sociology and Coleman’s Diagram · 2026 · DOI

  • It highlights the need for further research on Sacks's work and its relevance to various fields of study.

    “Handfuls of world”: Sacks Studies, Part 2 · 2026 · DOI

  • When were the individuals born, or against what historical period did they enter? What resources were available to them early on? What socialization experiences did they encounter? How did the timing of early identities influence the timing of later identities? There is a rich array of issues that need to be explored.

    Identities, meaning, the social structure, and the life course: Developing identity theory in sociology · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for a deeper understanding of the societal concept and its interpretive potential for explaining the structural integrity of society.

    Genesis and evolution of the concept of societal in the social and human sciences. Part I. Historical-theoretical reconstruction · 2026 · DOI

  • One challenge is the complexity and multifaceted nature of the concept of race. Another challenge is the need to consider multiple concepts of co-descent-based difference. A third challenge is the lack of a comprehensive framework for cross-national comparisons.

    The many faces of race: toward a global cultural sociology of co-descent · 2026 · DOI

  • The study is limited to two countries, the United States and Italy. The sample size is not explicitly stated, but over 150 interviews were conducted.

    The many faces of race: toward a global cultural sociology of co-descent · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of understanding of how political commitment affects researcher positioning. The need for a non-hegemonic anthropology that challenges traditional power dynamics in research.

    The Ethics of Immersion: Militancy, Reflexivity, and Knowledge Production in Transnational Activism · 2026 · DOI

  • I will make relevant recommendations for future research: the utility of the first principles of democracy social change process grounded theory as a transformational framework, the principles in upholding the ideal of government for the people, and the practical utility of the conceptual framework. These future research recommendations are methodological and based on my grounded theory methodology experience.

    The American Founding Documents and Democratic Social Change: A Constructivist Grounded Theory · 2026 · DOI

  • While scholarship exploring the financial barriers for working-class students of UK higher education (UKHE) has explored undergraduate, and to a lesser extent postgraduate, taught levels, academic understandings of working-class students at the doctoral level are scarce.

    Fighting for funding, working-class women’s transitions to sociology doctoral education: ‘significant academic others’, economic and social capital · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of insight from analogues or homologues across the animal kingdom.

    Naturalize the social sciences · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a unifying framework for the social sciences. The failure of the social sciences to achieve their full epistemological potential. The lack of consilience among the social sciences.

    The revival of the social sciences – inoculation against parasitic ideas and suicidal empathy, and the quest for consilience via the evolutionary lens · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should continue to explore the role of normativity in sociological accounts. Future research should consider the implications of the distinction between the good and the right for sociological research. Future research should engage with the practical implications of the paper's findings for sociological practice.

    Between Description and Evaluation: How Sociologists Do Normativity · 2025 · DOI

  • Future research could build on David Marsden's work by exploring the application of his theory of employment systems. Future research could examine the implications of his work for organizational practice and policy. Future research could investigate the relevance of his comparative craft in contemporary employment relations.

    David Marsden's Comparative and Theoretical Craft: Signposts to a Better World of Work · 2025 · DOI

  • Du Bois: A note on some of the little known members of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory.

    The Crisis of the Emancipation? The 1900 Paris Exposition and Du Bois’s Negotiation with Imperial Episteme · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper argues that prior work has failed to adequately account for the role of normativity in sociological accounts.

    Between Description and Evaluation: How Sociologists Do Normativity · 2025 · DOI

  • The paper notes that the Cologne School of Sociology's methodology lacks micro-macro modeling and systematic application of general action theories - The paper also notes that the methodology does not include a systematic program for theory…

    The Methodology of the Cologne School of Sociology as a Precursor of Analytical–Empirical Sociology: Strengths and Weaknesses · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the analysis of the Cologne School of Sociology's methodology - The paper notes that the methodology's relevance to modern analytical-empirical sociology has not been fully…

    The Methodology of the Cologne School of Sociology as a Precursor of Analytical–Empirical Sociology: Strengths and Weaknesses · 2026 · DOI

  • Further exploration of the application of militant ethnography in different contexts. Investigation of the potential for decolonizing research to challenge traditional power dynamics.

    The Ethics of Immersion: Militancy, Reflexivity, and Knowledge Production in Transnational Activism · 2026 · DOI

  • The scoping review was limited to sources available online, - The research adopted a case-study approach, - The review was conducted from May to October…

    Practice-Based Education in Sociology: What, Why and How? · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigating the effectiveness of a critical practice-based pedagogic model, - Exploring the implications of practice-based education for sociology students from non-traditional…

    Practice-Based Education in Sociology: What, Why and How? · 2026 · DOI

  • Discover how different animals create and represent the structure of their societies using different sensory modalities - Study how societies form, scale in size and complexity…

    Naturalize the social sciences · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper does not provide a causal account of how the culture of sociology was produced, - The paper lacks a comprehensive analysis of the evidence supporting the assumption, - The paper's argument is limited to the field…

    From empirical hypothesis to moral commitment: how American sociology’s central framework became unchallengeable · 2026 · DOI

  • Further study of the relationship between EM/CA and CS. Exploration of the implications of the paper's findings for observational studies and fieldwork in the social sciences.

    “What the World is Made Up of”: The Chicago School’s Alternates and Laterals in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Recovering the capacity to ask open questions about inequality does not require abandoning the concept of institutional discrimination (“From empirical hypothesis to moral commitment: how American sociology’s central…”, 2026); (2) Future research could explore the applications of Coleman's diagram in various fields of sociology (“Explanation in Sociology and Coleman’s Diagram”, 2026); (3) A third challenge is the lack of a comprehensive framework for cross-national comparisons (“The many faces of race: toward a global cultural sociology of co-descent”, 2026); (4) The lack of understanding of how political commitment affects researcher positioning (“The Ethics of Immersion: Militancy, Reflexivity, and Knowledge Production in…”, 2026); (5) The lack of insight from analogues or homologues across the animal kingdom (“Naturalize the social sciences”, 2026). 493 gap statements have been mined from Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 5,658 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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