This contribution to theoretical analysis is grounded in the weak postition of sociological theory, the cause of which is said to lie in the use of attitude-variables. The use of such variables is necessitated by the great demand for precision in the results of sociological analysis. Furthermore, a study of the contemporary hterature, particularly textbooks, reveals that attitude-variables are used to the extent that they may be said to be a central characteristic of current sociology. On the basis of a study of attitude-variables — Homans exchange theories, specific social-psychological results and the range of random variations — it will be argued that attitudes either constitute a part of all sociological results or modify them to the extent that a true, non-trivial sociological theory is, in principle, impossible.
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