Most cited papers in Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
What are the most cited papers in Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice?
The most cited paper in Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice is "Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography" (George E. Marcus, 1995), with 7,717 citations. Next come "Theory Construction in Qualitative Research" (4,187) and "The Past, Present, and Future of an Identity Theory" (3,665).
Showing 50 of 99 papers. Every paper with more than 415 citations is listed.
| # | Paper | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography George E. Marcus · Annual Review of Anthropology | Oct 1995 | 7,717 |
| 2 | Theory Construction in Qualitative Research Stefan Timmermans, Iddo Tavory · Sociological Theory | Sep 2012 | 4,187 |
| 3 | The Past, Present, and Future of an Identity Theory Sheldon Stryker, Peter J. Burke · Social Psychology Quarterly | Dec 2000 | 3,665 |
| 4 | Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought Patrícia Hill Collins · Social Problems | Oct 1986 | 3,533 |
| 5 | Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position Herbert Blumer · The Pacific Sociological Review | Apr 1958 | 3,473 |
| 6 | Realist social theory the morphogenetic approach Margaret Scotford Archer | 1995 | 2,796 |
| 7 | The social space and the genesis of groups Pierre Bourdıeu · Theory and Society | Nov 1985 | 2,487 |
| 8 | For Public Sociology Michael Burawoy · American Sociological Review | Feb 2005 | 1,915 |
| 9 | An invitation to social construction Torbjörn Bredenlöw · Scandinavian Journal of Management | Dec 2001 | 1,871 |
| 10 | Justice in Social Exchange Peter M. Blau · Sociological Inquiry | Apr 1964 | 1,825 |
| 11 | Roles in Sociological Field Observations Raymond L. Gold · Social Forces | Mar 1958 | 1,739 |
| 12 | The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences Rondo E. Cameron · The Journal of Economic History | Sep 1969 | 1,670 |
| 13 | The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge Donald W. Light, Peter Ludwig Berger, Thomas Luckmann · Sociological Analysis | 1967 | 1,635 |
| 14 | The Two-Step Flow of Communication: An Up-To-Date Report on an Hypothesis Elihu Katz · Public Opinion Quarterly | 1957 | 1,550 |
| 15 | The Self-Concept Viktor Gecas · Annual Review of Sociology | Aug 1982 | 1,542 |
| 16 | Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Gary G Aguiar · The Social Science Journal | Sep 2002 | 1,395 |
| 17 | Applying critical realism in qualitative research: methodology meets method Amber J. Fletcher · International Journal of Social Research Methodology | 29 Feb 2016 | 1,358 |
| 18 | The Oversocialized Conception of Man in Modern Sociology Dennis H. Wrong · American Sociological Review | Apr 1961 | 1,309 |
| 19 | Defining Quality Lee Pak Ting Harvey, Diana Green · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education | 1993 | 1,275 |
| 20 | A Sociology of Quantification Wendy Nelson Espeland, Mitchell L. Stevens · European Journal of Sociology | Dec 2008 | 1,230 |
| 21 | That's Interesting! Murray S. Davis · Philosophy of the Social Sciences | Jun 1971 | 1,223 |
| 22 | A self-presentational view of social phenomena. Roy Frederick Baumeister · Psychological Bulletin | 1982 | 1,191 |
| 23 | A Typology for the Case Study in Social Science Following a Review of Definition, Discourse, and Structure Gary Thomas · Qualitative Inquiry | 17 Jun 2011 | 1,158 |
| 24 | Social Problems as Collective Behavior Herbert Blumer · Social Problems | 1971 | 1,086 |
| 25 | THE DARK SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS: Mistake, Misconduct, and Disaster Diane Vaughan · Annual Review of Sociology | Aug 1999 | 1,084 |
| 26 | Legitimacy as a Social Process Cathryn Johnson, Timothy J. Dowd, Cecilia L. Ridgeway · Annual Review of Sociology | 7 Apr 2006 | 1,020 |
| 27 | Issues of validity in openly ideological research: Between a rock and a soft place Patti A. Lather · Interchange | Dec 1986 | 1,012 |
| 28 | The Structure of a Social Science Collaboration Network: Disciplinary Cohesion from 1963 to 1999 James W. Moody · American Sociological Review | Apr 2004 | 999 |
| 29 | Breaking out Again: Feminist Ontology and Epistemology Matt Hall, Liz Stanley, Sue Wise · The Canadian Journal of Sociology | 1994 | 981 |
| 30 | What Is Field Theory? John Levi Martin · American Journal of Sociology | Jul 2003 | 980 |
| 31 | Identity Construction: New Issues, New Directions Karen A. Cerulo · Annual Review of Sociology | Aug 1997 | 971 |
| 32 | Social Science Concepts: A User's Guide Gary Goertz · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) | 25 Dec 2005 | 939 |
| 33 | The Coming Crisis of Empirical Sociology Mike Savage, Roger Burrows · Sociology | 16 Aug 2007 | 922 |
| 34 | Situational Analyses: Grounded Theory Mapping After the Postmodern Turn Adele E. Clarke · Symbolic Interaction | Nov 2003 | 891 |
| 35 | Inhabited Institutions: Social Interactions and Organizational Forms in Gouldner’s Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy Tim Hallett, Marc J. Ventresca · Theory and Society | Apr 2006 | 889 |
| 36 | Structures of social life: the four elementary forms of human relations Beth-Ann K. Cocroft, Angela K. Hoppe, Lisa A. Snell · International Journal of Intercultural Relations | Dec 1994 | 846 |
| 37 | Why Do Some Occupations Pay More than Others? Social Closure and Earnings Inequality in the United States Kim A. Weeden · American Journal of Sociology | Jul 2002 | 833 |
| 38 | Talk Is Cheap Colin Jerolmack, Shamus Khan · Sociological Methods & Research | 9 Mar 2014 | 810 |
| 39 | Lords of the Dance: Professionals as Institutional Agents W. Richard Scott · Organization Studies | Feb 2008 | 809 |
| 40 | Explaining Society, Critical Realism in the Social Sciences Freddy Winston Castro · Acta Sociologica | Sep 2002 | 797 |
| 41 | Women's Perspective as a Radical Critique of Sociology* Dorothy E. Smith · Sociological Inquiry | 1974 | 792 |
| 42 | Dissecting the social on the principles of analytical sociology Peter Hedström | 2005 | 783 |
| 43 | The Tyranny of Transparency Marilyn Strathern · British Educational Research Journal | Jun 2000 | 781 |
| 44 | Toward a Structural Theory of Action Ronald S. Burt · Elsevier eBooks | 1982 | 766 |
| 45 | The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social Sarah K. Harkness · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews | Nov 2008 | 765 |
| 46 | Exploring the Limits of the New Institutionalism: The Causes and Consequences of Illegitimate Organizational Change Matthew S. Kraatz, Edward J. Zajac · American Sociological Review | Oct 1996 | 763 |
| 47 | Social mechanisms: An introductory essay Peter Hedström, Richard Swedberg · Cambridge University Press eBooks | 13 Jan 1998 | 741 |
| 48 | Communications: Blindspot of Western Marxism Dallas W. Smythe · Ctheory | 30 Dec 1977 | 740 |
| 49 | 25 years of factorial surveys in sociology: A review Lisa Wallander · Social Science Research | 21 Mar 2009 | 727 |
| 50 | The Origins of American Social Science. By Dorothy Ross. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. 528p. $29.95. James Farr · American Political Science Review | Dec 1991 | 718 |
Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.