printSociological Theorizing in the Digital Age:
Between “Grand Theory” and “Abstracted Empiricism”
Dudina V.I.
Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Prof., Faculty of Sociology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia viktoria_dudina@mail.ru
Judina D.I.
Junior Researcher, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Sociological Institute of FCTAS RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia dartisimus@gmail.com
The research was supported by RSF project No. 22-18-00261-П.
Dudina V.I., Judina D.I. Sociological Theorizing in the Digital Age: Between “Grand Theory” and “Abstracted Empiricism”. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2026. No 1. P. 4-14
The article discusses the impact of digitalization on sociological theory and its role in research. The emergence of new tools for collecting and analyzing social data, as well as new agents using these tools, poses a threat to traditional sociological approaches. The Mills’ opposition between “grand theory” and “abstracted empiricism” in sociology takes on new resonance in the context of the expansion of computational methods. On the one hand, sociological conceptualizations are losing significance, increasingly being replaced by statistics and mathematics, limiting the role of theory in research. On the other hand, the substantive development of empirical research is slowing, becoming dependent on the quality of statistical models. The need to adapt sociological theory to the conditions of the digital age and to define its place in the structure of research is examined through a comparison of concepts presented in two contemporary monographs devoted to sociological theory in the context of digitalization. The fundamental work of Ori Schwarz analyzes how digitalization can change grand sociological theory. The monograph of Gabe Ignatow seeks to overcome the abstract empiricism of digital research by rethinking the role of theory in the research process. The article concludes that in the context of digitalization and the emergence of new research tools it is necessary to rethink approaches to sociological theorizing.
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