Since the end of WWII, sociologists have been paying more attention to synchronic methods of analysis. Nineteenth-century classical sociologists, eg, Karl Marx & Max Weber, sought to explain social phenomena by referring to the historical roots of the social system under study. The recent shift of interest to present-day society has been facilitated by new methods for handling empirical data & by a high level of theoretical abstraction. However, imprecision in language usage is not conducive to communication among sociologists. Special attention is given to current attempts to establish general sociological universals. M. Meeks

Source: Sociological Abstracts Inc.