Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
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Peer reviewed
Abstract
Abstract
Functional analysis has a long lineage in sociology, yet practical guidance on how to conduct it remains sparse, particularly in organisational settings. Using deviant, rule-violating practices as a model case, this article introduces a systematic four-step heuristic for conducting functional analysis, grounded in Luhmann's notion of useful illegality and equivalence functionalism: identifying the focal practice, specifying a type-sensitive constellation of organisational problems, analysing functional relations and examining dysfunctions and functional equivalents, while applying a common analytical vocabulary across all steps through shared comparison axes and systematic comparative anchoring. Rather than offering a dogmatic blueprint, the heuristic is designed as a flexible toolkit that sharpens sociological imagination and improves analytical transparency. Its central contribution is to make the analytical steps of functional analysis explicit, transparent and comparable across cases, thereby re-opening the methodological discussion of how functional analysis can be conducted in practice.
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@article{Bathon2026Doing,
title = {Doing functional analysis: A minimal heuristic using useful illegality as a model case},
author = {Felix Maximilian Bathon},
journal = {Thesis Eleven},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1177/07255136261495598},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136261495598}
}FAQ
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