This article pushes forward a critical dialogue about the value of visualization as a method of sociological theorizing. Building on a nascent literature, I argue theory diagrams may operate not only conjunctively but also disjunctively, independent from empirics; that their theoretical value lies not only in capturing sociological problems but also in the inferential procedures they embody; that their creative use spans not only deduction and abduction but also induction; that abduction may be pursued with diagrams not only in conjunction with deduction or in the production of visual sketches but also in visual exercises in theoretical play geared primarily toward getting new ideas; and that theory visuals often feature metaphorical aspects that, like their linguistic cousins, transfer thought patterns from one domain to another, thereby providing a major avenue for visual theoretical creativity. Taken together, pursuing these lines of thought helps to build a better understanding of how visualization contributes to the creative intellectual practice of sociological theorizing.

中文翻译：

---

想办法！

本文推动了关于可视化作为一种​​社会学理论化方法的价值的批判性对话。建立在新生文献的基础上，我认为理论图不仅可以结合，而且可以分离，独立于经验；它们的理论价值不仅在于捕捉社会学问题，还在于它们所体现的推理程序；他们的创造性使用不仅包括演绎和溯因，还包括归纳；不仅可以结合演绎或视觉草图的制作，而且还可以在主要面向获得新想法的理论游戏中的视觉练习中使用图表进行溯因；并且理论视觉通常具有隐喻特征，就像它们的语言表亲一样，将思维模式从一个领域转移到另一个领域，从而为视觉理论创造力提供了主要途径。总之，追求这些思路有助于更好地理解可视化如何有助于社会学理论化的创造性智力实践。