Definitions may seem marginal to the sociological enterprise but can be very useful; however, they can also lead to serious errors. Examples of both are given in this article. Different types of definitions are presented, and their relevance for sociology is highlighted. A stipulative definition, for example, is very useful in sociology, as opposed to lexical and ostensive definitions. The definition of a concept that is used in a sociological analysis has to be sociological in nature, and the concept cannot have the same meaning as it has in everyday language. Additional items to bear in mind when a definition is put together are discussed, including some tips on how to proceed that come from political science (Sartori, Collier, Goertz). A definition can also be very helpful in the research process itself by indicating which are the important aspects of some phenomenon to focus on (Weber, Blumer). On the negative side, a term that is not properly defined may lead to misunderstandings as well as to a false sense of agreement with other uses of the term.

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关于社会学中定义的使用

定义对社会学事业似乎微不足道，但可能非常有用。但是，它们也可能导致严重的错误。本文提供了两个示例。介绍了不同类型的定义，并突出了它们与社会学的相关性。例如，规定性定义在社会学中非常有用，与词汇和表面性定义相反。社会学分析中使用的概念的定义本质上必须是社会学的，并且该概念的含义不能与日常语言中的含义相同。讨论了将定义放在一起时要记住的其他事项，包括有关如何进行的一些技巧，这些技巧来自政治学（Sartori，Collier，Goertz）。通过指出哪些现象是某些现象的重要方面（Weber，Blumer），定义对研究过程本身也非常有帮助。不利的一面是，未正确定义的术语可能导致误解以及与该术语其他用法的误解。