However these elegant models can
oversimplify the reality in some aspects. Quantitative and/or “variable-based approach”
with a strong focus on associations between some variables – for example, association
between local and global integration of a civic organization – has,
nevertheless, some limitations. Dealing with individual actors and their
attributes, this approach neglects the structure of relations in its complexity.
Paraphrasing Granovetter’s critique, the variable-based approach tends to focus
on an isolated actor and neglected complex effect(s) of social structure
(Granovetter, 1985). In contrast, “relational sociology” (Crossley, 2011; Emirbayer, 1997) that suggested in the given
paper, takes into account the structure of relations seriously[6].
Although the recent research that based on SNA (the key method of “relational
sociology”) also suffers from stylized models that become increasingly popular (Mani
& Moody, 2014), the network approach enables to account not only
attributive but also structural characteristics.