The relation between individual trait differences, social mobility and social structure is central to social biology. Because genetic variance underlies phenotypic variance in some of these traits, for example IQ, several mechanisms determine the population variance. Polygenic inheritance is the basic mechanism. Social mobility and assortative partner choice distribute the trait variance within generations. This feedback circle is constrained by sociological conditions at several levels of analysis. Fundamental to this theory of social assortment is the relation between social–biological traits and social class on the one hand, and these traits and social mobility on the other hand. The focus here is on the relation between social class, social mobility and cognitive ability. The National Child Development Study is drawn upon, including the last follow-up (1999–2000). By approaching this relationship through various methods, both social–biological and sociological aspects of this research question can be assessed.
The relationship between sociology and the natural Sciences is one of contention and debate. Especially with reference to the potential interaction with sociobiology, discussions have run high. In the course of its development, sociobiology gained from theoretical evolutions in behavioural ecology and evolutionary psychology, resulting in a fairly comprehensive evolutionary-biological model of human social behaviour. In a relatively short time span, developments in this paradigm resulted in many data and insights concerning fields as social networks, power relations, sociodemographic phenomena, social interaction, ... At the same time, both anthropology and psychology encourage interaction with evolutionary biology. This is the background for a discussion on the relationship between sociology and the evolutionary biology of social behaviour. First, we assert the reasons for the lack of interdisciplinarity, despite a number of attempts in this direction. After an exposition on the nature of the evolutionary paradigm on social behaviour, we identify the fundamental conceptual differences between sociology and evolutionary biological frameworks. This, among other things, is basis then, for a plea in favour of clearly structured and defined interdisciplinary research program. This can be based on a hierarchically structured theoretical program.
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