Sociological Approaches in Managing Pandemics
Dr Gabriel Makuei
Email: leek123deng@gmail.com
Abstract
The aim of this review was to evaluate published research on sociological approaches in managing pandemics. A search of Google Scholar yielded 34 papers. These were reviewed under the sections of Covid-19 sociology, General, Earlier pandemics and Covid-19. The 30 papers were equally distributed between earlier pandemics and Covid-19. Most papers used qualitative methods, thus preventing the scope for meta-analysis. There was a tendency to assert primacy of sociology above medical sciences. Only a few papers dealt both with equanimity. The evidence presented for many conclusions were more rhetorical than based on sound data as conclusions exceeded what the data really revealed. There were some discursive arguments in some papers, which demonstrated some uncertainty about the line of argument they would like to follow. However, the sociological points of importance were not lost, as they are too important to overlook. In some papers, practical aspects were lost to too theoretical treatment of the subject.