‘Research methods’ is a universal component of the sociology course, and it is also often uninspiring, ill thought‐out and defined as marginal to sociological concerns. The ‘theory‐methods divide’ has arisen in part because theory construction and model building have not been seen as basically identical enterprises. A basic reorientation and restructuring of research methods (and allied) courses is advocated, and this would be based on establishing formal modes of representation, analysis and explanation as an inherently sociological enterprise and one to which all students would be exposed from the start of their courses.