Sociological theory has been reduced to narratable common-sense to win funding and accessibility.

Evidence

Social theory, by contrast, has been downgraded, because of the need to make it accessible to students as well as to grant-givers and policy-makers and relate it directly to current social issues. For this reason many social theories in recent years have tended to take on a narrative form, embracing ideas about social events and the nature of society that are prevalent within the mass media and popular culture. This notion of theory enhances a view of sociology as a body of knowledge that any reasonably intelligent and socially aware person can readily understand. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 42