Durkheim argues laws are discoverable and will explain patterns therefore sociologists can discover laws that determine how society works; this is called induction or inductive reasoning. However, it can be disagreed that society is
Theories and Perspectives in Sociology, Understanding sociological Theory In the study of how society works, sociologists use theories, to help explain human behaviour. Within sociology, there are several theories and perspectives used to do this. These are divided into three main theories structural functional, Conflict and social action theory. The social action theory is micro a study of society, this theory looks at individual’s behaviour and how individuals interact with each other. As stated in Giddens, sociologists who support this theory see individuals as not created by society but as the creators of society.
Sociology Versus Anthropology Abstract: Sociology and Anthropology both concentrate on the society and its evolution. Both share different approaches as well as have some similarities as well. This essay will discuss two research methods used in sociology as well as two research methods used in anthropology. The methods will then be compared and contrasted. Describe two research methods used in Sociology: According to the University of North Carolina, Sociology is described as “The study of human social relationships and institutions.” Sociology uses several research methods to study social relationships and institutions including quantitative research and observational research.
This essay will compare and contrast both the Marxism theory and the Functionalism theory of topics in society. The topics of society this essay will discuss are: Families, Education, Employment and Religion. This essay will look at evidence supporting these theories and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses. In Sociology there are many theories on different society based topics. A sociological theory is the same as a sociological perspective; it is a way that sociologists look at something.
Q. Discuss the major differences as well as similarities of Macro sociological theories? There are two main theories which are classified under macro sociology which are functionalism and conflict. This paper will focus on those two theories, its objective is to delineate the assumptions of these theoretical perspectives and apply the assumptions to an analysis of social stratification. How this will be accomplished will be by comparing and contrasting their assumptions.
The Chicago school is a theory of deviance that attempts to explain the occurrence of deviant behaviour and crime in a social ecological paradigm (Abercrombie, Hill, & Turner, 2000, p. 383). It focuses on human behaviour as determined by social structures and physical environmental factors rather than genetic and personal characteristics. The application of Darwin’s notion of ecological interdependence is a key structural underpinning to the theory, which lead to the
Similarly society is an objective reality – a real thing made up of social facts out there and independent to individuals. Positivists argue reality is not random but patterned and can be observed empirically. It’s the job of the sociologist to observe, identify, measure and record patterns and then to explain them. Durkheim argues laws are discoverable and will explain patterns. Sociologists can discover laws that determine how society works; this is called induction or inductive reasoning.
“the realist while rejecting the positivist approach of testing theory against data, acknowledges that there are underlying and unobservable cause to explain social phenomena and that testing theories against each other is the way to proceed with methodology” Outline the main principles of positivism and anti-positivism and explain with reference to the quote how realism adds to and challenges the traditional methodological discussion in sociology The merits of positivism and anti-positivism in defining social phenomena have been debated over many years. Positivists such as August Comte (1978 - 1857) believed that the accumulation of scientific knowledge and statistics could reveal sociological laws which would help to explain various functions of society. Anti-positivists counter this and instead claim, that because human beings individually act on a variety of influences, a scientific approach is insufficient in defining sociological theory. Realism challenges both theories by conceding that, although there are underlying causes that affect society, these causes cannot be understood by scientific methods alone. Instead they try to understand social phenomena by testing existing theory against new theory.
Explain why both the naturalness of the research setting and the degree of experimental control are important variables in evaluating or deciding on a research method. 6. Describe how you could use three different research methods to test the question: does social support result in better job performance? Be sure to state your IV’s and DV’s and describe the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. 7.
As written by Livesey, 1995 – 2010, in general interactionist perspectives tend to concentrate on small scale levels of social interaction, between individuals and small social groups. For this reason they are sometimes referred to as a ‘micro level of sociological analyses. The basic ideas that interactionist sociologists have in common are that they focus on the way in which individuals act, that is, make conscious choices about their behaviour based upon the way they interpret situations, rather than simply react to social stimulation. This idea makes interactionist sociologists differ to macro perspectives like Functionalism and Marxism. The way in which different individuals interpret the behaviour of others is significant as a means of understanding the way in which the world is socially constructed.