This is why the words function, conflict, and meaning have been in bold throughout this first chapter. One-to-one interactions, symbols, and communications. The way inequalities contribute to social differences and perpetuate differences in power. The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the whole. Sociological Theoretical Frames or PerspectivesĮnable sociologists to view social issues through a variety of useful lenses. These three theoretical have come to dominate sociological thinking because they provide useful explanations: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. In sociology, theoretical frameworks are used within the discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and to help direct the research performed in support of them. In sociology, a few theories provide broad perspectives that help explain many different aspects of social life. Classic sociological theories (Marx, Weber, and Durkheim fit here) are still considered important and current, but new sociological theories build upon the work of their predecessors and add to them (Calhoun 2002). Sociological theory is constantly evolving and should never be considered complete. Grand theories attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change.

Macro-level theories relate to large-scale issues and large groups of people, while micro-level theories look at very specific relationships between individuals or small groups. Theories vary in scope depending on the scale of the issues that they are meant to explain. Rather than rely on individual experience Durkheim created a theory to help guide his research. Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics in Durkheim’s society, and his work supports the utility of theory in sociological research. Durkheim gathered a large amount of data about Europeans who had ended their lives, and he did indeed find differences based on religion. He studied social ties within a group, or social solidarity, and hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religion-based differences. A theory is a generalization involving more than one variable.įor example, although suicide is generally considered an individual phenomenon, Émile Durkheim was interested in studying the social factors that affect it. In sociology, a theory is a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and to create a testable proposition, called a hypothesis, about society (Allan 2006). Sociologists study social events, interactions, and patterns, and they develop a theory in an attempt to explain why things work as they do.

Sociologists develop theories to explain social occurrences such as protest rallies. Understand the similarities and differences between structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.Explain what sociological theories are and how they are used.

The structural functional theory