...There are three primary sociological theories discussed in Chapter One of the text, Introduction to Sociology. Briefly summarize each theory and the major differences across the Functionalist, Conflict, and Symbolic Interaction perspectives. The Structural Functionalists Structural functionalist theory was formulated by Radcliffe-Brown, and expounded by Evans-Pritchard: The structural functionalist sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability and focuses on the relationships between the various social institutions like government or religions. This theory recognizes that there is an inherent drive within human societies to stick together and strive toward equilibrium, the cohesion issue. Social inequality refers to any scenario in which individuals in a society do not have equal social status. Social cohesion describes the bonds that bring people together in a society. Interdependence is a central theme referring to the parts of society sharing a common set of principles. (Vissing, 2011) The Conflict Theorists The conflict theory focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever-changing nature of society by emphasizing the social, political, or material inequality of a social group with a ruling class and a subject class including classes, genders, races, religions, etc. Within society people have differing amounts of material and non-material resources (the wealthy vs. the poor) and that the more powerful groups...
Words: 672 - Pages: 3
...contribution of different ‘action’ theories to our understanding of society today Social action theories are known as micro theories which take a bottom-up approach to studying society; they look at how individuals within society interact with each other. There are many forms of social action theories, the main ones being symbolic interactionism, phenomenology and ethnomethodology. They are all based on the work of Max Weber, a sociologist, who acknowledged that structural factors can shape our behaviour but individuals do have reasons for their actions. He used this to explain why people behave in the way in which they do within society. Weber saw four types of actions which are commonly committed within society; rational, this includes logical plans which are used to achieve goals, traditional-customary behaviour, this is behaviour which is traditional and has always been done; he also saw effectual actions, this includes an emotion associated with an action and value-rational actions, this is behaviour which is seen as logical by an individual. Weber’s discovery of these actions can therefore be seen as useful in the study of society. Weber discovered these actions by using his concept of verstehan, a deeper understanding. However, some sociologists have criticised him as they argue that verstehan cannot be accomplished as it is not possible to see thing in the way that others see them, leaving sociologists to question whether Weber’s social action theory is useful in the study of...
Words: 2643 - Pages: 11
...Vygotsky: Social Theory to Cognitive Skills Tammy Boykin American Military University Prof. Terzynski Abstract The last couple of decades have seen the research in the area of sociocultural theory and theoretical perspectives grow by leaps and bounds. This area is of high interest, especially to those in the education field, since it concentrations on children and how they learn in genuine settings. Sociocultural theory and research also helps educators discover how better to support children’s education. (McDevitt, 2013). However, Lev Vygotsky (1896-9134), is credited with focusing and studying sociocultural theory and how children and adults learn at the turn of the 20th century. (Jaramillo, 1996). Vygotsky’s groundbreaking and persistent work to learn how children’s minds are molded by daily experiences in social settings have gave way to how sociocultural theories lend to cognitive theories. Unlike Piaget’s theory where children are the ones who do the work of learning, Vygotsky’s theory sees adults within a child’s culture or society as responsible for teaching and so on. (McDevitt, 2013). As stated by McDevitt, (2013), “Vygotsky emphasized the importance of adult guidance in promoting cognitive advancements and more generally because he emphasized the influence of social and cultural factors in children’s cognitive development his perspective is known as a sociocultural theory”. (Pg. 214). Vygotsky: Social Theory to Cognitive Skills For this assignment in childhood development...
Words: 745 - Pages: 3
...FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITI SELANGOR BACHELOR OF EDUCATION (HONS) TESL CPS 2313 EDUCATION SOCIOLOGY ASSIGNMENT: THEORIES AND RESEARCH IN EDUCATION SOCIOLOGY PREPARED BY: MOHAMAD AZHAARI SHAH BIN SULAIMAN 4123003611 IZZAT WAZZIR IMAN BIN 4123000401 PREPARED FOR: TUAN HAJI BAGHAWI SARBINI 2.1 Definition of Educational Sociology Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) who is regarded as the ‘father’ of sociology of education clearly defines sociology of education as “a systematic study sociological perspective”. This definition of sociology of education is suitable because it speaks much of what goes on in education system. It clearly states that it is important to know sociology before knowing what sociology of education is. This is because sociology is related sociology of education. The statement “sociological perspective” stresses the social context in which people live such as society. Society is a group of people who share a certain culture and a territory. Perspective is a view of the world and it is referred to as a sociological preservative or sociological imagination. Durkheim’s statement helps us to understand that sociological perspective opens a window to another world or unfamiliar world. As we look at other world or our own, sociological imagination casts another form of light on us. This in return enables us to gain a new vision of social life. In other words it helps us to find out why people do what they do like...
Words: 3580 - Pages: 15
...Alan McKee lists five related themes common to popular and academic concerns about the media sphere; that it’s too trivialised, too commercialised, too fragmented, that it relies too much on spectacle, and has caused citizens to become passive/apathetic. Focusing on the concept of audience, discuss one or more of McKee’s themes using an example from new and traditional media. As social groups and fragments naturally transform themselves parallel to the stages of the development of modern technology, the concept of audience will always in turn be the product of this environment. In the modern day world, one cannot help but question if the evolution of society has been accelerated in such a way partially due to the influence of the media sphere. Audiences are now more interactive in the media and public sphere in partnership with the Web 2.0 movement as a form of new media. Even though the new age media revolution has taken over the bigger part of our lives, the means of traditional media outlets such as television are more open to all the different societies that now exist. As the quality of media outbreaks dwindles and quantity is dangerously on the rise, the idea of commercialized and fragmented elements in our society is what we are subjected to within today’s media realm. Allan Mckee in his text The Public Sphere: An Introduction discusses these topics in depth as well as others in relation to the concept of audience and how the transformation of media has affected social...
Words: 2392 - Pages: 10
...Labelling Theory Intro: * Most approaches – except Marxism – accept difference between those who offend and those who don’t * One group – influenced by symbolic interactionism – questioned this approach – mistaken in assumption that lawbreakers are different from law abiding * Most people commit deviant or criminal acts – only some caught and stigmatized for it * Unique theories – as argues pointless trying to search for differences between deviants and non-deviants – stress should be upon understanding the reaction to, and definition of, deviance rather than on the cause of the initial act Becker: * No act is criminal or deviant until it has been labelled such by others * Criminal act in itself isn’t important – social reaction to act is * Agrees CD socially constructed * Becker studies – being labelled as deviant can have important consequences for persons identity * If label successfully applied – negative label becomes master status – cancels out any other statuses that indiv. has * Can result in excluding indiv from different social activities e.g. work and other mainstream society – left to find support with others in similar situations * Likely to reinforce deviant lifestyle – leading to dev of further deviant acts and career * Could ultimately lead to the creation of deviant subcultures * However – criticisms – fails to explain why people commit crimes and completely neglects power and social structure – cant...
Words: 845 - Pages: 4
...The Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard AND Conflict Theory Cameron Fagan Our textbook defines Conflict Theory as the way that sports are shaped by economic forces used by economically powerful people to increase their wealth and influence (Coakley & Donnelly, 2011, p.8). Throughout the movie, ‘The Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard’ there are numerous confirmations that such events take place. Our first glance at conflict theory came when Maurice as a young man was working in a machinist factory. The workers bodies were covered in grease and other various factory products, hair drenched in sweat and bodies on the verge of exhaustion. The film depicts the job for lower-class individuals who were ‘lucky’ to even find employment. There were a few instances in the movie were the factory managers and foreman’s are walking around and at one point even literally ‘throw’ a worker out of the factory and into unemployment. During the era of the world wars, our country was financially unstable and left millions of people below poverty lines trying to make a living. These men who worked within the factories walls were not being properly compensated for the amount of work they were doing. The white collars were, “using their power to manipulate the workers their families to accept the existence of economic inequality as a natural feature of social life”(Coakley & Donnelly, 2011, p. 8). This is exactly what was taking place in...
Words: 664 - Pages: 3
...Explain how theories of masculinity have transformed the sociology of the family? Finbarr Lawton, University College Cork, Department of Sociology. Student Number: 111310236, Module title/code: Sociology of Family, SC2026, Module Coordinator: Linda Connolly Submission Date: 14/1/13 Throughout my essay I will attempt to look at different theories of masculinity and try to show how these theories have transformed the sociology of family in recent decades. I will start by looking at the sociology of family, giving a brief insight into the main theory’s and how it helps us to understand what the sociology of family is essentially about. Following on from this I will look at masculinity giving the main ideas of it and how it has changed and shifted roles in past decades. Before going into detail about masculinity and how it has changed by looking at theories of fatherhood, work, and unemployment and Hegemonic masculinity. Finally I will finish by looking at the main advantages and disadvantages of this change in masculinity in recent decades looking also at how it has changed the sociology of family. When looking at the sociology of family we see that it is an extremely broad field of study and can really be split into four main theories of which to look at the sociology of family, these being: 1. “Functionalist theory: Looks at the essential tasks provided by the family e.g. Socialisation: Regulation of sexual activity. Social placement: Material and emotional...
Words: 2781 - Pages: 12
...Assess the Extent to which sociology could be seen as a science (33 marks) Science is characterised by five components. These are as follows. Empirical means we can count and measure information and testable is defined as experiments being able to be repeated and retested, therefore seen as more reliable. The theoretical means science seeks out causal relationships and doesn’t rely on descriptions but also to explain. Cumulative means it builds on previous knowledge and moves our understanding of the world forwards. Lastly, the objective details that personal feelings, prejudices etc have no place in science. It basically has to be unbiased. It is debated as to whether sociology fits into this definition, with strong divides in the for and against. One argument presented as to why sociology is a science comes from Positivists. Positivists use quantitative data and methods such as questionnaires in order to distinguish any trends, patterns or correlations in an investigation. By adopting the methods of natural sciences they establish sociology as a real science. Comte argued that it should be based on the methodology of the natural sciences. This is the approach that positivists take however, there comes a difficulty with applying these measures to the subject. In science the aim is to achieve the same and correct answer each time the experiment is done, and this shows reliability and validity in whatever claims that are trying to be made. If an anomaly appears steps are taken...
Words: 1181 - Pages: 5
...materials, evaluating them critically, organizing them into an organic whole and explaining the significance and relevance of the organized data in a narrative format. There are distinctions between the method and methodology as method is common to all sciences, independent, underived and definite, whereas methodology is not as it is a view or perspective to look through. Historical method is useful for theoretical and practical purpose as it provide useful and important information towards the solutions of the problem that makes possible to study the development of a particular idea, concept, philosophy or theory. 1.2.2. Methods of Inquiry The historical research has been heavily influenced by the social science research methods of...
Words: 1386 - Pages: 6
...environmental psychology. Environmental Psychology It is described by Veitch and Arkkelin (1995) as “a behavioral science that investigates, with an eye toward enhancing, the interrelationships between the physical environment and human behavior” (p. 4). environmental psychology is derived from many different factors and disciplines such as psychological, spiritual, and physical natures when determining how the environment effects behaviors. In return environmental psychology also describes how one passively effects the environment. (Veitch & Arkkelin, 1995, p. 5). In this particular field of psychology it shows the relationship between of people and the environment it is surrounded by. By applying the social sciences such as sociology, economics and natural science. Society has become more aware of the interaction between the two due to the correlation becoming more visible. It has become visible due to things such as population growth, globalization, and pollution. (Miller, 2005). Over the last few years there has been a large increase in technology with disregard for the mal affects, until recently one has become increasingly more aware of their actions and the consequences. Due to this environmental psychology has been implemented more into...
Words: 955 - Pages: 4
...organizational theories are many and they are a mixture of various approaches to analyse an organization and the way it perform. One of these approaches is the classical organizational theory that is divided into two sub topics: the scientific management theory and the bureaucracy theory. The management at Trust Technology is adopting the classical scientific management theory in its operations. The management in the company considers that the scientific theory that is based on managing the workers in order to improve the production is the best solution for their scenario. Trust Technology is an 8 years old business that is classically focusing on the relation between the worker and the employer without any complex organizational management. After its third year, Trust Technology started to have more customers and hence the business started to expand. The number of workers increased and then more supervision and management strategies should be implemented at this case. It is important for companies to know what organizational theory approach to use in order to improve the companies productivity, and also what is more important is to know what kind of approach to take and when should the company take a step forward. After knowing the problem, the management in Trust Technology decided to move on to the bureaucracy theory of organization and divide the company into hierarchical tree of management and workers. Organizational Theory Definition Organizational theory is slightly a...
Words: 1558 - Pages: 7
...Perspectives Life Span & Introduction to Sociology PSYC-2314-S03 In class we have been discussing the analogy of perspectives. A perspective is a way of seeing, also thought of as a ‘point of view’. This mental view or outlook can both enhance and constrain how we view the world in our own eyes. In the field of psychology and sociology there are many ways to perceive our world in which we live. No one perspective alone can define the world. Each perspective has its own distinctive strengths and blind spots. In class we have discussed different theories and analogies to better understand the complexity of perspectives. Perspectives will both facilitate and constrain perception. A good example of this statement is the Burke Theorem. The Burke Theorem states that “A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing- a focus upon object A involves a neglect of object B”. My understanding of this theory is that if you only focus on one perspective for viewing, you end up neglecting other perspectives, which doesn’t allow you to fully see reality as you could from looking with more than one perspective. An example given in class was how each student viewed the same exact water bottle. Students sitting on different sides or directly in front of the water bottle will have different views. Students sitting in rows towards the left and right sides of the classroom saw the sides of the bottle, while students sitting directly in front saw the front of the bottle. And on the other hand...
Words: 826 - Pages: 4
...FAMILY THEORIES (HDFS 865) Fall 2010 Tuesdays, 2:25-4:55 pm 1339 Sterling Professor Lynet Uttal Office: 338 Old Middleton Building, 1305 Linden Drive luttal@wisc.edu 306 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive (corner of Charter) 608-263-4026 Office hours: By appointment. Send me an email with 2-3 times you are available. Course Overview HDFS 865 Family Theories is a survey course that examines the interdisciplinary study of families. The course content is organized into two sections: a) theories, ideologies and definitions of families and b) applications of family theories in practice, family programs, and policies. This course will examine “what is theorizing in family studies?” Family theories are explanatory frameworks for different ways of understanding families. Theorizing about families involves conceptualizing the lived experiences of people in relation to their own families as well as developing explanations of the social role of families in society, tracking demographic changes over time, and identifying ideologies and social forces that influence and are influenced by family life. Some theories look at how individuals develop over the life span in the context of families; others define the forms and functions of families as a social unit in society. Some look at “the family” as a unit and focus in on the internal dynamics of relationships between family members, while others look at “the family” as a subsystem or institution in the larger scope of...
Words: 5664 - Pages: 23
...Comment of survey research : * The technique is the most popular one used in the field of Organizational Behavior * The Comment of Experimental research : * The technique make it possible to team about the case effect relationships * The Comment of Naturalistic observation: * The technique is subject to the biases of the observer * The Comment of Cause study : * Finding may not be generalizable to the organization * Level of Analysis in organizational Behavior : * Group process * (ex: communication) * Individual processes * (work aptitudes) * Organizational process * (ex: structure) * The Multiclass plenary roots of organizational Behavior : * Psychology * Sociology * Political science * Economics...
Words: 308 - Pages: 2
