Theory and Methods
1. Approaches (How sociologists interpret society?)
2. Theories on Conflict and Consensus (Sociological perspectives)
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Sociology tries to understand and explain the relationship between people and the societies they live
in. It is the study of human social life, groups and societies.
Structuralism is an approach that focuses on large scale social structures and institutions where people
play definite roles rather than individuals.
Macro approaches focus on the large scale of whole societies.
Micro approaches focus on small scale interaction.
Causation is where strict link between variable in a time sequence can be proved.
Correlation is where two variables are related but causation cannot be proved.
Interpretivism is an approach that focuses on small scale phenomena and starts at the level of
individuals rather than society.
Identity is how a person sees themselves and how others see them.
Perspectives are the ways of viewing nature of society and social life from different points of view.
Consensus is when people generally agree on a set of shared values and there are no major
disagreements between main groups.
Conflict is disagreements between different groups on wealth, status and power. They can become
open conflicts and no overall set of shared values will be held by groups.
Functionalism is the main sociological perspective based on the consensus approach. It emphasizes
social functions and asks what functions of society makes it stable and stay together.
Organic or biological analogy is when functionalist perceive human society as being like the human
body and compares society to a living organism.
Marxism is a sociological perspective based on the conflict approach. Marxists believe that modern
industrial societies are based on conflict between classes.
Bourgeoisie are one of the two main classes referred by Marxists. They are the owners of wealth and
property. They exploit and oppress the proletariat and are the ruling class who take the profits of their
works.
Proletariat are one of the two main classes referred by Marxists. They are the working class who work
to survive. They are wag slaves who are never paid full value of their work.
Feminism is a sociological perspective based ono the conflict approach. It sees fundamental divisions
between the two genders in society.
Liberal feminists believe major advances have been and equality can be achieved through further
changes such as new laws. They do not emphasize conflict.
Radical feminists believe that despite these advances, societies are fundamentally patriarchal and men
have power. Radical changes are needed.
Marxist feminists/Socialists bring together insights of both Marxism and feminism to see how class and
gender work together to create divisions in society.