THREE MAIN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN SOCIOLOGY
Nature of
society
Basis of
interaction
Focus on
inquiry
Level of
analysis
Proponents
Structural
Functionalism
Interrelated
social structures
fit together to
form functional
whole
Consensus and
shared values
Maintenance of
society, social
order and
functions of parts
Macro/social
structure
Talcott Parson
Robert Merton
Emile Durkheim
Conflict Theory
Competing
interest groups,
with each
seeking to
secure to its
own ends at
expense of
others
Conflict, power,
constraint
Social change
and conflict
Macro/social
structure
Karl Marx
Ralf Dahrendorf
Edwin
Sutherland
Howard Becker
Symbolic
Interaction
Individuals
interacting to build
groups. We use
symbols to think,
do, and
communicate
Eclectic
Shared meanings
regarding symbols
Development of
self and adaptation
to society
Micro/interpersonal
interaction
Charles Horton
Cooley
George Herbert
Mead
Herbert Blumer
Simmel
Max
Weber
THEORY defn: a set of interrelated statements about reality, usually involving one or
more cause and effect relationships.
A set of interrelated (falsifiable and ideally verifiable) hypotheses for testing.
The word “theory” in common use normally means an abstract thought or general
explanations or even conjecture. In science in general the word “theory” means a
plausible or scientifically acceptable general principles offered to explain observed fact.
I prefer an even more strict usage in Sociology. When I use the term “Sociological
Theory” I mean a formal set of verifiable and falsifiable hypotheses that build upon one
another.
Given that usage, these categories are not theories, as some would see it, but rather
theoretical perspectives. They are the three broad categories into which we put theories
and theorizations.