MTP - Major Theoretical Approach Overview

Major Theoretical Perspectives

Thinker Statue Essentially, the sociologist has four tasks:

1. 1. to observe
  2. to describe
  3. to analyze
  4. to predict

To complete these tasks, sociologists employ a sociological perspective. This means that they look for general patterns of behavior within the particular (tasks #1 and #2) in order to explain our social world (tasks #3 and #4). Within the field of sociology, most sociologists work within three major theoretical perspectives to guide them as they perform tasks #3 and #4. These major theoretical perspectives serve as the framework for most sociological thinking and include the Structural-Functional Approach, the Social-Conflict Approach and the Symbolic-Interaction Approach. Sociologists use these approaches as a blueprint for building their own sociological theories. Each approach is linked to a founding father within sociology and has a definition; however, each approach has evolved throughout sociology's history, not always in the direction intended by the founding father. In this module, you will be learning about these three major theoretical perspectives- their origins, their evolution, and their effects on the field of sociology.

Essential Questions

What are the major theoretical perspectives in sociology?
Who developed these perspectives and why?
How have the major theoretical perspectives evolved over the years as successive sociologists add their own takes on the perspectives?
How are these perspectives applied in sociology today?

Key Words

Anomie - a term used by Emile Durkheim to describe a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals
Anti-Positivism - a movement in Sociology that argued the sociologist would be better served by rejecting a strict adherence to the scientific method within social research and should rely on interpretive methodologies
Charles Horton Cooley - (1864-1929) was an American sociologist best known for his concept of the "looking glass self"
"Collective Consciousness" - a term used by Emile Durkheim to describe a set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes that operate as a unifying force in society
Conflict - a battle or struggle; controversy; a quarrel, to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash
Critical Sociology - the study of society that focuses on the need for social change
"Definition of the Situation" - that which people use to know what is expected of them in a situation; the characteristics of a situation that guide people to determine their choice in behaviors
Dramaturgical Approach - the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance; the theory that we "present" ourselves in the best way possible and act a certain way when "hiding" from the audience; Erving Goffman
Emile Durkheim - (1858-1917) a French sociologist whose study of suicide rates in the late 1800s helped propel the field of sociology as a scientific academic discipline separate from psychology and political science; considered as one of the founding fathers of sociology
Erving Goffman - (1922-1982) was a Canadian sociologist who developed the term "dramaturgical approach" due to his belief that individuals "present" themselves in a certain way in public but act in another way when "hiding" from the "audience"
Evolutionary Change - a social change that occurs gradually
Gender-Conflict Approach - a point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men
George Herbert Mead - (1863-1931) an American sociologist who argued that social experience develops an individual's personality; instrumental in the development of sociology in the United States while working as a professor at the University of Chicago
Herbert George Blumer - (1900-1987) was an American sociologist who believed that individuals create their own social reality through collective and individual action and argued that the creation of social reality is a continuous process
Herbert Spencer - (1820-1903) an English sociologist best known for coining the phrase "survival of the fittest" in 1864 upon reading Charles Darwin's work on evolution
Interpretive sociology - the study of society that focuses on the meanings people attach to their social world
Karl Marx - (1818-1883) a German sociologist best known for his books The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital; argued that societies progress through class struggle: a conflict between an ownership class that controls production and a victimized laboring class that provides the labor for production; considered as one of the founding fathers of sociology
Latent Function - the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern
Looking Glass Self - a self-image based on how we think others see us
Macro-Level Orientation - a broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole
Manifest Function - the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern
Max Weber - (1864-1920) a German sociologist who argued against August Comte's approach to positivism and claimed that people's beliefs and values shaped society; considered as one of the founding fathers of sociology
Mechanical Solidarity - a term used by Emile Durkheim to refer to a type of social unity achieved by people doing the same type of work and holding similar values
Micro-Level Orientation - a close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations
Micro-processes - the interpersonal interactions or socialization of individuals studied in sociology
Organic Solidarity - a term used by Emile Durkheim to refer to a type of social unity in which interdependence is based on specialized functions and statuses
Race-Conflict Approach - a point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories
Revolutionary Change - a social change that occurs swiftly following a prompt
Robert K. Merton - (1910-2003) an American sociologist who identified the presence of manifest and latent functions within social structures and also identified the presence of social dysfunctions; also famous for his work on "role models" and "self-fulfilling prophesy"
Self - the part of an individual's personality composed of self-awareness and self-image; George Herbert Mead argued that the self was the product of social experience
Social Dysfunction - any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society
Social Exchange - a theory within the Symbolic-Interaction Approach that suggests that voluntary action is performed in the expectation of getting a reward in return
Social Inequality - a condition that occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, usually based on social stratification
Social Stratification - a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy
Social Structure - the distinctive, stable arrangement of institutions whereby human beings in a society interact and live together; examples include government, economy, class, family, education, etc. It is a very broad term as it refers to the ways people are interrelated or interdependent
Social-Conflict Approach - a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change; Karl Marx, W.E.B. Du Bois, Harriet Martineau, Jane Addams
Socialization - the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn the culture
Society - a body of individuals living as members of a community; an organized interaction of people who typically live in a nation or some other specific territory
Structural-Functional Approach - a framework for building sociological theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability; August Comte, Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, Thomas Merton
"Survival of the Fittest" - a phrase used by Herbert Spencer to describe the natural evolution of people; it was later used as justification of social stratification
Symbol - anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture
Symbolic-Interaction Approach - a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals; Max Weber, George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer, Erving Goffman, George Horton Cooley
The Power Elite - book written by C. Wright Mills in 1956 in which he draws attention to the interwoven interests of the leaders of the military, corporate, and political elements of society, and suggests that the ordinary citizen is a relatively powerless subject of manipulation by those entities; one of the first sociological tomes to use the Social-Conflict Approach to American society
Theoretical Approach - a basic image of society that guides thinking and research
Theory - a statement of how and why specific facts are related
Verstehen - a German word that literally translates to mean "to understand" in English and refers to understanding the meaning of action from the actor's point of view
William I. Thomas - (1863-1947) an American sociologist who developed the Thomas Theorem- "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences" (also known as the "Definition of the Situation"

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