PREVAILING THEORIES OF SOCIOLOGY
Refers to a set of epistemological perspectives and philosophies of science which hold that the scientific method
is the best approach to uncovering the processes by which both physical
and human events occur. Though the positivist approach has been a
'recurrent theme in the history of western thought from the Ancient
Greeks to the present day the concept was developed in the early 19th century by the philosopher and founding sociologist, Auguste Comte.
(also non-positivist or interpretive sociology) is the view in social science that academics must necessarily reject empiricism and the scientific method in the conduct of social theory and research.
Anti-positivism relates to various historical debates in the
philosophy and sociology of science. In modern practice, however,
non-positivism may be equated with qualitative research methods, while positivist research is more quantitative.
Positivists typically use research methods such as experiments and
statistical surveys, while anti-positivists use research methods which
rely more on unstructured interviews or participant observation.
Currently, positivist and non-positivist methods are often combined.Or in many contexts simply functionalism, is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions. A common analogy, popularized by Herbert Spencer, presents these parts of society as "organs" that work toward the proper functioning of the "body" as a whole. In the most basic terms, it simply emphasises "the effort to impute, as rigorously as possible," For Talcott Parsons, "functionalism" came to describe a particular stage in the methodological development of social science, rather than a specific school of thought.
CONFLICT
Conflicts theories are perspectives in social science which emphasize the social, political or material inequality of a social group, which critique the broad socio-political system, or which otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism. Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast historically dominant ideologies.
Certain conflict theories set out to highlight the ideological
aspects inherent in traditional thought. Whilst many of these
perspectives hold parallels, conflict theory does not refer to a unified school of thought, and should not be confused with, for instance, peace and conflict studies, or any other specific theory of social conflict.
Developed by Robert K. Merton, is an approach to sociological theorizing aimed at integrating theory and empirical
research. It is currently the de-facto dominant approach to
sociological theory construction, especially in the United States.
Middle-range theory starts with an empirical phenomenon (as opposed to a
broad abstract entity like the social system) and abstracts from it to
create general statements that can be verified by data. This approach stands in contrast to the earlier "grand" theorizing of social theory, such as functionalism and many conflict theories. Raymond Boudon has argued that "middle-range theory" is the same concept that most other sciences simply call 'theory. The analytical-sociology movement has as its aim the unification of such theories into a coherent paradigm at a greater level of abstraction.
The usage of mathematics to construct social theories. Mathematical sociology
aims to take sociological theory, which is strong in intuitive content
but weak from a formal point of view, and to express it in formal terms.
The benefits of this approach include increased clarity and the ability
to use mathematics to derive implications of a theory that cannot be
arrived at intuitively. In mathematical sociology, the preferred style
is encapsulated in the phrase "constructing a mathematical model." This
means making specified assumptions about some social phenomenon,
expressing them in formal mathematics, and providing an empirical
interpretation for the ideas. It also means deducing properties of the
model and comparing these with relevant empirical data. Social network analysis
is the best-known contribution of this sub-field to sociology as a whole
and to the scientific community at large. The models typically used in
mathematical sociology allow sociologists to understand how predictable
local interactions are often able to elicit global patterns of social
structure.
Is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism. This has led to the very literal use of 'critical theory' as an umbrella term to describe theoretical critique. This is, as a theory which is founded on criticism.
Critical theory, in the sociological context, refers to a style of Marxist theory with a tendency to engage with non-Marxist influences (for instance the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud). This tendency has been referred to pejoratively by stricter Marxists as 'revisionism'. Modern critical theory arose from a trajectory extending from the nonpositivist sociology of Max Weber and Georg Simmel, the neo-Marxist theory of Georg Lukács and Antonio Gramsci, toward the milieu associated with Frankfurt Institute of Social Research.
It is with the so-called '"Frankfurt SchoolHerbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, and Jürgen Habermas. With the latter, critical theory shed further its roots in German idealism and moved closer to American pragmatism. The theoretical concern for a cultural "superstructure" derived from a material "base" often stands as the only central Marxist tenet remaining in contemporary critical theory.SOCIALIZATION
Is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, politicians and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies.
It may provide the individual with the skills and habits necessary for
participating within their own society; a society itself is formed
through a plurality of shared norms, customs, values, traditions, social
roles, symbols and languages. Socialization is thus ‘the means by which
social and cultural continuity are attained’.
Socialization, however, is not a normative term: it describes a process which may or may not affect the reflexive agent, and which may or may not lead to desirable, or 'moral', outcomes. Individual views on certain issues, such as race or economics, may be socialized (and to that extent normalized)
within a society. Many socio-political theories postulate that
socialization provides only a partial explanation for human beliefs and
behaviours; that agents are not 'blank slates' predetermined by their environment. Scientific research provides strong evidence that people are shaped by both social influences and their hard-wired biological makeup. Genetic studies have shown that a person's environment interacts with their genotype to influence behavioural outcomes, whilst the linguistic theory of generative grammar demonstrates how something such as the capacity for learning changes throughout one's lifetime. (See also: Nature vs. Nurture; Structure vs. Agency).
The debate concerning the primacy of either structure or agency on human behaviour is a central ontological issue in sociology, political science, and the other social sciences. In this context, "agency" refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. "Structure",
by contrast, refers to the recurrent patterned arrangements which seem
to influence or limit the choices and opportunities that individuals
possess. The structure versus agency debate may therefore be understood simply as the issue of socialisation against autonomy. This discussion may itself be contrasted with the "nature versus nurture" debate (i.e. "the natural versus the social").
