The Scientific Study Of Social Behavior

Sociology is the study the different aspects of humanity and society. It encompasses a very broad and varying range of topics. It can be studied on a large world-wide scale spanning across several countries, which is called Macrosociology. It can also be studied on a small scale looking at only individual families or neighborhoods, which is called Microsociology. Not only does it peer into humans’ interactions with each other but examines why they act the way they do. It considers the environment, as well as how access to different luxuries can contribute to the people that we become. In this fascinating field there are three primary views on exactly what the fundamental driving force behind society is. Symbolic Interactionalism, the belief that symbols and the meaning that they are given, define how we will perceive life, in this philosophy these meanings are influenced by society and the events of individual lives. Functional Analysis, views society as any other organism, in this theory all parts of the whole must work together cohesively to function. Conflict theory takes a somewhat opposite view than Functionalism, this perspective suggests that rather than wanting to work in unison, society’s underlying motive is a power struggle for resources. Over the course of this paper the reader will explore these different perspectives.

Sociology is defined as ‘The study of human social life, groups and societies’ (Giddens, 1989). It involves describing and analysing how different forces such as social, cultural, political, and economic have on behaviour and an individuals identity. (Van Kreiken et al.2000). Furthermore, it encompasses the complex connections on a micro level along with those on a macro level thus enabling sociological imagination.

Currently, the discipline of sociology accepts conflict theory as a valid way to gain insight into

Conflict Theory – Macro level – This is built off of resources, status and power that is not evenly distributed throughout groups in our

After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits among people; it is also a science about factors in a person’s life and how these factors culminate responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it studies; for, even the slightest change of a person’s daily experience can have an insurmountable impact on attitude, personal growth, family

Berger’s Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective is a book about sociology as a scientific methodology and a perspective through which the world can be explored. The author’s major thesis is that sociology is not limited to statistics, to which many people often reduce the importance of this science, and it is not even limited to being a particular scientific discipline that is part of social sciences, but it is a worldview in a way. Sociologists approach various “situation[s]…in which people orient their actions toward one another” (Berger 1963:27), i.e. social situations, from the perspective of these interactions and build a system of methods to analyze social processes.

This paper is going to discuss two social theories; social structure and social process. It is also going to cover some of the branches of those theories; disorganization theory, strain theory, cultural conflict (deviance), social learning theory, social control theory, and social reaction theory. It will go into some of the branches and thoughts within these

Social conflict also focuses on macro-sociology. Symbolic interaction paradigm says society functions well through interactions. Communication is spreaded through symbols created by society. Social interaction is important, because it causes social change. Many variables such as behavior events are explained through social contact with others. The people are the ones who determine what is reality, and what is not reality. Life works in a dramatization point of view. Symbolic interaction paradigm focuses on the small issues that affect communities in society, therefore making it a micro-level orientation. Functionalist paradigm sees society as a well integrated, self-regulating system that meets people’s needs. While Social conflict views society having many groups that are self reliant, with their own goals and needs. Symbolic interaction explains society is shaped, and constructed through interaction, and communication with others.

The relationship between key social variables of race, gender, class and health is important for sociologist. Intersection of race, class and gender can help predict health related outcomes. According to Henslin (2014) sociologist stress the need to use sociological imagination in understanding how personal troubles are related to changes in society. This sociological perspective makes people aware of how social context influences things such as ideas behaviors and personal troubles. This also introduces the idea of social problems and its characteristics in society which sociologist believe that that it has both objective and subjective condition , are dynamic in nature

The social cognitive theory is the belief that someone behavior, knowledge, and actions, can be directly related to his environment. This theory is predicting that if someone’s best friend, father, or acquaintance smoke and drink, more likely this person will drink and smoke. Coreil, (2010) defines theory as “a set of interrelated concepts, constructs, and propositions that present a systematic view of a domain of study for the purpose of explaining and predicting phenomena” (p.90). With that said, your statement about reducing the number of social gatherings that serve alcoholic beverages or simply stay away from these gatherings, could be a start to recovery.

In Sociology, the theoretical perspectives that exist are ones that deal with how the world is perceived amongst individuals. In this study, sociologist have been able to identify many theories in which the world follows to create a type of ordnance. These could involve whether a certain society is being conducted in a smooth manner or if a society is struggling for order and power within their people. An example of this is to ask the question, how is it that government keep constant communication with its citizens? The theoretical perspective of sociology involve 3 different viewpoints of how a society can function and the relationship between the people within different societies interact with each other.

The Social Conflict approach affects my everyday life through may aspects one being my education. This approach was founded by Karl Marx whom is a German philosopher in the mid-to-late 1900’s. The Social Conflict approach is a framework or building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generate conflict and change (“The Blind Side”, 2017) (Macionis, 2017). When I’m at school I see

Within the study of human sociology, sociologists look through different lenses to view society. These lenses, or sociological paradigms, set a basis for the questions sociologists ask and provide different perspectives sociologists can take when attempting to explain humans and their societies. To display the diversity in which we may critique society, you can compare the two primary ways we approach sociology: social consensus and social conflict. To support my comparison I will outline information gathered in class and information from articles including Karl Marx’s “The Workings of Social Class” and Max Weber’s

There are three main theories of sociology; functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. This paper will focus on two of those theories, functionalism and conflict theory. The objective is to delineate the assumptions of two out of the three theoretical perspectives and apply these assumptions to an analysis of social stratification. How this will be accomplished will be by comparing and contrasting their assumptions and by analyzing the two theories affect on social stratification. Then I will state my opinion on which of the two better fits my personal sociological views. Functionalism is many people's way to view the world sociologically. It states clearly that the

However, from a different perspective Social Conflict Approach, Karl Max defined the Social Conflict Approach as a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and changes. Conflict theory usually emphasizes on negative, conflicted and ever-changing nature of society. Unlike functionalists who defended the status quo, avoid social change and believe people works together to effect social order, conflict theories challenge the status quo, encourage social change and believe rich and powerful people force social order on the weak and poor. Now the problem is how far do social conflict theories relate to the educational system? As illustrated by Marxist theorists Althusser, education socially