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Macro level and micro level in sociology
Guiding principles of structural functionalism Theory
Guiding principles of structural functionalism Theory
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Recommended: Macro level and micro level in sociology
There are 7.3 billion people in the world forming society (U.S. Department of Commerce, N.D.). They all have their own way of living, breathing, and functioning of this earth. The way people are sociologically viewed and studied is a science. There are three main sociological theories when dealing with societies and looking at the people of the world. The three theoretical perspectives in sociology are structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism and conflict theory is the sociological perspective the world is most like. Theoretical perspectives in sociology are categorized in two main types, macro and micro. The one perspective that would be considered micro is symbolic interactionism because it focuses on the smaller …show more content…
Sociologically speaking, this would be considered a conflict theory perspective. In this case, human beings are focusing on maintaining their wealth and power in order to keep their status, even at the risk of others well-being. After traveling to Uganda this past summer, it has become very obvious that this theory best fits the world. People are suffering and the reason is because the world is so corrupt that even the people with enough wealth and power to fix the situation will not because they are so focused of their own status. The groups in power are always in constant competition to stay at the top and they will do what they need to in order to stay on top. Although it is hard to accept, the world is centered on wealth, power, and status despite the cost to maintain it. In the popular social media, wealth and power are one of the main things talked about. For example, 50 Cent raps, “They say this is a big, rich town. I just come from the poorest part, bright lights, city life, I got to make it” (Cent, 2014, para. 1). This song indicates that there is a level of rich and poor and he is competing to get to the top. A current event that is happening in the world would be the presidential elections. The presidential candidates are competing to become the head of the most powerful group in the
In this paper will be talking about the three sociological perspectives as it pertains to the fraternities and sororities in today’s world. I have chosen this topic because it can be easily understood in all three perspectives.
Sociology cannot be clearly explained as there are many different theories and theorists; so far none of them have been defined as a correct answer. Although with all this information of theories and theorists sociology is relatively explained as agreed philosophies that delivers a reason for human society. Sociological theories are like most other theories, they are selective, and there is no quantity of theory to explain everything or define the infinite amount of information that exist or comprehend the methods of observing reality. Sociological theories vary and can be linked to each other according to various criteria. The two main perspectives of sociology are the micro sociological approach and the macro sociological approach. The micro sociological approach is based more on the persons being capable of their own independent thoughts feelings and behaviour; therefor society is built through their interactions amongst each other and the significances they attach to them. This approach is defined using Social Action Theory and Symbolic Interactionism. The Macro Sociological approach is on a much bigger scale and consists of a person being born into a current society which will then shape their behaviour. It centres on the organisations, values and the culture of that particular society and how it impacts an individual and their role in life. This approach is made clearer using Functionalism, Feminist and Conflict Theories.
Sociology is the study of society and the interactions that occur within society itself. There are numerous methods of analyzing societies and the way the function, nonetheless, most methods fall in micro and macro level theories. Micro level theories allow sociologist to study smaller relationships such as individual or compact groups of people. On the other hand, macro level studies permit for larger scale investigations to take place. With both of these theories there are three theoretical perspectives used in sociology. Micro level theories include symbolic interactionism which focuses in interactions done with language and gestures and the means which allow such interactions to take place. Macro level theories include structural functionalism
There are many ways in which an individual is able to view the world and the three sociological perspectives, conflict theory, structural functionalism, and symbolic interactionism, represent some of these ways. These theories are an important part of sociology and help individuals put the world into their own perspectives and then draw conclusions about how society works as a whole. Once a person is able to do this, they are able to make sense of their interactions and the interactions of others, due to the reasons set forth by their sociological perspectives (Claerbaut, 2015, “Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology”).
There are three major theoretical perspectives that make up society: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. However, everyone views the world differently; it is vital to know the different theoretical perspectives in order to understand how society functions as a whole.
While studying sociology, it is necessary to develop a sociological imagination. It is helpful to learn the views and perspectives of sociology in order to better understand how social forces, social institutions, and social structures impact someone’s life. By having a better understanding of how these things contribute to our lives, we also have a better understanding of why certain events occur.
When we think of the principal’s sociological perspective, there are seven perspectives that view our society in different ways. Due to all these perspectives, they can change the way thing work in society to suit their ways. The seven main perspectives that we should know about are:
Sociaologist have alway attacked problems and anylized social issues that occur over long periods of time or short period of times. These ocurences usually show a trend or a pathway rather to how it has led up to a certain point of an issue occurring, or just a trend in the interaction of different groups, ethnicities, race, and culture. These anylizations differ from issue to issue, such as a micro level analysis of small social patterns to a macro level analysis of large social patterns. The foundation of sociology is based on three theoretical perspectives which are, the conflict theory, functionalism, and lastly symbolic interactionism. Being compared and contrasted in this essay will be the conflict theory and symbolic interactionism.
One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people's level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and domina...
1 Most sociologists interpret social life from one of three major theoretical frameworks or theories: symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, or conflict theory. Describe the major points and key concepts of each framework. List at least one sociologist who is identified with each of these three frameworks.
There are three main types of sociological perspectives in which you can perceive different sociological issues and concepts; structural-functional, symbolic-interaction, and social conflict. Structural-functional looks at society as a whole and how it works together. Symbolic-interaction is how different symbols spark particular thoughts and emotions by examining the meanings that people impose on objects, events and behaviors. Social conflict studies how power and coercion affect social order. Based off these types of perspectives, an analysis on teen depression and suicide can be evaluated from a sociological standpoint.
Theories in sociology sometime provide us with the different perspectives with which to view our social...
Sociologists employ three major theoretical perspectives in sociology today. They are the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionism. The structural-functionalist perspective is done at a macro level and its focus is on the relationships between the parts of society. The Conflict perspective is done at a macro level and its main focus is on how the wealthy controls the poor and weak. Symbolic Interactionism is done at a micro and it focuses on the use of symbols and face to face interactions.
To Quote Anthony Giddens: "Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-wide social processes“(1989). Gidden’s statement describes sociology as a study that helps us understand our own behaviour as human beings in a social word. Sociologist study everything from the interaction between people in the street to the interaction between different countries. Sociologists aim to study how societies have changed over, how societies are structured and organized, the norms of society. It’s also important to understand that not all sociologists agree with each other, Sociologists often debate with one another to prove/disprove certain theories and concepts. By studying Sociology is it helps us analyze social conflicts on a micro and macro scope. Through a macro level, we can study large-scale social organization and large social categories it also examinees social processes and patterns society as a whole. We can analyze individuals much deeper on a micro level. This way we study a human by face-to face interactions. Its important as humans to understand the way our society came together and the reasons to how elements work and function together. Sociology gives us a deeper
Sociology is a study of society social life, social change, and social causes and consequences of human behaviour and allows us to gain an understanding of the structure and dynamics of today’s society, looking at the interlinking links patterns of human behaviour. Sociology looks at the in which social structure and institutions affect our everyday life. Sociological imagination was founded by C. Wright mills in the 1950`s it is an overall understanding of that some of the things that happen in society may lead to a particular outcome. Mills said it is “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and wider society.” sociological imagination can also be defined as the ability to look at how sociological situations can unfold due to how everyone is different. The way we behave is shaped by the situation that we find ourselves in, the values and norms that we have and the way that other members of society act around us. It is also a way of thinking about how things in society have led to a particular outcome, and understanding of what led to that specific outcome. Sociological imagination is an ability to look at things socially and how they interact and influence each other gaining an understanding of different cultures and class systems.