a level sociology homework help

a level sociology homework help

Exploring Key Sociological Concepts and Theories

1. Introduction to Sociology

In the last section of this chapter, we conclude by discussing briefly some of the historical origins and research methods of this discipline.

The remainder of this chapter provides a much broader discussion of descriptions of a wide variety of social life. We cover a number of sociological theories that describe critical underlying patterns and processes of societal life. The task of promoting one or more answers to this question is the domain of any sociological theory.

To formulate an answer to the classic sociological question requires not only that such a formulation be accompanied with descriptions of the social phenomena which are said to be in some way increasingly modern, but also that such descriptions are complemented with a discussion of the underlying processes and patterns by which such phenomena change over time.

In the first section of this chapter, we discuss a set of concepts that are deeply embedded in all sociological theories, especially in any discussion regarding the concept of society. The classic sociological question regarding any of the concepts that we address here can be formulated as: In what way is social life increasingly modern?

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an introduction to the discipline of sociology, particularly the concepts and theories most prominent within the discipline. Because of the large number of key sociological concepts that exist across a wide variety of sociological theories, some of the concepts we discuss in this chapter will only be mentioned briefly in later chapters. Throughout this chapter, and indeed, throughout this book, we discuss a number of sociological theories.

2. Major Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology

In contrast to the passion of the three earliest theorists who sought to destroy the existing society, these theories often advocate reforming the existing society by strengthening or weakening the existing social structure. Durkheim is one of the founders of sociology. The basic premise of this theory is that knowledge of individuals and groups in society can increase the social integration of society and fulfill the ultimate values of society. Social structure only has external coercive power, and it is constructed based on the preferential constraints of people’s wills. The wills in a society can generate social rules or moral systems to guide moral behavior. Durkheim’s viewpoint points out that discipline is regulated by self-awareness.

The three main theories in sociology – Comte’s issue, Durkheim’s social integration theory, and Spencer’s evolutionary theory – all attempt to describe the transformation of human society from a pre-technological society to a new technology-based society. In studying the subjective relationships between science, technology, and human society, sociologists perceive science and technology as entities in specific institutional organizational structures. Weberian’s capitalist corporatism theory, Giddens’s risk society theory, Beck’s structuration theory, and Callon’s “actor-network theory” partially address the limitations of the three major theories and can provide a different perspective on the population-based transformation of human society.

3. Key Sociological Concepts and Terms

By the strictest definition, sociology is the scientific study of human group life. Because human social life spans almost the entire spectrum of human behavior and social organization, from the analysis of face-to-face group dynamics to the investigation of large social bureaucracies, the field of sociology is at once the most eclectic, one of the most specialized, and one of the most general of the social sciences. No sociologists, including those who work in the neat niches of solid, empirical research, are exempt from the quest for breadth. But sociologists who study the path of social science embrace both the general and the specialized; the reciprocal relationship among these two broad loci of sociological inquiry is very real.

When they read sociology, some students find the volume of terminology daunting. In their efforts to master concepts and terms and to apply them to the social world, they may become head-spinningly analytical and psychically removed from their object of study. Such careful and technical work is quite necessary for good sociological work, but gentle reminders of the sociological imagination are also necessary. We are engaged in establishing our compasses, exploring the range of our intellectual tools, and locating the origins and diversity of thought.

4. Application of Sociological Theories in Real-World Contexts

While people may possess a level of common sense about social institutions and events, it is sociologists who attempt to bring clarity, understanding, and a new dimension to our knowledge about society and its daily workings. In doing so, students of sociology can also equip themselves to play an important part in political and social institutions. Indeed, many people who are working in these sectors have a given background in the social sciences as their academic foundation.

As has been noted in Chapter One, sociologists use either micro or macro theories to examine everyday life. This might be sufficient in a purely academic exercise, but it is not enough to explain some of the complex relationships, particularly those that affect social policy. In this chapter, we will further explore key concepts and theories helpful in analyzing social situations through an exploration and discussion of how certain theories are applied in real-world contexts.

5. Conclusion and Future Directions in Sociological Research

We are not particularly concerned with the unification of sociological theory, for we believe that various theories will continue to arise from various methodological or epistemological orientations. The range of relevant propositions appears already to require the use of theories from sociobiology and population ecology, as well as from sociology. The nature of reality opens them to many diverse perspectives. Social reality is too many-splendored a thing to be adequately recognized from only one of the windows – that, we hope, is our lesson to be learned. The neutral work of social science does not provide a constant light for the observer to be employed in the clarification of social life but offers instead a multitude of lights, which through their intersection illuminate social processes. The success of sociological research will likely turn on the social scientist’s skill in keeping his diverse metaphors and concepts in clear cognitive registration on the richly nuanced and inclusive empirical domains embedded in these multiple levels of analysis.

Social research on modern societies shares several key concerns. Whereas earlier sociological research showed a particular interest in the problem of order and stability in the face of social change, recent research has turned more to the dynamics of social organization and disorganization. In advanced societies, societies with highly complex technological systems, mass rapid transportation, elaborate communication networks, and aggressive social planning in all realms, there have emerged new problems involving uncertainties, imponderables, and dilemmas of choice in every component of life with which members of the society are nowadays much concerned. Although we have focused on several significant themes in recent social research, we are conscious of the many other themes that command immediate attention.