THEORETİCAL

PERSPECTİVES
 A theory is a statement that organizes a set of concepts in a meaningful way by explaining the
relationship among them.
 Most sociologists are guided in their work by a major theoretical perspective (or paradigm)
– a broad assumption about society and social behavior that provides a point of view for the
study of specific problems.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
(PARADIGMS)
The Functionalist Perspective (E. Durkheim, H. Spenser)
sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals
who make up that society.

The Conflict Perspective (K. Marx)

looks at society as a competition for limited resources.

The Interactionist Perspective (M. Weber)

provides a theoretical perspective that helps scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society.
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits
and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages
William Shakespeare
SYMBOLİC İNTERACTİONİSM
Blumer coined the term “symbolic interactionism” and identified its three basic premises:
1. Humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things.
2. The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has
with others and the society.
3. These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person
in dealing with the things he/she encounters (Blumer 1969).
SUMMARY (OF THE PERSPECTİVES)

 There are three major theoretical perspectives in modern sociology. The functionalist
perspective focuses primarily on processes of order and stability; the conflict perspective, on
the processes of competition and change; the interactionist perspective, on processes of
everyday social behavior. These three perspectives are not necessary incompatible.
DEPENDENT AND
INDEPENDENT VARİABLES
 The independent variables are the causeof the change.

 The dependent variable is the effect, or thing that is changed.

 How does gender (the independent variable) affect rate of income (the dependent variable)?

 How does one’s religion (the independent variable) affect family size (the dependent variable)?

 How is social class (the dependent variable) affected by level of education (the independent variable)?
 METHODS OF RESEARCH
 Field study (sometimes called participant observation) means direct observation of social
behavior at the scene of the action.
 Advantages:

1. Field work is the only way to study people in their natural environment.
2. Field study gives the researcher more flexibility than other methods.
 Disadvantages:

1. The fieldworker can get to know only a small number of people, who may not be typical.
2. The fieldworker may become over-involved with the subjects and become more a friend than an
impartial investigator.
3. Simply by being there, fieldworkers may alter the way people act
 THE SURVEY METHOD USUALLY APPLİES STANDARDİZED
QUESTİONNAİRES.

Sample – a limited subset of the population being studied. Usually a sample is designed to be
as representative as possible.
1. The chief advantage of surveys lies in numbers.
2. The impersonality of an anonymous mailed survey may encourage people to give information
about sensitive topics they might not tell a fieldworker whom they knew personally.
Standardization is also the chief weakness of surveys. Because the questions have to be simple,
the results may seem superficial.
 AN EXPERİMENT CAN BE DEFİNED AS AN ATTEMPT TO TEST A
HYPOTHESİS UNDER HİGHLY CONTROLLED CONDİTİONS
ESTABLİSHED BY AN İNVESTİGATOR.

 Advantage and disadvantage of an experiment are in its controlled conditions

ETHNOGRAPHY

Ethnography is the extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire
social setting. Ethnographies involve objective observation of an entire community.
 Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture. Getting a Living, Making a Home, Training the
Young, Using Leisure, Engaging in Religious Practices, and Engaging in Community Activities.
ETHİCS OF RESEARCH
 Inform subjects about responsibility before the research
 Insure safety
 Preserve confidentiality and anonymity
 Voluntary participation
 Respect of the subjects’ privacy
 Value neutrality M. Weber