Sociological Theories and Research Methods SSU 3207

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Sociological Theoriesand Research MethodsSSU
3207

• Harini Amarasuriya
• Email tantalus_at_sltnet.lk

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Objectives of Presentation

• To offer a guide to reading and understanding the
  course material
• To outline key concepts in sociological theory
• To promote an interest in critical thinking with
  regard to theoretical perspectives

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Why study society?

• Curiosity about how humans organise themselves
  and their lives
• An attempt to understand key issues around us
• An attempt to see if we can intervene
  meaningfully in the critical issues of our times
• Human beings can be the most difficult and yet
  most interesting subjects of study for those with
  a curiosity about life and our fellow beings!
• Caution If you really get into this area of
  study, your perspectives and approach to life
  will change fundamentally

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What is a sociological outlook?

• Sociology offers a way of looking at the world in
  a broad way asks why we are the way that we are,
  why we act as we do.
• It teaches us to question what we take for
  granted as truth natural or good and to
  regard such things as influenced by historical
  and social forces
• The sociological imagination makes us look at
  the familiar in different ways
• We look at social contexts and social structures
  that help us to understand the ways in which
  social forces influence us but also how our
  actions shape social forces

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What is a theoretical perspective?

• In sociology, theories help us to explain social
  phenomenon
• Theories contain certain things such as
• Hypotheses-a proposition to test a generalisation
  about a phenomenon
• A certain logic
• Empirical facts- that is facts that are derived
  from systematic observation or experience

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Is a science of society possible?

• What we have is a range of abstract, general
  approaches, competing and complementary schools
  of thought, intellectual paradigms, and
  conceptual schemes. The different approaches
  sometimes emphasise different aspects of social
  reality or phenomenon or sometimes can even
  offer competing approaches. We generally
  distinguish between different approaches in
  relation to
• Issues of epistemology
• Issues of ontology
• Issues of methodology

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Epistemology, ontology and methodology

• Epistemology the branch of philosophy concerned
  with the theory (or theories) of knowledge or in
  other words seeks to inform us about the ways in
  which to know the world
• Ontology the branch of philosophy which tells us
  what can be studied-establishes what kinds of
  things exist.
• Methodology the investigative techniques within
  a theoretical approach

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Examples of different approaches
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Theoretical Divisions within Sociology

• Functionalism

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Auguste Comte

• French social thinker credited with coining the
  term sociology
• Believed and worked towards establishing a
  science of society based on the principles and
  techniques of the natural sciences thus
  sociology would discover the laws of the social
  world that explain its functioning
• Goal was to establish a social science that would
  form the basis of understanding society and also
  bringing about radical reform to shape our
  destiny and improve human welfare
• He was a positivist

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Influential concepts

• Saw society as progressing through 3 stages
• Theological society an expression of Gods will
• Metaphysical Society seen as natural not
  supernatural
• Positive (his own) application of scientific
  techniques to the social world
• Was concerned with a question of social order,
  especially in relation to the inequalities
  created by industrialisation
• Viewed society as an organism made up of
  different parts each with its own function in
  relation to each other- hence his influence on
  functionalism
• Wanted to establish a religion of humanity
  where sociology would be the heart of this new
  religion.

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Herbert Spencer

• Very much influenced by his commitment to
  economic individualism and the free market
• Had an early interest in geology and then drawn
  to evolutionary theories
• The popular phrase survival of the fittest was
  actually coined by Spencer, not Darwin as it is
  widely believed!
• Uncritical assumption that biological science
  could provide the appropriate concepts for
  studying social phenomenon

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Influential ideas

• Social Darwinism
• Evolutionary principle a law of universal
  applicability
• Social systems move towards increasing
  differentiation and integration of structures
• They move from a state where their constituent
  parts were homogenous and loosely cohering to one
  where they were increasingly heterogeneous and
  integrated
• Influenced the structural functionalism approach
  especially of Talcott Parsons

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Vilfredo Pareto

• An Engineer who turned to Sociology in his later
  years
• Attempted to apply the principles of mechanical
  systems in equilibrium to social systems, an
  approach which influenced Parsons.
• Best known for his work on political elites
  although he first gained recognition as an
  economist for his work on the distribution of
  income (Pareto optimality)
• Major focus of his sociological analysis was on
  social differentiation as an enduring feature of
  social and political life
• His later work reflects his disillusionment with
  liberal as well as Marxian conceptions. His
  ideas influenced Fascism and Mussolini in
  particular used Pareto to give intellectual
  credence to his regime, although Pareto himself
  was critical of the more extreme Fascist
  practices.

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Basic Principles in Paretos social theory

• People are irrational and act on the basis of non
  logical sentiments (residues)
• The content and form (ideology) that justifies
  human acts are known as derivations
• Residues are rooted in the basic aspirations and
  drives of people
• Pareto identified 6 classes of residues of which
  Class 1 and Class 2 are the most important

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Pareto contd

• Class 1- innovative (Foxes)
• Class 2- conservative (Lions)
• Equilibrium is reached in a society when there
  are equal numbers of foxes and lions within the
  governing elite if it gets too lopsided (i.e.
  there are too many of one type) one elite will be
  replaced by another (circulation of elites)
• Thus according to Pareto, social organisations
  including states are always governed by a ruling
  elite
• This is a cyclical process that is inevitable

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Durkheim

• Along with Marx and Weber, Durkheim forms the
  triumvirate of major sociologists who most
  influenced the establishment and shape of the
  discipline
• Also, like other great thinkers of his time,
  Durkheims work was characterised by a sense that
  European society was in a state of crisis and the
  need to explain this state of crisis or the
  profound changes in society at the time

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Science vs. Religion

• One of the fundamental questions of the time was
  to do with the relationship between science and
  religion
• During this era, Science was seen as the model
  for precise thinking or even the only model for
  valid thinking
• Durkheim too believed in the validity and
  possibilities of Science and believed himself to
  be a Scientist
• The question that also confronted him and others
  like him was their belief that societies can only
  maintain their coherence and stability through
  common beliefs-which was traditionally provided
  by religion
• However, traditional religion was being
  challenged by Scientific ideas
• Durkheim believed that the crisis of modern
  society had been created by the non replacement
  of traditional moralities based on religion
• He believed in a morality that could be based on
  Science and that Sociology could help establish
  such a morality

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The Division of Labour in Society

• The major theme of Durkheims work is an attempt
  to understand the link between the individual and
  the collective
• How can a multiplicity of individuals make up a
  society?
• How can individuals achieve (what he believed was
  a condition of social existence), consensus?

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Mechanical solidarity

• A solidarity of resemblance
• Individuals differ from each other as little as
  possible
• Members are bound together by common experiences
  and shared beliefs
• They feel the same emotions, cherish the same
  values and hold the same things sacred a common
  collective conscience
• Little room for dissent those challenging
  conventional thinking will be swiftly punished

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Organic Solidarity

• Consensus is expressed by differentiation
• Specialisation of tasks and increasing social
  differentiation as a result of industrialisation
  and urbanisation
• Individuals are not the same
• Durkheim called this type of solidarity organic
  because he used the analogy of a living organism
  the parts of a living organism do not resemble
  each other they each perform a different
  function but it is precisely because they each
  perform a different function that they are
  indispensable to each other
• Society is held together through economic
  interdependence and a recognition of others
  contributions
• However, rapid and intense processes of change in
  the modern world give rise to social
  difficulties-anomie a feeling of aimlessness or
  despair

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Types of Social Organisation

• The two forms of solidarity represent two types
  of social organisation
• Mechanical solidarity primitive or segmental
  societies
• Individual members are interchangeable
• Each segment (e.g. tribe) is locally situated,
  relatively isolated from each other and leads its
  own life
• It is self sufficient
• Organic solidarity-modern society
• Members are more individualised and not
  interchangeable

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Collective conscience

• The body of beliefs and sentiments common to the
  average of the members of a society
• Is separable from individual consciousness
• In societies where mechanical solidarity
  predominates collective conscience is a strong
  force
• The experience of the collective conscience is
  intense as well as precise in societies with
  mechanical solidarity

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Cont

• In contrast, in societies with organic
  solidarity, individuals are free to believe,
  desire, and to act according to his/her own
  preferences
• In such societies the sphere of influence of the
  collective conscience is reduced and there is a
  greater margin for the individual interpretation
  of social norms and values

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Punishment

• Durkheim identifies two types of law each of
  which is characteristic of one of the types of
  solidarity
• Repressive law- punishes misdeeds or crimes
• Restitutive law- restores things to an order when
  a crime has been committed
• The purpose of punishment is to satisfy the
  collective conscience and to maintain an ordered
  coexistence among individuals who are
  differentiated

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Primacy of society over the individual

• Social facts are things social life could be
  analysed as rigorously as objects and events in
  nature
• Social facts are ways of thinking, acting or
  feeling which are external to the individual
• Social facts exercise a coercive power over
  individuals
• Individual is born of society not society of the
  individual
• Irreducibility of the social entity to the sum of
  its elements
• Two essential ideas
• Collectivist societies come first in time
• Individual phenomena can only be explained by the
  state of the collectivity and not the state of
  the collectivity by the individual

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Social phenomena can only be explained by other
social phenomena

• Division of labour being a social phenomenon can
  only be explained by another social phenomenon
• Material and moral density of society
• Volume number
• Moral density intensity of communication
  between individuals
• Social differentiation is the peaceful solution
  to the struggle for survival
• Individual is the expression of the collectivity
  itself

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The Anthropological Tradition

• Anthropology studies the structures and cultures
  produced by humans
• Traditionally the difference between sociology
  and anthropology was in terms of emphasis and
  methodology
• Emphasis-
• Sociologists study their own societies and
  anthropologists study the other.
• Methodology-
• Ethnography and participant observation
• Thick description

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Radcliffe Brown

• Part of the tradition of anthropologists studying
  exotic locations. In his case, field sites
  were the Andaman Islands and Australia
• Credited with founding the British tradition of
  social anthropology in the structural
  functionalist tradition
• Major contribution to the study of kinship
  systems- and the function of kinship systems in
  ascribing normative behaviour to various
  relationships

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Malinowski

• Most influential in setting the ideal of field
  work and the methodology of ethnography long
  term immersion in the community being studied,
  fluent knowledge of local language and
  participating in everyday culture and practices
• His own fieldwork was in New Guinea and the
  Trobriand Islands
• Famous Work Argonauts of the Western Pacific,
  describing in great empirical detail the
  intricate trading system of the Trobriands,
  including the kula system and its function in
  maintaining stability among the communities

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Structural Functionalism
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Basic principles and approach

• Society is a complex system whose various parts
  work together to produce stability and solidarity
• Functionalist perspectives study the relationship
  of the different parts of society to each other
  and to society as a whole
• Functionalists use an organic analogy to compare
  the operation of society to that of a living
  organism
• Emphasises the importance of moral consensus in
  maintaining order and stability
• Moral consensus exists when there are common
  values
• Functionalists consider social equilibrium to be
  the normal state of society minimising factors
  such as class, gender, and ethnicity which create
  divisions or inequalities in society

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Talcott Parsons

• Leading American sociologist of the 20th century
  and leading exponent of structural functionalism
• Structural functionalism conceptualises societies
  as social systems. Social structures are
  explained in terms of their contribution to the
  maintenance of these systems.
• Eg Religious rituals perform the function of
  ensuring social integration
• Worked towards formulating a single, coherent,
  analytical theory of social action
• Was concerned with the problem of social order
  and the maintenance of social stability
• Considered the United States the lead society
  which occupied the pinnacle of evolutionary
  societies
• Interestingly, (and rather tellingly) completely
  ignored the work of Marx

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Main characteristics of Parsons theory

• Social action is voluntaristic-not automatic
  response to external stimuli or due to coercion
  or self interest
• Actors are individuals
• They are goal seeking
• Also possess alternative means to achieve goals
• Actors are faced with different situational
  conditions that influence the selection of goals
  and means
• People act on the basis of their values which are
  shaped by the norms around them-thus integration
  and social order is maintained.
• Peoples actions (means to achieve goals) are
  therefore based on subjective decisions that are
  constrained by situational conditions

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Social System

• Presented a social order which presents societies
  as internally interrelated and self sustaining
  social systems
• Personality system
• Social system
• Cultural system

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The Social System

• There are provisions (functional pre requisites)
  that all societies are required to make in order
  for any society to come into existence and
  survive
• Adaptation
• Securing sufficient resources from the
  environment and distributing throughout the
  system (the economy)
• Goal attainment
• Establishing and attaining system goals (the
  polity of the government)
• Integration
• Coordinating and maintaining inter relationships
  among system units (communities, associations,
  organisations)
• Latency
• Pattern maintenance-maintaining commitment to
  values (family, household, school)

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Neo evolutionary model of social development

• Functionalist account of social change
• Stages of social development are characterised by
• Degree of structural differentiation achieved
• Adaptive capacity-evolution into more adaptive
  systems
• Inclusion-inclusion of elements previously
  excluded
• Value generalisation-increasing the legitimation
  of more complex systems

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Robert Merton

• Tried to bridge the gap between Parsons abstract
  theory and empirical survey work
• Mertons alternative to abstract theory middle
  range theories- theories that are close to
  observed data and are empirically tested

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Mertons critique of Functionalism

• Merton critiqued 3 postulates within
  functionalism
• The idea of functional unity, which argues that
  social institutions work together in order to
  promote social integration
• The idea of functional universality that posits
  that all social and cultural practices and
  institutions have positive functions
• The idea of indispensability where each custom,
  belief fulfils a vital function

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Alternative functional analysis proposed by Merton

• Description of the social or cultural item
• Understanding the meaning and significance of the
  social or cultural item to the group
• Understanding different motives for conformity or
  deviance
• Understanding the unintended consequences or
  latent functions of social and cultural items

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Manifest and latent functions

• Manifest functions functions of a social system
  which are intended or overtly recognised by the
  participants
• Latent functions functions which are hidden and
  remain unacknowledged by participants
• Eg Funeral rites

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Deviance

• Deviance is a result of the mismatch between
  cultural goals and institutional norms in a
  society
• Eg Sri Lankan cultural goal of hospitality vs
  institutional norms/means of modern economics

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Mertons deviance typology
Rebellion
Cultural goals
conformity
Innovation
Retreatism
Ritualism
Institutional means
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Conflict Theory
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Basic principles and approaches

• Like functionalists this perspective too
  emphasises the importance of structures within
  society and propose models to explain how
  society functions
• Unlike functionalisms emphasis on consensus, the
  emphasis here is on divisions in society
• Thus, they highlight issues of power, inequality
  and struggle
• Society is viewed as consisting of different
  interest groups each pursuing their own interests
• Thus, potential for conflict always exists and
  some groups benefit more than others
• Conflict theorists explore the tensions between
  different groups and seek to understand how
  relationships of control are established and
  perpetuated

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Karl Marx

• Along with Durkheim and Weber, Marx had a
  profound influence on the development of
  sociology
• Marx believed that society should be studied in
  order to change it
• The philosophers have only interpreted the
  world the point is to change it

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Overview of Marxian theory

• Marx attempted to
• Understand and explain human condition,
  especially in capitalist societies
• To describe the working of capitalist society and
  its impact on human relations
• To provide a theory of historical change (known
  as historical materialism) of which capitalism
  was one phase

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Fundamental ideas

• The economy is a primary influence in the
  formation and development of social structures
  and ideas. In other words, material life
  determines social life and human consciousness
• Base structure-economic relations
• Super structure-political and legal institutions.
  These are substantially determined by economic
  relations or the base structure
• Human development is dialectical- it develops
  through a process of contradictions and
  resolutions.
• The human condition in industrial capitalist
  societies is characterised by alienation. Human
  beings are estranged from their world, work,
  products, fellow creatures and themselves as a
  result of capitalist modes of production

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Basic Concepts of Marx
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The Labour Theory of Value

• Provides an analysis of capitalist profit as the
  extraction of surplus value from the exploitation
  of the proletariat (worker)
• Commodities
• Commodities are necessary to satisfy human needs
• Commodities are external objects produced for
  exchange in the market
• Two conditions are necessary for commodity
  production
• Market
• Social division of labour-different people need
  to produce different goods for exchange

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• There are two types of values for commodities
• Consumption value (also known as use value)
• Exchange value, which is calculated on the basis
  of labour time required to produce it
• Thus, the value of a commodity is determined by
  the quantity of socially necessary labour time
  required to produce it

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Surplus Value

• Under capitalist modes of production, commodities
  are not merely exchanged but capital is advanced
  in the form of money with the purpose of
  generating profit by purchasing commodities and
  transforming them into other commodities which
  can be sold for a higher price, thus yielding a
  profit

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• There are two types of capital
• Constant capital-raw material, buildings etc
• Variable capital- labour power
• Surplus value (profit) is created by variable
  capital
• The value of labour power is calculated on the
  basis of the value of commodities needed to keep
  a worker alive for a day
• This is necessary labour-labour that is needed to
  produce the value of commodities necessary for
  him or her to keep alive for a day-and this is
  what he or she gets paid
• Surplus value is the labour power which is over
  and above the necessary labour
• This is the source of profit for capitalists
  exploitation of labour

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Historical materialism

• Ideas and values are not the source of social
  change but economic influences
• Humans are essentially productive and must
  therefore produce their means of subsistence in
  order to satisfy their material needs
• This requires certain forms of society and means
  of production, modes of cooperation
• Types of modes of production
• Primitive communist
• Slavery
• Feudalism
• Capitalism
• Classless society

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• Each mode of production gives rise to particular
  forms of relations between different classes
• New modes of production produce new social groups
  with new forms of relations
• Change occurs when existing relations of
  production strangle new developments provoking
  the class associated with the new development to
  overthrow old system and replace with a new one
• Social class conflict leads to transformation of
  existing relations of productions and the
  creation of new modes of production and relations
  of production
• Believed in the inevitability of the workers
  revolution which would usher in a society where
  the economic system would come under communal
  ownership and a more humane society would be
  established

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Class conflict

• Human consciousness is developed as a result of
  material consciousness
• Marxs idea of class refer to those who share a
  common interest because they share a common
  relationship to the means of production
• Each mode of production creates its own relations
  of production which is maintained by a dominant
  class
• Thus capitalist societies have those who own the
  capital (capitalists) who form the ruling class
  and wage workers or working class who provide
  wage labour to the capitalist class
• Dominant classes (those who own and control the
  means of production and those who appropriate
  surplus) obstruct the development of the
  consciousness of the subordinate classes
• Dominant classes control ideology (religion, art,
  moral and philosophical beliefs) and create false
  consciousness among the subordinate classes
• However, increased alienation leads to class
  consciousness and the eventual overthrowing of
  the dominant class through revolution and the
  creation of new modes of production

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Dialectical Conflict Perspective

• Ralf Dahrendorf

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Main concepts

• Argues for the need to study areas of society
  marked by conflict and division
• Unlike Marx however, Dahrendorf argues that
  conflict of interests exists between different
  groups in society with differential levels of
  authority and power rather than economic
  interests
• Thus, argued that there were other social groups
  (not only the proletariat and the capitalist)
  such as managers etc

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Authority and Power

• Authority is associated with social position or
  roles
• Eg Teacher
• Power comes from the personality of the
  individual
• Eg Preacher

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Imperatively Coordinated Associations

• Organisations organised around authority
  relations
• There are many such associations in society
  school, cricket team, the army
• In each ICA there are those who exercise
  authority and those who are subordinated by
  authority
• An individual may have positions in multiple ICAs
  and have multiple roles with different levels of
  authority
• Eg The cricket captain may also be a member of
  the school Parent Teacher Association
• There are groups within the organisations who may
  have similar interests
• Quasi groups those who share interests because
  of their position in relation to authority (in a
  university academic staff, support staff,
  students)
• Interest groups groups with an organisation,
  goal and programme teachers union, students
  union
• Conflict occurs through the struggle that takes
  place between the different interest groups