Importance Of Sociology As A Field Of Study Essay

Sociology as a empyrean of subscribe to seeks to exempt the relationship a mid(prenominal)dlest an separate and b both club. socio sensible theories argon a tool employ to explain sociological problems and br most otherly structures. (Blumer, 1969) Societies merchantman be viewed as organic structures. This was commencement explained by Parsons and Durkheim as they essential geomorphologic theories. These theories squirt be applied in education i. e. how scholarly persons view education. Societies can a equal be viewed as eco nary(prenominal)ic structures. chthonian this concept, f on the wholes the negate surmise developed by Carl Marx.Marx looked at a subjugate of theories that attempt to explain how bulks lives ar shaped by kind structures. Other theories that sh be a uni phase posture are the functionalist theories. Societies can similarly be looked as social action. This implies that association shapes how pot view themselves. In hound with this per spective, sociologists came up with the paper of symbolic interactionism. in that location are also other minds that go hand in hand with this idea i. e. GH mead. Lastly, 1 moldiness apply tout ensemble the sociological theories stated above and umteen others that piddle non been menti wizd.For representative one can consider Medicalisation of decrees problems. This can be explained by a piece of sociological theories like Marxs theories, interactionist theories and Durkheiman theories. Importance of sociology as a field of study counterpoint opening Sociology assists in explaining social transport. It helps us to insure what the constituent of the individual is in changing alliance. This is break through and throughstrip explained by the Conflict guess. This surmisal does not have only one discern connoted to it although the lay downer of the guess was Karl Marx. thither are various regions in the world where sociologists dilate on this possibility.Some of t hese sociologists are Ralf Dahrendorf Germ any(prenominal) Ludwig Gumpolvicz Germany Lewis Coser and collins USA Max Gluchman and Rex UK (Garfinkel, 1967) The appointment openings main idea is that in that respect exists a constant skin in caller and every entity in ships company is judgeing to make the most of their reimbursement whence bringing most social change. This change can come in casting of revolutions or it may be political. It foc aims on coercion by sort outs and individuals to alter or control others actions. The possible action helps us to attend why ideologies like socialism and capitalism.There is a constant struggle in spite of appearance party for pay seconds. This surmisal can be viewed from two tippytoes. The first angle is a radical one society volition forever in conflict go the second angle is that conflict combines with struggle to make up society. This moderate angle is best explained by the functionalism. The latter mentioned sy stem postulates that every member of society has a specific role to play. Conflict theory can best be perceive as a pyramid. Influential people are at the top and they land their will upon less strengthful people who happen to be the majority.This implies that people in power are taken to be superior and they are the ones responsible for contemporary day laws, institutions and traditions. This theory can be stretched to explain how morality or deflection is outlined. The powerful individuals in society adjudicate deeds or actions as debauched if those actions challenge their influence and power. Conflict theory also attempts to explain stratification in society solely from an individualistic topographic point of view. It looks at individuals needs instead of societys needs as a whole. Every individual tries to struggle for respect, goods and serve as well as power these e all very scarce.In this light at that empowerfore, individuals belong to organisations that arrange their receive interests. The theory views organisations as entities that are in general influenced by external sort of than inside factors. (Goffman, 1958) In the theory, at that place are a number of conflicts that fall under. These include gradation Race and ethnicity Gender Religion Marx cerebrated that variance conflict was ca utilise by differential monomania of belongings. withal, this theory was later challenged by other sociologists who turn overd that there is more to class than property ownership.These sociologists believe that this is only one aspect. racial conflict has its root cause in differential power. fit in to the theory, superior races are those one who are well en open with power, prestige and education. There are quartette basic assumptions in this theory. The first is that there is inequality in societys structures, secondly there is revolution as a result of struggle between a numbers of social classes, third there is competition for resour ces and lastly contend exists to unify or divide society.Conflict can take the form of a strike where workers struggle to gain back control after it has been taken from them by their employers. Another form of a conflict could be through wars. Wars usually represent clashes between social classes. Taking the sideslip of military coups, this is an example of a conflict between the main population and the military. (Durkheim, 1915) Ethno ruleology Ethnomethodology is the study of how people interpret their social world. This theory has its history back in the mid twentieth century and was founded by Garfinkel who was an American sociologist.The theory is weakene different form other well known theories. This theory is founded on the fact that there is no tack together in society society is chaotic or has the potential to be chaotic. According to the theory, any semblance of fix up is created by the minds of actors indoors society it just now does not exist. This is in sharp t une to other well known theories. complaisant do may be defined as the systematic pattern of demeanor deep down society. It opposes the fact that actions are not thought out and are apparently haphazard. Ethnomethodologists believe that individuals encounter several experiences in their lives.These individuals try to make sense of these encounters by placing them into a form of organised system. They believe in a documentary method. Here, individuals alone pick out indis endow competent rasets within a social situation and try to make sense of them. After they have organised those events into a pattern, then they use that pattern as a template to explain other situations that may arise. Garnfinkel used an experiment to demonstrate this theory. He got a number of students and instructed them to ask a executive program about a number of issues on their mind. The students could not see the consultant moreover could talk to him.They asked him a number of questions and this consultant could only say yes or no. What the students did not know was the advisor was study out a list of responses that did not match their questions in any way. It was found that most of the responses did not make logical sense but most of the students tried to interpret them nonetheless. They did not question the integrity of the advisor but they tried to equation past responses with present ones in order to come up with an orderly pattern. For example one of the students thought that he should quit school and asked the advisor this.The advisor told him no and out of disbelief the student repeated this same question after which the advisor said yes. It was found that this particular student did not dismiss the advisor but tried to make sense of the situation. According to the theory, the students were trying to form sense out of senselessness. They were trying to turn chaos into order. Garfinkel introduces the idea of indexicality. This means that human beings have a tendenc y to index things that occur to them i. e. they forever and a day try to put things within a certain social context.They must look up it to other things that have occurred to them before or during a particular scene. For example, the interaction that took place between the students and the advisor followed a certain path because the students held the advisor in last esteem. This implies that if the student could see what was happening with the advisor behind the screen that had covered him, or if their classmates asked answered their questions, then their replyions would have been totally different. This is because the students would exactly have formed some other(prenominal) documentary. community who adhere to this theory believe that all human beings have preconceived notions about their daily lives. This means that if a explosive change was brought into someones life their reactions are quite different. This is justified by the fact that it would be very chaotic if we lo oked at things differently at all times. We must become familiar with some aspects of our lives so as to be able to Symbolic interactionism This theory has its history in the late nineteenth century. It was pioneered by a sociologist from Germany called Marx Weber.The theory is best known for its subjectiveness rather than its objectivity. Interactionists focus on individuals rather than on society as a whole. They perceive human beings as creatures whose behaviours are reactive or subject to the sycophancy of others. This is because all actions, according to them, are like symbolic actions which are interpreted differently according to ones perspective. This theory also looks at human beings as symbolic objects who can think and react to situations. This means that individuals within a society are active participants of their society.They determine what happens to them. Sociologists adhering to this theory believe that we are not static entities who must mould themselves to soci etys rules and standards. This theory focuses on external issues and unbiased interactions. It cannot be used to interpret deeper social settings like capitalism. It is also quite important to note that this theory perceives societys norms as transient and constantly changing. perceptual constancy and order in society is contumacious by negotiations. The systems themselves are not unchangeable but the means by which these systems in society are created is stable. (Merton, 1968)The theory thereof points one on the direction of roles contend by people in society. The theory places importance in role make and role taking. This means that individuals must put themselves in a certain perspective in order to understand another persons point of view. Studies on interactionism are therefore done through active role taking. This is because they believe that one must interact thoroughly with another party in order to understand the reason why they made their decision. However critics have claimed that the theory is too press and cannot be applied to macro situations.It has also been criticised for its impressionism during research methods. (George, 1964) Functionalism The theory was pioneered by a French sociologist called Emile Durkheim back in the mid to late nineteenth century. This theory compares the individual with his/her society and also scientific method of analysing society. This implies that one can be able to study the social world exploitation observation and analysis. It also assumes that studies of society can be done freely and without any bias. Another crucial aspect of the theory is the organic aspect of society.It compares society to an organism. That there are various parts of the consistency that each has their own function. This is analogous to society and its members. It is also important to note the homeostatic nature of interactions. This theory looks at society as a system that must remain in equilibrium. Any warp from this is corre cted by a number of mechanisms like gossip or even imprisonment depending on the scenario. Conclusion Interactionists believe that social order is continuously remade as people interact. Social order is not static and changes with time.Functionalists believe that order within society exists as a result of an agreement between members of society. That is collective behavioral patterns that are regarded as the norm in society. Again, the theory strongly affirms that social order does exist. Marxists believe that social order is created from a struggle to gain control of trammel resources while ethnomethodologists mould situations to fit into a certain behavioural pattern. All these theories attempt to explain why human beings perform the way the do either as individuals or as a group on a macro scale. This is the mettle of sociology.