SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

MEANING

The social world consists of the behaviours, interactions, and patterns of social organization among human beings. Sociological theory tends to focus on interaction and organization more than behaviour as such, but interactions are interpersonal behaviours, and patterns of social organization are ultimately built from interactions among individuals. Sociological theory is a set of assumptions, assertions, and propositions, organized in the form of an explanation or interpretation, of the nature, form, or content of social action. Social Action, according to Max Weber, is an action that takes others into account. Sociological theory is defined as a set of interrelated ideas that allow for the systematisation of knowledge of the social world. This knowledge is then used to explain the social world and make predictions about the future of the social world.

Abraham Kaplan ”Theory is a way to think about a disturbing situation which allow us to change or modify our habits or replacing by new ones as the social situation demands”.

Merton ”Sociological theory refers to those statements which are logically interconnected and from which empirical uniformities can be drawn”.

Humans ”Theory is a set of concepts is which descriptive concepts states that what is the theory about and operative concepts shows the properties of theory nature. It means that theory is a set of propositions (statements) which form a deductive system”.

Thomas Ward, he has a comprehensive definition, “A theory is a logical deductive and inductive system of concepts and statements which gives a relationship between two or more variables and from which testable hypothesis can be drawn”.

NATURE OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Theories are thoughts and ideas used to explain particular Social phenomenon or situations in society. It is a set of systematically related propositions aimed at explaining a particular situation. They are thoughts, ideas, or conceptual schemes used to solve societal problems. A theory is good and useful when it is able to solve problems successfully.

  1. Sociological theories attempt to explain and investigate problems, issues or events within the context of observable social phenomenon, they attempt to offer a scientific and theoretical explanation which on the basis of the past have immediate applicability and are also capable of application to similar problems in the future. All theories attempt more than anything also the question “Why”.

  2. All contemporary sociological theories are selective in their analysis of social phenomenon. No one theory con interest or explain a total social phenomenon (such as the Grand Theory by TALCOTT PARSONS and middle range theories by ROBERT K. MERTON) for example, DEMOGRAPHISM as a sociological perspective is concerned with man’s various responses caused by the increase in population. Then TECHNOLOG1SM emphasizes the effect of technology on man and social organization, while ECOLOGISM emphasizes the influence of the non-human environment on human behaviour.

  3. Contemporary sociological theories must be empirically grounded. They are not merely thoughts or speculations. They are not “armed chair theories” but are based on observable facts that can be subjected to scientific observation and analysis. They are thoughts backed by verified facts or knowledge.

  4. Sociological theories tend to state scientific and observable relationships between variables usually between the dependent and independent variables.

  5. All sociological theories attempt to solve the problem of order in society.

  6. All contemporary sociological theories deal with the social phenomenon that is either imposed or generated by the individuals and these imposed or generated phenomena must either be subjective or objective.

Finally, any sociological theory that does not fall into this set of categories is not qualified to be called a sociological theory.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THEORY

A theory is a proposed relationship between two or more concepts. In other words, a theory is explanation for why a phenomenon occurs. Without theories to explain the relationship between concepts, we would not be able to understand cause and effect relationships in social life. The major characteristics of the theory are given below.  

  1. Time boundedness:

Scientific theories always seek to transcend the particular and the time-bound. Scientific theories are therefore about the generic, the fundamental, the timeless, and the universal.  

  1. Objectivity: 

Another characteristic of scientific theories is that they are stated more formally than ordinary language. The theory is stated in neutral, objective, and unambiguous terms so that the theory means the same thing to all who examine it.  

  1. Reliability and Verifiability: 

A final characteristic of scientific theories is that they are designed to be systematically tested with replicable methods against the facts of particular empirical settings.

SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

Sociology is the study of society as a whole, certain elements of society, such as the family unit and religion, and the evolution of social structures. Sociologists collect various data, such as demographic statistics or personal observations, and determine general explanations of social phenomena. These explanations are called sociological theories and are highly important both in social studies and in everyday life.

  1. Understanding Society: 

Just like chemistry tests information about the composition of chemical elements and physics explains how magnets work, sociological theories have a distinct contribution to human knowledge. Sociologists focus on how a society is structured, how each and every individual works as part of the whole, how society has changed over the years and predictions of future changes. In other words, sociological theories help people understand society and knowledge of the world as it grows.

  1. Decision Making:

It is not possible to make decisions affecting a certain community without deep knowledge of its structure, as miscalculated decisions can have a severe impact on people’s lives. Tackling a problem, such as high criminal rates, binge drinking and social segregation, requires decision-makers to know what exactly the problem is and its causes. Sociological theories provide insight on such issues, making it easier and safer for elected representatives to find solutions to social problems.

  1. Civic Competence: 

According to the National Council for the Social Studies, the primary purpose of social studies is to promote civic competence. This means that through social studies, students get to learn how to make informed and rational decisions on every issue, from participating in elections to settling disputes with their neighbours. Sociological theories, which are part of the social studies curriculum, help students to understand how society works and how they can be a useful part.

  1. Determining Interdependent Aspects:

An element characterizing society is interdependence. Individuals or organizations cannot survive independently, while even seemingly dissimilar concepts, such as religion and the rise of an economic system, can be closely connected, as Max Weber suggested in “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.” According to Professor Craig Calhoun, sociological theories are frameworks explaining how specific aspects of society are linked to larger processes.

Sociological theory is a scientific discipline that contains a set of well-defined concepts and interrelated propositions. The construction of sociological theory would be through a systematic and organized way that is verifiable. It should be valid, precise; adequate and scientific in nature.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

The importance of sociological theory lies in how it gives us a way to speak about, describe and interpret various behaviours. Many of the facts that we take for granted about ourselves as human beings in an organized society have come to us through the study of sociological theory.

Just like any branch of academic thought, sociological theories go through fads and fashions. Some theories even go out of style. However, this does not negate the importance of sociological theory. If you’re skeptical, think of sociological theory as a lens through which scholars can see the world. It helps them to interpret actions and behaviours that might otherwise seem random.

THE PURPOSE OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

The purpose of sociological theory is to give scientists and scholars a way to think and write about human behaviour that is categorizable and smaller in scope than talking about society as a whole. Sociological theory often overlaps with major movements in politics or philosophy. The guiding purpose of sociological theory is to name these thoughts and movements so that they can be shared with a wider audience.

Overall, the sociological theory attempts to understand social order and what creates social change.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN SOCIOLOGY

Theoretical perspectives in sociology include both classical traditions and contemporary theories. Theoretical perspectives in sociology under the umbrella of the classical traditions of sociology include structural functionalism, utilitarianism and conflict theory. Modern approaches vary widely from well-known ideas like feminism to lesser-known ideas like anomie theory. Many of the modern theoretical perspectives in sociology focus on the place of the self within society.

For example, one contemporary theory is dramaturgical perspective. According to dramaturgical perspective, all of life is a performance, and people only play the roles they are given based on assumptions. This quality of performativity also focuses on how individuals feel they are perceived by others.

FUNCTIONS O F THEORIES

Morris Cohen’s perceptive statement epitomizes the importance of theory: ‘Purely theoretical contributions to astronomy and mathematics, by increasing the precision of navigation, saved more lives at sea than any possible improvements in the carpentry of lifeboats.’

The major functions of sociological theory may be summarized as follows:

  1. Theory suggests potential problems and produces new investigative studies. A fruitful theory is a storehouse of meaningful hypotheses and a continuous source of inspiration to the process of sociological inquiry. And many empirical investigations lead to theory building just as they proceed from well-formulated theories.

  2. Theory predicts facts. Based on intuitive knowledge, historical analysis and observation of social uniformities, a theoretical system often provides a secure ground for prediction. Usually expressed as tendency statements, such theoretical postulates increase the fruitfulness of research by providing leads for further inquiry.

  3. Theory systematizes matters and their relationships into the convenient conceptual schema. Not only does it explain observed regularities and social uniformities, but it also simplifies laws and establishes the order in congeries of facts. A ‘mental shorthand’ so to speak, theory summarizes relationships. between variables in a conceptual framework.

  4. The theory establishes a linkage between specific empirical findings and general sociological orientations, thus enhancing the meaningfulness of research. Unrelated findings of isolated studies suddenly assume new meanings when they are put in the proper sociological perspective. Theory mediates between specific empirical generalizations and broad sociological orientations rooted in the intellectual tradition.

  5. In providing meaning, the theory also attests to the truth. A hypothesis may be as much confirmed by fitting it into a theory as by fitting it into the facts. For it then enjoys the support provided by the evidence for all the other hypotheses of that theory. Just as a law is not only confirmed by the factual data but also helps give the data factual status, a theory is not only supported by established laws but also plays a part in establishing them.

  6. Theory guides research and narrows down the range of facts to be studied. Theory supplies hypotheses provides direction to the investigation and helps the researcher look for certain variables and overlook others. Oppenheimer puts it succinctly: ‘In order for us to understand anything, we have to fail to perceive a great deal that is there. Knowledge is always purchased at the expense of what might have been seen and learned and was not.. . . It is a condition of knowledge that somehow or the other we pick the clues which give us insight into what we are to find out about the world.’

  7. Theories serve as tools of inquiry. They aid in the formulation of a research design, in conducting experiments, making measurements and quantifying data. This function corresponds to the instrumentalist view of theories.

  8. Theory points to gaps in our knowledge and seeks to fill them with intuitive, impressionistic or ‘extensional generalizations.’ ‘What is important is that laws propagate when they are united in a theory: theory serves as matchmaker, midwife and godfather all in one. This service is what is delicately known as the “ heuristic function of theory.”

THE ELEMENTS OF THEORY

The theory is a mental activity revolving around the process of developing ideas that explain how and why events occur. The theory is constructed with the following basic elements or building blocks: (1) concepts, (2) variables, (3) statements, and (4) formats. Though there are different types of theory, the basic elements are common to all. 

  1. Concepts: The Basic Building Blocks of Theory

Theories are built from concepts. Generally, concepts denote phenomena. A concept embraces the aspects of the social world that are considered essential for a particular purpose. Concepts are constructed from definitions. A definition is a system of terms that inform investigators as to the phenomenon denoted by a concept. A definition allows visualising the phenomenon that is denoted by the concept. It enables all investigators to see the same thing and to understand what it is that is being studied. Thus, concepts that are useful in building theory have a special characteristic: they strive to communicate a uniform meaning to all those who use them. However, since concepts are frequently expressed with the words of everyday language, it is difficult to avoid words that connote varied meanings and hence point to different phenomena for varying groups of scientists. It is for this reason that many concepts in science are expressed in technical or more neutral languages, such as the symbols of mathematics. In sociology, the expression of concepts in such special languages is sometimes not only impossible but also undesirable. Hence the verbal symbols used to develop a concept must be defined as precisely as possible so that they point to the same phenomenon for all investigators. Although perfect consensus may never be attained with conventional language, a body of theory rests on the premise that scholars will do their best to define concepts unambiguously. The concepts of theory reveal a special characteristic: abstractness. Some concepts pertain to concrete phenomena at specific times and locations. Other, more abstract, concepts point to phenomena that are not related to concrete times or locations. 

For example, in the context of small-group research, concrete concepts would refer to the persistent interactions of particular individuals, whereas an abstract conceptualization of such phenomena would refer to those general properties of face-to-face groups that are not tied to particular individuals interacting at a specified time and location. Whereas abstract concepts are not tied to a specific context, concrete concepts are. Although it is essential that some of the concepts of theory transcend specific times and places, it is equally critical that there be procedures for making these abstract concepts relevant to observable situations and occurrences. The utility of an abstract concept can be demonstrated only when the concept is brought to analyse some specific empirical problem encountered by investigators; otherwise, concepts remain detached from the very processes they are supposed to help investigators understand. Some argue for very formal procedures for attaching concepts to empirical events. Those of this view believe that abstract concepts should be accompanied by a series of statements known as operational definitions, which are sets of procedural instructions telling investigators how to go about discerning phenomena in the real world that are denoted by an abstract concept. Others argue, however, that the nature of our concepts in sociology precludes such formalistic exercises. At best, concepts can be only devices that must change with the changes in society, and so we can only intuitively and provisionally apply abstract concepts to the actual analysis. 

  1. Variables as an Important Type of Concept 

Once the measurement system has been specified by the operational definition, different values of the concept can be observed. The concept can now be referred to as a variable, since it can respond to differences in the “real world” by taking on varying values, as specified in the operational definition. When used to build theory, two general types of concepts can be distinguished: (a) those that simply label phenomena and (b) those that refer to phenomena that differ in degree. Concepts that merely label phenomena would include such common terms like group, social class etc. Concepts that denote properties as size, weight, density, velocity etc. refer to differences in degree among phenomena. Some concepts of scientific theory should denote the variable features of the world. To understand events it is necessary to analyse how variation in one phenomenon is related to variation in another. 

  1. Theoretical Statements and Formats  

To be useful, the concepts of theory must be connected to one another. Such connections among concepts constitute theoretical statements. These statements specify the way in which events denoted by concepts are interrelated, and at the same time, they provide an interpretation of how and why events should be connected. When these theoretical statements are grouped together, they constitute a theoretical format. Concepts are constructed from definitions; theoretical statements link concepts together; and statements are organized into five basic types of formats. There are five basic approaches in sociological theory for generating theoretical statements and formats: (a) metatheoretical schemes, (b) analytical schemes, (c) discursive schemes, (d) propositional schemes, and (e) modeling schemes. 

  1. Meta-theoretical schemes deal with the basic issues that a theory must address. In many sociological circles, meta-theory is considered an essential prerequisite to adequate theory building. The philosophical debates like idealism versus materialism, induction versus deduction, causation versus association, subjectivism versus objectivism, and so on are re-evoked and analyzed with respect to social reality. 

  2. Analytical Scheme is a classification scheme that denotes the key properties, and interrelations among these properties, in the social universe. There are many different varieties of analytical schemes, but they share an emphasis on classifying basic properties of the social world. Explanation of an empirical event comes whenever a place in the classificatory scheme can be found for an empirical event. There are two basic types of analytical schemes: (i) naturalistic schemes, which try to develop a tightly woven system of categories that is presumed to capture the way in which the invariant properties of the universe are ordered and (ii) sensitizing schemes, which are more loosely assembled congeries of concepts intended only to sensitize and orient researchers and theorists to certain critical processes. 

  3. Discursive Schemes are typically easier to understand than those that are more formal, but the weakness is that the variables and forces highlighted and the dynamic relations among them are vague and imprecise. Even with a certain vagueness in language, it is still possible to recognise the basic theoretical argument and convert it into a more formal format like an analytical model or propositions scheme. 

  4. Propositional Scheme is a theoretical statement that specifies the connection between two or more variables. It tells us how variation in one concept is accounted for by variation in another. Propositional Schemes vary perhaps the most of all theoretical approaches. They vary primarily along two dimensions: (i) the level of abstraction and (ii) the way propositions are organized into formats. Some are highly abstract and contain concepts that do not denote any particular case but all cases of a type. By using these two dimensions, several different types of propositional schemes can be isolated: (i) axiomatic formats, (ii) formal formats, and (iii) empirical formats. 

    1. An axiomatic organization of theoretical statements involves a set of concepts some of which are concepts are highly abstract; others, more concrete. Second, there is always a set of existence statements that describe those types and classes of situations in which the concepts and the propositions that incorporate them apply. Third, propositional statements are stated in a hierarchical order. At the top of the hierarchy are axioms, or highly abstract statements, from which all other theoretical statements are logically derived. The axioms should be consistent with one another, although they do not have to be logically interrelated. The axioms should be highly abstract; they should state relationships among abstract concepts. These relationships should be law-like in that the more concrete theorems derived from them have not been disproved by empirical investigation. 

    2. Formal theories are loose versions of axiomatic schemes. The idea is to develop highly abstract propositions that are used to explain some empirical event. Some highly abstract propositions are seen as higher-order laws, and the goal of explanation is to visualize empirical events as instances of this covering law. Deductions from the laws are made, but they are much looser, rarely conforming to the strict rules of axiomatic theory. Moreover, there is recognition that extraneous variables cannot always be excluded, and so the propositions have a condition that if other forces do not impinge, then the relationship among concepts in the proposition should hold true. 

    3. Empirical Formats consist of generalizations from specific events, in particular empirical contexts. They are too tied to empirical contexts, times, and places. In fact, they are generalizations that are in need of a theory to explain them. There are other kinds of empirical generalizations also. These are often termed middle-range theories, because they are more abstract than a research finding and because their empirical content pertains to variables that are also found in other domains of social reality. 

  1. Analytical Modeling Scheme is a diagrammatic representation of social events. The diagrammatic elements of any model include: (a) concepts that denote and highlight certain features of the universe; (b) the arrangement of these concepts in visual space so as to reflect the ordering of events in the universe; and (c) symbols that mark the connections among concepts, such as lines, arrows, vectors, and so on. The elements of a model may be weighted in some way, or they may be sequentially organized to express events over time, or they may represent complex patterns of relations and other potential ways in which properties of the universe affect one another. In sociology, most diagrammatic models are constructed to emphasize the causal connections among properties of the universe. That is, they are designed to show how changes in the values of one set of variables are related to changes in the values of other variables. Sociologists generally construct two different types of models, which can be termed analytical models and causal models. Analytical models are more abstract: they highlight more generic properties of the universe, and they portray a complex set of connections among variables. In contrast, causal models are more empirically grounded. They provide a more detailed interpretation of an empirical generalization.

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