Key Theorists

Question 1

Durkeim

Answer 1

durkeim along with weber and marx is seen as one of the founding fathers of modern sociology. he influenced American structural functionalism, which dominated western sociology for much of the 20th century. his works encompassed religion and suicide and developed important concepts such as anomie and the collective conscience.

his book le suicide is seeen as exemplifying the positivist approach, taking statistical data on suicide from different regions and countries and attempting to establish a correlation between differences in suicide rates and differences in sicial factors such as religious beliefs and to the extent to which people were integrated into families and communities.

Question 2

Weber

Answer 2

weber is seen as one of the founding fathers of modern sociology along with Durkheim and Marx. much of his work develops an anti-positivist approach, rejecting that there are social facts to be discovered and instead focusing on the understanding the meanings that people attach to their actions

this led to the social action and interpretivist approaches within sociology. weber’s concept of verstehen is still widely used. he argued that social life was so complex that it is pointless to look for single causes.

seeing the social world through the viewpoint of others involves empathy. weber refered to this as verstehen

Question 3

Martineau

Answer 3

martineau helped sociology develop as it is today. she argued that the study of society must include understanding the lives of women, and also issues which tended to be ignored at the time, such as race relations and domestic life. she campaigned for women’s rights and the emancipation of slaves.

Question 4

Comte

Answer 4

widely regarded as the founder of sociology. he established the positivist approach of sociology, arguing that sociology was a science that could discover the laws of human behaviour, just as scientists discovered the laws of nature.

the methods of the sciences where therefore, apppropriate for sociology. he believed that sociology was the most important and the last of the sciences to develop.

he argued that society would be run by sociologists as they would have the best understanding of human behaviour and be able to act in society’s best interests.

comte has influenced the works of durkheim and marx as well as the development of anthropology.