Sociological Theory Flashcards
(12 cards)
Social Action - Summarise Weber’s Social Action Theory
Weber argues there are 2 levels to an action:
- The Level of Cause: objective structural factors that shape people’s behaviour
- The Level of Meaning: subjective meaning that people attach to their actions
Social Action - Summarise Weber’s V.A.I.T to explain actions
- Value Rational Action: We do the action because we believe it and it is rational to the individual
- Affectual Action: actions based on our emotions
- Instrumentally Rational Action: goal driven actions
- Traditional Action: actions that are part of a routine
Symbolic Interactionism - Summarise Blummer’s Theory
Blummer suggests we learn behaviour through consequences, either positive or negative, and then react accordingly. These reactions shape our behaviour.
Symbolic Interactionism - Summarise Cooley’s Looking Glass Self
‘I am what I think you think I am’ - we base our behaviour on what we perceive others want of us through symbols such as smiling or nodding
Symbolic Interactionism - Summarise Mead’s ‘I’ and ‘Me’
‘I’ is who you really are and ‘Me’ is your external behaviour that you present to the world
Symbolic Interactionism - Summarise Goffman’s Dramaturgical model
Children engage in imitative play to convince others of a role, such as dressing up as a doctor. We use costumes and props to convince others of our roles, and when we are alone we are simply resting between performances.
Summarise Shultz’s Phenomenology
We have common sense or ‘recipe’ knowledge so we automatically know what to do in a situation. We exist in a shared society that is based on typifications.
Summarise Garfinkel’s Ethnomethodology
There are taken-for-granted rules in society to follow the social order, and it is considered out of the social norm if we break them. Garfinkel ran the ‘Lodger’ experiment where he had his students go home and treat their house as if it was a hotel and see the reactions of their caregivers. Society is built bottom-up.
Summarise the CAN argument for sociology as a science
• Comte - Society can be observable objective fact
• Durkheim - ‘Social Facts’ can be observed and measured
• Hypothetic Deductive Model - See a problem, make a theory, we test/retest theory if needed to verify.
Summarise the CANNOT argument for sociology as a science
• Popper - Scientific methods depend on falsifiability. You cannot falsify in sociology, only verify.
• Kuhn - Science uses Paradigms. Sociology does not have a unifying paradigm, e.g conflict vs consensus theories.
• Interpretivists - Humans have agency and our opinions are subjective. Sociology deals with social constructs rather than social facts.
Summarise the SHOULD NOT argument for sociology as a science
• Lyotard - Language shapes the way we think about the world, and while scientific language may open our eyes to some truths, it simultaneously closes our eyes to others.
• Anderson - Science causes harm and we shouldn’t wish to model that: Political Harm (e.g Napalm), Medical Harm (e.g Thalidomide) and Military Harm (e.g bombs)
• Feminism - Science is malestream and we shouldn’t want to replicate that
Summarise the SHOULD argument for sociology as a science
- Reliable and objective fact
- Fix problems and social ills
- More funding for science would lead to more funding for sociology and allow for more research
- Science gives credibility so government can use to pass policies and public is more likely to accept it
