Download A sociological theory is a theoretical framework that

A sociological theory is a theoretical framework that can be used by sociologists to
analyze how social processes, structures and action are created and work[1]. Also known
as social theories, they are used to understand society and for social research. There are a
few different developed theories, but they are similarly based on moral, metaphysical or
epistemological premises. Understanding social action and giving causes for its effects
and course is at the root of sociological theory. Some theories include; macro-sociology
(study of society as a whole), micro-sociology (study of individuals within society),
structuralism (how society shapes individuals), social action (individuals create society as
they act and react in socially meaningful ways), positivism (study of social facts in which
and ways in which society influences the behavior of the individual), phenomenology (in
which individuals interpret and create their social world) as well as such theories as
feminist theory (how male dominance shapes social life), rational choice theory (as the
interaction or utility maximizing individuals), social justice (as the concern of social
exploitation and/or oppression),ethnomethodology (as the way people make sense of life
while living within that life), social constructionism (as social happenings develop in
social contexts), and structural functionalism (as various social elements perform within
the social system) amongst others.
Sociological theory differs from psychological theory in that sociology studies groups of
people (communities, societies, nations, countries) and the ways they work and are
affected by outside sources, while psychology studies the way people behave individually
and how their brain functions and their actions. Sociologists will study folkways,
populations, families and society, while psychologists study the human mind, behaviors,
and relationships.
Sociologists use many different methods of understanding the social world. The two main
types include qualitative (group discussions, groups tests, interviews, etc) and
quantitative (network analysis, statistics, evaluation research, etc) methods. They can use
and analyze books, the Internet, archived records, surveys, observation/participant
observation, genealogy, longitudinal studies, and experimental research. Each methods
focuses on a specific approach to research depending on what the researcher is studying
or trying to ascertain. Different methods can be combined for a more fuller and complete
understanding of the subject/s. One interesting example was done by Frances
Heussenstamm in 1971. He wanted to see whether or not prejudice impacted the way
police responded to every day life events. He conducted a field experiment with 15
students, all possessing exemplary driving records and placed a Black Panther bumper
sticker on each car. Although the students followed their normal driving patterns, within
17 days, the 15 drivers had amassed 33 traffic citations[2].
Suicide had long been considered a individual and pathological event. Emile Durkheim's
theory of suicide proposed that any case of death, that resulted from the acts of the
individual, whether positive or negative, is considered suicide if the individual knew that
the act could cause death[3]. He used this theory to determine accidental deaths vs true
suicides. He set out to collect suicide statistics from several European nations and found
specific tendencies toward suicide. Emile proposed three different categories of suicide
based on moral regulation and social integration. These categories include egotistic
suicide, altruistic suicide, and anomic suicide . Egoistic suicide focused on people who
lacked social bonds or felt that they were alone in the world (single people), Altruistic
suicide focused on people intrinsically linked with others and self-sacrificing or martyr
suicide (religion, military), and Anomic suicide focused on a persons unhappiness or their
needs not being met (economy, widowed people, poverty, job stress). He did explore a
fourth type known as fatalistic suicide, but he considered it rare and not of much
importance to his study. It consisted of people with over-regulated and/or unrewarding
lives, like new husbands, childless married women, and slaves. One fact he did agree on
was that suicide crossed all boundaries of class, race, sex and ethnicity. Emile's work was
considered by many to be important because it was the first sociological theory that also
used empiricism to explain a social phenomenon.
Emile's theory brings up a lot of questions, especially when he says that positive or
negative acts of the individual that cause death is suicide. Does this mean that
parachuting,bungee jumping, race car driving, skiing, etc are all considered suicide if the
person dies? Many people do consider these suicidal pastimes and the people who
participate in these pastimes are well aware of the possibility of their death. Additionally,
I would place more importance on fatalistic suicide than I think Emile did,particularly
where is pertains to certain cultures, such as African American slaves, and Muslim
women. In other aspects, I do agree with Emile's theories on suicide, as they are broken
down in explainable contexts and gives me a better understanding of the sociological
reasoning behind them.
References
1. The Fundamental Concepts of Sociology, n.d. http://ssr1.uchicago.edu/PRELIMS/Theory/weber.html
2. Methods of Sociological Research, 2008 http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/010/method.html
3. Social Facts and Suicide, 1999 - http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm