Theories And Methods 💭

Question 1

Hegel’s dialect (Marxism)

Answer 1

Synthesis
|
Thesis—> <—antithesis

Taking an idea from earlier philosophy and applying it to history
Marx used this to explain how history moves through different stages and eventually it will move to a communist state

Question 2

Neo Marxism - humanistic Marxism

Answer 2

Antonio Gramsci
- people choose to live under capitalism
- however this isn’t a free choice it’s because we aren’t aware of the alternatives
- we see any non capitalist options as restriction

Question 3

Gramsci’s Centaur

Answer 3

The human front represents state institutions like the media to convince us capitalism is the only legitimate system. The rear end represents the force to make us accept this

Question 4

Evaluating Gramsci’s work

Answer 4

Functionalists would argue that the media and education reflect the values of society rather than enforcing them as they are made of value consensus rather than capitalism

Question 5

Neo Marxism - scientific Marxism

Answer 5

Louis Althusser
Resists attempts to change Marx’s original meaning
- choice is an illusion
- the ISA and RSA prevent anyone from making a choice
- this hasn’t changed from Marx’s time to present and never will

Question 6

Evaluations to Althusser

Answer 6

He fails to add anything to Marx’s theory. He downplays the power of free will and the power of individuals

Question 7

Neo Marxism - the Frankfurt school

Answer 7

Theodor Adorno

Studied fascism

Authoritarian personality where people turned towards fascism even when they don’t agree

Jurgen Habermas argued that we have been convinced we need things in our capitalist society, creating a split between false needs and real needs

Question 8

Evaluating the Frankfurt school

Answer 8

Theories and concepts are impossible to measure, define or observe ( bad sociology)

Question 9

Post structural Marxism

Answer 9

Slavoj Zizek argues that capitalism has created a world so full of symbols that everything is meaningless. People have no ability to decode the world’s meanings and therefore understand it. This has led to a desire to return to a more animalistic and uncivilised era. The world is dominated by “the symbolic” ( a dominance of capitalist ideas and symbols)

Question 10

Structuration

Answer 10

Giddens - people are shaped by societal influence but also play a part into what influence society has

Question 11

What do functionalists believe

Answer 11

• society is a thing it is a structural theory
• everyone and everything has a role to play
• concern about the health of society as it’s a living thing it can become unhealthy

Question 12

Types of functionalism

Answer 12

Durkheim - exists before functionalism breaks up into differing ideas

Structural functionalism - based on parsons interpretation of Durkheim work

Neo- functionalism - based on Mertons interpretation of Durkheims work

The new right - interpretation of functionalism

Question 13

Durkheim

Answer 13

• family plays a part in socialising children and creating a value consensus
• education teaches specialist skills and moral values
• societies contain a sacred sphere and a profane sphere which both have functions that benefit society
• some crime is positive and strengthens collective consciousness. Too much is an indication of anomie

Question 14

Integration and regulation

Answer 14

Integration - do people feel a part of society and can they impact what happens?

Regulation - do people understand where they fit in and do they know what’s expected of them?

Durkheim argues that too much or too little of them can lead to anomie

Question 15

Durkheim - suicide

Answer 15

• too much or too little regulation or integration causes higher suicide rates

Question 16

Evaluation of Durkheim

Answer 16

It’s unfocused and poorly defined, contains many terms and theory’s that can’t be measured scientifically going against his positivist beliefs

Question 17

Interpretations of anomie

Answer 17

Durkheim - anomie is the absence of strong integration and regulation

Structural functionalism - absence of values that keep society functioning

Neo-functionalism - state where individuals can’t achieve what they need to succeed

New right - state we are living in, underclass

Question 18

Structural functionalism

Answer 18

Society must stay the same in order to remain stable, any change is bad because society is organic and clearly works

Question 19

Evaluating structural functionalism

Answer 19

Parsons just takes durkheims ideas and changes their meaning, Kai T Erikson says that Parsons mixed his personal views with Durkheims terminology. Durkheims believed in social change not stagnation

Any theory that believes in social change like feminism or Marxism

Question 20

Neo- functionalism

Answer 20

Focuses on clarifying Durkheims thoughts.
Key concept of Mertons strain theory

Question 21

Evaluating Neo-functionalism

Answer 21

If society is taken from our relationship to our values then there should be measurable values of society. Merton only wrote about America, other counties don’t have these core values

Question 22

Evaluating Neo-functionalism

Answer 22

If society is taken from our relationship to our values then there should be measurable values of society. Merton only wrote about America, other counties don’t have these core values

Question 23

The new right

Answer 23

Both new right and functionalism are concerned with the health of society and need institutions to fulfil their roles adequately to keep society going

Question 24

Lyotard - rejection of meta-narratives

Answer 24

Jean Francois Lyotard argues that the key aspect of moving a society from modernity to
postmodernity is the rejection of metanarratives. A metanarrative is a ‘big story’ that explains
society, life or the world. This is the dominant idea of postmodernist
theories.

Question 25

Postmodernism and Relativism

Answer 25

Lyotard argues that this has led to “relativism” - our worlds are different to each others, because they’re shaped by our experiences and
understandings as well as choices.
So we literally all live in our world. This means that there is little point in conducting large scale research, as everyone’s experiences
are different.

Question 26

Greater choice

Answer 26

Postmodernists argue that modern life is characterised by far greater choice than has previously been
available. Two studies from the research methods component could be used
here. Just make sure the topic sentence
answers this question. Kendal Project: a huge survey that found far greater religious choice in a working- class northern town. People participated in many non-traditional religious
practices.
Becky Tipper: children typically constructed their own version of families, often including non-relations, animals and even inanimate objects. Adults
increasingly would do the same.

Question 27

Baudrillard- Hyperreality

Answer 27

Baudrillard talks about symbols, and how our ability to interpret symbols in
different ways means that society is
‘speeding up’.
This is hyperreality. The two key examples to use are the
media and religion.
Research to consider: Baudrillard, Lizek

Question 28

Late Modernity

Answer 28

Giddens argued that there is far greater, but
not unlimited, choice in modern society. That is because we are shaped by society, but
can in turn shape society back. For example, Giddens argued that gay men were pioneers of families of choice, and the communities that they formed became
commonplace for everyone a decade later.

Question 29

Late Modernity 2

Answer 29

Ulrich Beck argued that a consequence of greater choice and connection in modern life was a greater awareness of risk. With that awareness came our understanding that we
could do little about it. In particular, in modern life we cannot combat
the risks facing us, leaving us feeling helpless.
Beck calls this “risk society”.

Question 30

Key Evaluations of Postmodernism

Answer 30

Marxists and feminists say that postmodernists underplay the levels of conflict in society. Postmodernists believe that structural inequality no longer exists, and any inequality is purely down to actions.

Question 31

Key Evaluations of Postmodernism

Answer 31

Jurgen Habermas is the most famous critic of postmodernism. He argues that postmodernism is obscurant: it actually makes it harder, not easier, to understand the world. This is because it uses complex terms and philosophical ideas that
don’t have any particular meaning.

Question 32

Social Action Theories

Answer 32

These theories suggest that we are shaped by actions- either our own, or the actions of those
around us. The most simple of all of these is interactionism,
or symbolic interactionism. You could also include discourse feminism in here, although you would emphasize different ideas- the point here would be that it’s our actions and discussions of gender that create
the discourse (e.g. conversation).

Question 33

Weber & Interactionism

Answer 33

Weber argues that “social actions” - actions that involve anyone other than
the “actor” - shape society. He says there is a “cause and effect” relationship- our actions cause other
actions, and so on, altering society. This leads to him being viewed as an early interactionist- although this term
wouldn’t exist in his lifetime.

Question 34

Weber’s iron cage

Answer 34

Weber argued that this cause and effect causes social changes, for
example the shift to capitalism. He argues that social actions shift
towards rationalisation and away from ‘enchantment, leading us to a
bureaucratic and less passionate
society.

Question 35

Goffman- Performativity

Answer 35

Goffman’s central argument is that we have no fixed self- we simply present ourselves in lots of different ways. For example, in one role a person may present
themselves very differently to the same person in a different role. These presentations are influenced by how others respond, our own experiences,
and our interpretations of the world and the roles we’ve fulfilled. Mortification is an attempt by institutions to change the way these roles are
fulfilled, by stripping away our performances and reshaping them.

Question 36

Phenomenology

Answer 36

“Typifications” Essentially, we view our experiences through the lens of
past experience.
“This event is like this other event, so it means this”. It argues that we are shaped not by moral entrepreneurs, but by our own unique experiences- and interpretations
of these experiences. This argument is by Albert Shultz,

Question 37

Phenomenology

Answer 37

Essentially, phenomenologists argue that our understanding of the world is based entirely on past experience. This could be learnt from other people, but essentially,
individuals continuously recreate the world by interpreting things (phenomena).
Psychologists- this links to the idea of schema.

Question 38

Ethnomethodology

Answer 38

Associated with Howard Garfinkel. It involves using conversation analysis to
make sense of everyday life. Essentially, ethnomethodologists are
interested in how we understand everyday life, rather than the huge conflicts or
structures of structural theories.

Question 39

Evaluating Social Action Theories

Answer 39

Many theories would say that, by picking up on tiny details of everyday life, Social Action Theories forget that the point of sociology is to encourage social change. Many would argue that Social Action Theories study
the least important parts of society. Social Action Theories also share flaws with postmodernism, in that they can be obscurant. Habermas argues that, because social action theory dresses everyday
concepts up in complex terminology, it actually makes the world harder to explain.

Some postmodernists would argue that Social Action Theories tell us more about the researcher than the research group. For example, Conversation Analysis may tell us more about how ethnomethodologists understand the world, rather than
everyday people. Weber is often criticised for selective use of information. Some have argued that his Protestant Ethic confuses cause and effect, and that Protestantism may actually be caused by Capitalism, rather than the other way round. Eisenstadt argues that there may in fact be no relationship. Marxists criticise his argument
that capitalism is an inescapable “iron cage”.