By contrast, latent functions of social institutions are those that are more hidden or secondary. Manifest functions of social institutions include things that are overt and obvious. Structural functionalists are particularly concerned with social institutions’ manifest and latent functions, as well as their functions and dysfunctions (Merton ). In this regard, structural functionalism is considered a macro theory that is, it considers macro (large) structures in society, and concerns how they work in an interdependent way to produce what structural functionalists believe to be ‘harmonious’ and stable societies. These include things like school/education, the state (often called a meta-institution), the family, the economy, and more. We talk more about social institutions in the next Chapter of this book, but essentially they are the ‘big building blocks’ of society that act as both repositories and creators/instigators of social norms. Structural functionalism is a theory about social institutions, ‘social norms’ (i.e., the often unspoken rules that govern social behaviours), and social stability. Structural functionalism Structural functionalism holds that social institutions and social norms work in harmony with each other to maintain stability and keep society functioning harmoniously. They also provide helpful building blocks for understanding other theoretical perspectives, as well as how theory can be applied to guide and build social scientific knowledge. While these are certainly not the only theoretical perspectives that exist, they are often considered to be amongst the most influential. Overall, using different theoretical perspectives to consider social questions is a bit like putting on different pairs of glasses to see the world afresh.īelow we consider some foundational social science theories. While theory is rooted in these philosophical foundations, however, it also gives way to different ways of doing research, both in terms of the methodology and methods employed. As we learned earlier in the book, these concern both ontological and epistemological considerations, but also axiological considerations that is, questions about the nature of value, and what things in the world hold value (including in relation to one another). That is, various theories arise in accordance with different ways of seeing and living in the world, as well as different understandings about how knowledge is understood and constructed. As shown in the image below, different theories are rooted in different philosophical foundations. Theory testing and generation is also an important part of social scientific research. The theories we choose arise from different philosophical foundations, and suggest different choices of methodology and methods for social scientific research In this sense, different theoretical perspectives, such as those discussed in this Chapter, act as different lenses through which we can see and interpret the world around us. Theory helps us to conceptualise and explain why things are the way they are, rather than only focusing on how things are. Theory is the ‘glue’ that holds social facts together. However, without theory, the ‘social facts’ that we discover cannot be woven together into broader understandings about the world around us. Social science theory: theories to explain the world around usĪs we have discussed in previous chapters, social science research is concerned with discovering things about the social world: for instance, how people act in different situations, why people act the way they do, how their actions relate to broader social structures, and how societies function at both the micro and macro levels.
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