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Foundations of Sociology : Exercise 2
- Theoretical paradigms of sociology
Instructions:
Read each passage and click on the correct answer. Scroll down
if you do not see the Answer box. If wrong, try again. Click
here to review the key terms for this exercise.
Some sociologists disagree with the
structural-functional paradigm's focus on society as groups of stable
and ordered systems. They argue that this paradigm ignores the inequalities
(differences) of social class, race and gender (sexual identity),
etc. As a response to this criticism of the structural-functional
paradigm, sociologists developed the social-conflict paradigm. However,
the structural-functional and the social-conflict paradigms are not
entirely different. They both study society from a macro-level (large
scale focus); they both look broadly at how social structures (patterns
of social behaviors) shape society as a whole.
The social-conflict paradigm views inequalities in society as
a source of conflict and change. Sociologists who share this approach try to find out how
social class, race, ethnicity, religion, gender and age are related to the unequal distribution
of money, power, education, and social status. They disagree with the idea that social structures
help keep society together. Instead, these sociologists believe social structures benefit
some people while they harm others. As a result, there is conflict between the advantaged
(people with money and power) and the disadvantaged (people without money or power). Those
who have money and power try to protect their resources, while those who don't have money
and power struggle to get some.
Instructions:
Read each passage and click on the correct answer. Scroll down
if you do not see the Answer box. If wrong, try again.
