Sociology People

In sociology people are studied in different ways, or theories, in order to conclude how society affects our everyday lives, including our decision making. The three main types of theory practices are called the structural-functional approach, the social-conflict approach, and the symbolic-interaction approach. The structural-functional approach is pretty self explanatory when you think about it as a way to analyze sociology. Social structure is any daily routine of a society and social function is how these daily routines affect the participants. A good example of this would be someone's morning routine before work, and how it helps them prepare for work and perform within their job (Macionis, 2009).

The next type of sociology research method is called the social-conflict approach. This type of sociology studies how social circumstances change due to obvious conflicts within the society. A good example of this is religion because there are so many different types, and each has different lifestyles, which some people of other religions may not agree with (Macionis, 2009).

The third method of researching sociology is called the symbolic-interaction approach. This studies society as a whole, and is based off the theory that we decide who we want to be, and then tend to socialize with those who share our same views. This theory is a little different than the others I have described because it says that we make society, where the others say society makes us (Macionis, 2009).

I honestly think that the social-conflict approach is probably the best research method for studying sociology because we have so many different types of conflicts in our society. Yes we have routines, but those don't necessarily be because of society its self, those routines could also be performed due to prior conflicts with society.