This section aims to cover the building blocks of sociology – the things you really should know whatever specific units and topics you’re covering. I’m splitting this section into two parts – an introduction to key terms and concepts and basic sociological theory.

Key terms and concepts covers basic sociological ideas that you need to be able to use confidently and explain. For detail on more complex ideas such as Social Class and Ethnicity you will need to look at the Individual & Society page.

Basic sociological theory covers the key sociological viewpoints, these are all you need to know for AS-Level – for those of you who are keen or are studying theory in more depth at A2 level there will be a separate theory page coming at some point in the future.

But, first of all:

What is sociology???

Many students take sociology as an extra subject without having a clue what it is, that’s fine but let’s at least get some idea of what it’s all about.

Sociology is a great subject – I would say that, I’m a sociologist – but trust me, it really is interesting. If you’ve ever wondered why the world is as it is – why some people are poor and others rich, why you have to go to school, why you have to learn maths, why divorce rates are rising, why it’s seen as cool to get drunk ……. then sociology is the subject for you!

Sociology looks at the way society works – who has power and why, how society changes and why, how people’s lives are affected by what goes on in the world around them.

You will be able to relate to a lot of the material that we study in sociology, some of it may seem like common sense, but at other times it will challenge you. You may disagree with some of the ideas and that’s fine, but you’ll need to find evidence to support your disagreement. Sociology is not about “I think …..” it’s about “this shows that …”.

Sociology does not provide all the solutions but it does provide you with a useful toolkit of ideas and skills in analysing the world around you.

Sociology is not:

Key terms and concepts

Concepts are basically sociological ideas, many of them will be familiar words, but in sociology you will need to use them very precisely – outside sociology we are too often lazy in the way we use words.

A PowerPoint introduction to key terms and concepts in sociology

Don’t be worried if sociological terms like “socialisation” and “meritocracy” sound like a whole new language at first – after a couple of terms you’ll be using them without thinking and speaking like a true sociologist! Often I give my students a list of sociological terms and get them to practice writing as many of them as possible into a sentence or short paragraph. Learning to use these is important – in exams and coursework you will be marked on your ability to write sociologically and it makes you sound much more like you know what you are talking about.

Test yourself! An interactive crossword on key concepts

Basic Sociological Theory

At AS level you need to know about and understand the following sociological viewpoints:

• Functionalism
• Marxism
• Feminism

You should also have some idea about:

• Postmodernism
• Interactionist viewpoints

A good way to remember how the theories fit together (and are different from each other) is to use the following diagram,

Structuralist Theories

Structuralist theories are based on the idea that individuals are moulded and shaped by society and that, rather than being able to act independently we are limited by the norms and values of our society that we have been socialised into. Think of it as a bird cage - the bars are social rules and you can fly anywhere and do anything within the cage but you cannot go outside it – you are constrained (restricted) by the social rules. Society therefore controls the individual.

Structuralist theories can be divided into two distinct types – Consensus theories and Conflict theories

Consensus Theories

Consensus theories are one kind of structuralist theory – so they look at society as whole and believe that you can find general rules that apply to all societies and explain how they work.

Consensus means “agreement” or “harmony” and consensus theories are based on the idea that the different parts of society work together in order to maintain social order. The key consensus theory and the one that you need to know about is functionalism.

Functionalism

Functionalism is one of the oldest sociological viewpoints, its creator Emile Durkheim is often referred to as one of the founding fathers of sociology. Functionalism was last really popular as a theory in the 1960s and in many ways it now seems outdated. Some functionalist assumptions and conclusions have been heavily criticised, however, it still provides some useful ideas and pointers about how society works.

For a PowerPoint outline of functionalist theory click here.

Conflict Theories

Conflict theories are one kind of structuralist theory – so they look at society as whole and believe that you can find general rules that apply to all societies and explain how they work.

Conflict theories can be seen as being the opposite of consensus theories – conflict viewpoints are essentially what it says on the tin – they see society as being made up of groups and institutions with opposing interests and this is always going to lead to conflict (or fighting). Think of when you’re at work – you and your fellow employees would probably like higher wages (wouldn’t we all!) but your employers would probably like to pay you less because then they would make more profit – this is a conflict of interests – what’s good for the employees is not good for the business owners.

Because of the belief that society is a struggle for power between different groups who want to look after their own interests, conflict theorists tend to focus on which groups have power, how they got power and the ways in which those groups mould society in order to maintain their position of power. Conflict theories also look at the groups that are oppressed (kept without power and controlled).

The two key conflict theories which you will come across are Marxism and Feminism.

Marxism

Strangely enough the man who founded Marxism as a school of thought was called Karl Marx. As well as being sociological and looking at how society does work, his ideas were also political and economical – looking at how society should work – his political ideas (and other ideas) were taken up by the Communists and put into practice (with limited success) in places like Russia and China.

When looking at Marxist theories in sociology you want to look at the ideas about how society does work – remember, sociology is about looking at society now and working out what makes it tick.

Marxist theories are still very popular among sociologists today, although not as popular as they were 30 years ago. Because so many sociologists have taken up Marx’s original ideas and expanded or altered them, most of the Marxist theories you will look at in sociology are actually Neo-Marxist (“new” Marxism).

Marxist viewpoints basically argue that one group in society – the bourgeoisie (upper/middle class) – are more powerful. This power is economic (based on wealth) – ie they are richer and own the businesses in society and therefore get the profits that businesses make. To stay in power the bourgeoisie need to control and exploit the proletariat (working class) and Marxists argue that they do this by keeping the proletariat poor but also by socialising them into the false belief that society is meritocratic.

For a PowerPoint outlining the Marxist viewpoint click here.

Feminism

There are many different theories that come under the general heading of feminism. There are three key types of feminism that you should know about – these will give you a flavour of the different viewpoints that count as feminist.

Feminism is a conflict perspective, whereas Marxist viewpoints believe that there is conflict between the social classes, feminists believe that the main conflict in society is between men and women.

Feminist viewpoints are based on the idea that society is patriarchal (controlled by men) and that women have been and are oppressed by men. One of the main things feminists point out is that women have in the past been confined to the private sphere of the home and family, carrying out unpaid work in the form of childcare and housework.

Many feminists also argue that sociology itself is malestream – studying society from a male perspective, looking at male issues and directing social policy in the interests of men.

For a look at three key types of feminism, click here.

Interactionist Theories

Interactionist theories are essentially the opposite of structuralist theories. Instead of seeing society as moulding and controlling the individual, they see the individual as being in control.

There are many different interactionist theories but for now we will just look at the things they have in common. You will often here interactionist theories called social action theories.

Interactionists often talk about agency, this is the idea that you have control over what you do – you are socialised into society’s norms and values but you can decide whether you follow them or not.

Interactionists believe that we learn shared meanings and interpretations of what goes on around us and this is what helps us to get on. They believe that these meanings change from society to society – so burping after a meal in the UK is seen as rude, but in some countries it is seen as a sign of satisfaction. (Think of the HSBC adverts!) We learn meanings and interpretations throughout our life – how often have you misinterpreted what someone was doing or saying? Each time this happens you learn something new and store it for future use.

Because interactionists focus on the ways in which individuals interact with each other and how this influences their behaviour, they do not believe that you can have a set of rules which will apply to every society all around the world. They therefore tend to focus on groups of people and interactionist theories are often known as micro-theories or micro-narratives.

To learn more about social action theories click here.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a theoretical viewpoint that does not fit neatly into our diagram of theories (although it does have links to interactionist theory). Postmodernism emerged in the 1980s and argues that society has moved into a new stage, marked by fragmentation and rapid change. Not all sociologists believe that there is such a thing as postmodernity, while others now believe that we have moved on into post-postmodernity.

Postmodernism is often the theory that students find it hardest to get their head round, because it states that there are no absolutes and that therefore we cannot know what is real and what is not. – Sounds mind-boggling??? Don’t worry, think back to conversations you’ve had with friends about important things – religion is always a good one – at some point somebody has probably said “well if that’s what you believe, that’s great for you; but I don’t believe that.” – this is relativism, the idea that what is real for you is not necessarily real or true for someone else, it is one of the key ideas of postmodernism.

Here’s a PowerPoint with some more detail/ideas about postmodernism