1 Sociologists Analyze Social Phenomena At

1.) Sociologists analyze social phenomena at different levels and from different

perspectives. From concrete interpretations to sweeping generalizations of society

and social behavior. Sociologists today employ three primary theoretical perspectives:

the symbolic interactionist perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict

perspective. These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for

explaining how society influences people, and vice versa. The symbolic

interactionist perspective also known as symbolic interactionism directs socioligsts to

consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how

people interact with each other. Although symbolic interactionism traces its origins

to Max Weber’s assertion that individuals act according to their meaning of the

world, the American philosopher George H. Mead introduced this perspective to

American sociology in the 1920’s. According to the symbolic interactionist

perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their

subjective interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations, in which spoken

words serve predominant symbols, make this subjective intrepretation especially

evident. According to the functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, each

aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society’s functioning as a

whole. Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus, or

cohesion, in which members of the society agree upon, and work together to achieve,

what is best for society as a whole. The conflict perspective, which originated

primarily out of Karl Marx’s writings on class struggles, presents society in a

different light than do the functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspectives.

While these latter perspectives focus on the positive aspects of society that contribute

to its stability, the conflict perspective