The theories in sociology are designed to provide people with various perspectives which they can use to view the world. According to Bates (2015), the social perspectives in sociology are interrelated principles that are created to explain specific phenomenon in the social world. The four major theoretical perspectives include: the functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, feminist theory and the symbolic interactionism perspective. The functionalist perspective defines the society as an interrelated structure whose parts are connected and designed to meet the social needs of members of a society. The social conflict perspective perceives the society as a system that is made up of different groups that are unequal; thus, the consistently lead to conflict and change. The feminist theory evaluates the status of men and women in the society and strives to achieve equality between the two genders. Symbolic interactionism perspective concentrates on the symbolic meaning that people have and depend on during the process of social interaction.
The symbolic interactionism perspective is more relatable from the four perspectives as it focuses on an individual’s ability to interact with others. According to Bates (2015) this perspective considers the symbols and details that influence a person’s daily lifestyle. Therefore, this perspective relates to the decision that a person makes regarding their choice of college as it determines how an individuals will interact with the people they meet in college and how their interaction approaches will influence their lives.
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I would select the functionalist perspective as a research method to determine why adults choose to return to college. The strength of this perspective is that it uses an organic analogy to explain how the various social institutions such as the socio-economic, religious, and political factors are able to influence each other to fulfill the socialization process (Thompson, 2013). However, the main weakness of the functionalist perspective is that it does not provide an explanation for social change or structural contradictions in the society.
References
Bates, R. A. (2015). The Sociological Perspective Revisited. The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology: Vol. 7: Iss. 1. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a116/2058edfde6e9bfc997b950927ef5f37b590d.pdf
Thompson, M. J. (2013). A functionalist theory of social domination. Journal of Political Power , 6:2, 179-199, DOI: 10.1080/2158379X.2013.805922
