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Introduction to Sociological Perspectives
What you’ll learn to do: differentiate between the three main theoretical paradigms in sociology and describe how they are used
In this section, you’ll learn about how sociologists use paradigms to understand the social world. A paradigm is a broad viewpoint, perspective, or lens that permit social scientists to have a wide range of tools to describe society, and then to build hypotheses and theories. You can also consider paradigms to be guiding principles or belief systems. In the text, you’ll sometimes see the word paradigm used interchangeably with perspective, theory, or approach.
In sociology, there are three main paradigms: the functionalist paradigm, the conflict paradigm, and the symbolic interactionist paradigm. These are not all of the paradigms, however, and we’ll consider others as well as more specific topic-based variations of each of the “Big Three” theories. As you read through the material in this section, consider which paradigm resonates the most with your own views about society.
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Introduction to Sociological Perspectives. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
The Three Sociological Paradigms/Perspectives. Authored by: Ruth Dunn. Located at: http://cnx.org/contents/M_RkLtXv@2/The-Three-Sociological-Paradig. License: CC BY: Attribution
Theoretical Perspectives. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@11.2:QMRfI2p1@11/Theoretical-Perspectives. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49
People crossing street in Vienna. Authored by: Jacek Dylag. Provided by: Unsplash. Located at: https://unsplash.com/photos/PMxT0XtQ--A. License: CC0: No Rights Reserved. License Terms: https://unsplash.com/license
