SOC. 351 #6 - Robert Merton’s Contributions to Sociological Theory Robert Merton studied under Talcott Parsons at Harvard University and was influenced by Pitirim Sorokin and Paul Lazarsfeld respectfully. Although Merton valued the relationship he had with Parsons and admired much of his work‚ he “diverged from Parsonian functionalism…in his decision to abandon the quest for an all-encompassing theory. He chose rather‚ to take the path of what he calls ‘middle range theories’” (p.46)‚ designed
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Social structure is the way society is organized into predictable relationships. There are five elements when you break down social structure. The first being status. We usually associate having a status to the amount of influence‚ wealth and fame. But sociologists use the term status to refer to any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group or society‚ from the lowest to the highest. Examples of this are being a son or daughter‚ dental technician or the president of the
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My Gesellschaft Society Many young people in this day and age are tying to look act‚ and overall seem older. I deal with these struggles everyday in my life. Kids face many dilemmas in their trek to adulthood yet‚ they still try to obtain adulthood earlier by going through the "proper" rites of passage. These things create dilemmas‚ which can help or hinder lifetime goals. Two of the dilemmas that young people face today are peer pressure‚ and adult pressure. Kids today in the modern society encounter
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conception of the self and the world in which they live. With this process class structure becomes mobile‚ and identity and connection to local community deteriorates‚ indicating a shift from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft‚ the creation of a mass society. As Gesellschaft‚ or society‚ overwhelmed the sense of Gemeinschaft‚ or community‚ as speed and bigness became the dominant facts of life‚ work and social questions‚ ambition and job enjoyment became abstract notions‚ beyond the individual and his scale
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An example of a NRM is Scientology. They offer a precise path leading to a compete understanding of ones true spiritual nature. They asses the spirit not the body or mind. NRMS are not homogenous groups. With the number of new religious movements present in the 1970s‚ Wallis classified these movements into three types according to their relationships to the outside world. The first type which is world-rejecting new religious movements is similar to sects as described by Troeltsch. Most movements
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Critically examine the concept of ‘community’ in relation to virtual community. It is difficult to examine the concept of ‘community’ as the term ‘community’ is used in a very wide sense to refer to many different figurations of people (Bell & Newby‚ 1974)‚ thus generating a large number of separate definitions (Stacey‚ 1969). In order to gain an understanding of what ‘community’ really means it is important to consider the history of its usage. The term originated in the fourteenth century and
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that attributess an influential but often negative role to media. Media was feared because it was regarded as a threat to the traditional social order. The audience was considered as a passive target of media. Will be discussed later: Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft (Tonnies); mechanical and organic solidarity (Durkheim); propaganda theory; magic bullet theories; normative theories of media; social responsibility theory; etc. 2. limited effects era (1930s-1960s; source is more important than message)
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When Work Disappears Americans believe that inner city residents‚ mainly African Americans‚ struggle to survive and choose violence and crime intentionally‚ and that they are lazy and unmotivated to improve their lifestyle. However‚ William Julius Wilson‚ writer of When Work Disappears‚ disagrees with these thoughts‚ and he believes that results of joblessness have caused the violent behavior and the poverty in inner cities. Wilson states‚”Many of today’s problems in the inner-city neighborhoods—crime
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relevant in 2008 as 1898). Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) and Pitirim A. Sorokin argued that ’history goes in cycles’‚ and presented the social cycle theory to illustrate their point. Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936) made community and society (Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft‚ 1887) the special topics of the new science of "sociology"‚ both of them based on different modes of will of social actors. Most of the 19th century pioneers of social theory and sociology‚ like Saint-Simon‚ Comte‚ Marx‚ John Stuart
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Alienation and anomie It is interesting to compare Durkheim and Marx on their ideas about modern consciousness. Durkheim focused on social solidarity as one of the important functions of a social order: individuals had a defined place in the world that was created and reinforced by the social values of morality‚ religion‚ and patriotism. He observed that these strands of solidarity are stronger or weaker in different societies‚ and he also observed that some modern social forces tend to break down
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