In attempting to develop theories about human society, sociologists face a wide range of choices. What issues should they choose to study? What facts should they link together to form theories? Question such as this is not answered in a haphazard fashion; rather, theory building is guided by a general framework that sociologists call a theoretical paradigm. Following the ideas of George Ritzer (1983) a theoretical paradigm is a fundamental image of society that suggests what questions should be asked and how answers produced by research shouldbe interpreted.
Although all sociologists make use of one general perspective, they do not all base their work on the same image of society. Some sociologists emphasize the fact that societies often remain remarkably stable over time; others focus on social change. Similarly, while some direct attention to ways in which people are united through their common membership in a single society, others emphasize how society divides people according to sex, race, or social class. Moreover, while some sociologists define their goal as explaining the operation of society as it exists, others attempt to encourage what they consider to be desirable social change. Finally, while some sociologists attempt to address the operation of society as a whole, others find the most interesting questions in the patterns of individual interaction within specific situations.
In short all sociologists do not agree about what the most interesting or useful questions are. Even when they do agree on the questions, they often disagree on the answers. This does not mean, however, that sociological theory is utter chaos, because sociologists tend to organize their work by using one or more of three major theoretical paradigms.
II. Be ready to speak on:
1) The structural-functional paradigm.
2) The social-conflict paradigm.
3) The symbolic-interaction paradigm.
III. You have just heard three reports. What paper do you think to be the best one? Give your arguments. Use the following:
I'd like to say that ...
First of all, I want to say that ...
I think it's important to consider the questionof ...
What I think is ...
I'm convinced that —
That's an interesting point of view but ...
I'd like to support the point of view about ...
IV. Read and translate the text: