Social Theory Essay
In an attempt to conceptualize social theory by exploring its essence and meaning, this article begins by reflecting on the complex understanding of the idea of theory. It is worth remembering the fact that all of the theory's meanings and explanations are rendered here in both a historical and contemporary context. The article begins by defining and describing the features and basic elements of social theory, with the specific intention of making a detailed statement on social theory. In fact, work is being conducted on how to interrelate the components that comprise social science. Finally, an underlying effort here is also to recall the functions / uses or purpose of the [social] sociology theory.
There is a broad variety of interpretations regarding the term definition and they are rendered in respect to various concepts as they are drawn from and linked to sociological contexts. A more traditional definition(s) of the term 'theory' is that “(1) concerns culture, conceived as independent from political institutions: 2) it distinguishes between and seeks to make generalizations about different kinds of society; (3) it is concerned in particular to analyse modernity – the form of society which emerged in the modern West over the past few centuries and has come to dominate the world as a whole” (Callinicos 1999:10). It is this view of philosophy that attempts to investigate and challenge the life and roots of how civilization came to be structured and how overtime became continually fluid in terms of its function and shape.
Some of the many definitions of the idea of 'theory' was elaborately presented by some scholar that 'as people we appear to be unable to perceive the universe directly; our view of what is going on around us is essentially filtered. Many of us do not consider our basic theories of how and why events happen to us as abstract, but they do. They are theorizing if we have time to talk about whether or why events happen in the way they do (Best 2003:4). As a consequence, the theory here has been identified in respect to the social interaction and or the everyday human life of an person in order to stress that, in its essence, the hypothesis has to do in the 'real.' Our starting point is that the idea of philosophy resides within Best 2003, and that it is about the psychological. This stimulates attempts by social scientists to research the relationship between social theory and sociological experience. In its general context, 'theory' presents researchers with the prospect of providing a justification for a particular occurrence they study with a view to Our starting point is that the idea of philosophy resides within Best 2003, and that it is about the psychological. This stimulates attempts by social scientists to research the relationship between social theory and sociological experience. In its general context, 'theory' presents researchers with the prospect of providing a justification for a particular occurrence they study with a view to produce specific study findings. The definition of 'theory' has to do with interdisciplinary and analytical ways of inquiring into understanding and creating analysis of the elements that occur within the socially constructed sense of learning.
In order to further expand the various interpretations of the concept of 'theory,' it is necessary to find out that the means by which the theory may be described are not limited to the mere place of its roots in an structure that attempts to link it to scholarly context. Thus it can be highlighted that Calhoun et al (1997:3) clarifies that “Theory is concerned with the development of concepts with which to grasp social life, with identifying patterns in social relations and social action, with producing explanations for both specific features of life in society and changes in overall forms of society”. There are other scholars of Sociology who see the appropriateness of the idea of philosophy as, in the context of this article, there is never a single interpretation as surpasses the other however, with the sake of the problem in place, there must be an effort to consider all the various conceptualizations with the intention of providing a common understanding of its core meaning. Consequently Ritzer (1992:4), citing Faia, indicates that “a formal definition of theory is a set of interrelated propositions that allow for the systematization of knowledge, explanation and prediction of social life, and generation of new research hypotheses”. This is also important to add that the implications of failure to include clear interpretations of the idea of 'theory' are most definitely due to the misunderstanding of context in relation to the fundamental branches of the social sciences and their connections with society. One scholar points out that "there are certainly several different definitions of the development of social science from its beginnings in 19th-century Europe to the present day; the views and debates they represent can not easily be distilled into any clear theoretical scheme. Yet at least certain prominent individuals are influenced by a different viewpoint, which I term "the great divide." (Giddens 1976:703-704). There are different definitions of 'social theory' which not only apply to social research but also describe a framework that enables social research to be carried out under those criteria, thus the point is that the association between social science and social theory is that the latter influences the former in the way t is performed. For example, one philosopher, Blumer (1954:4), claims that "... as applicable to the empiric realm of social science, it is mainly an understanding that sets the environment in its form, not a studious study of empiric evidence to see if the framework suits. In fact, it seems like, in terms of both roots and application of social science, it is not oriented towards its empiric setting. First, social philosophy is clearly flawed in its empirical inquiry instructions. It is rarely structured in such a way as to encourage or require the inquiry to be undertaken to see if it or its consequences are valid. It is of utmost importance not to appeal at all times to the framework of 'sociological [social] theory' using the notion that it is inextricably part of the definition of 'sociological [social] theory’ history.
To the question ‘what sociological theory does’, Best (2003:8) suggests that "Social theories are individuals who stand back and seek to classify, describe and explain what 'social' is and how it functions. To do so, they concoct ideas on the essence of the 'real' and seek to figure out how people are attempting to replicate the collective in their daily lives. As an exercise, doing social science will give people a chance to imagine Ideas, as well as study and interpretation of certain people's ideas and hypotheses. Even as a sociologist, C. In the 1950s, Wright Mills proposed, more specifically than examining and clarifying ideas and principles, that sociology allows a person to explore that what had historically been called 'personal issues' could really be 'public issues.' This article attempts to explain the essence and application of social theory, and thus the need to securitize the exact core function(s) of social theory with a view to understanding its theoretical and empirical relevance in today's world. "Sociological analysis is more than just a tool for sociologists. It is also a critical ground for commenting on civic life, guiding moral values and taking collective decisions. This is valid ... as sociological theory – as with the rest of the social sciences – helps one to understand real events, structures and societal patterns "(Calhoun et al 2007:4). In the very least, social theories do not actually advocate for themselves as social science, but it is because of the characteristics of social theory that they are known to be so. What social theory does is mostly often related to finding out problems that have to do with the organization of the societal system and the manner in which society is situated. Social theory provides the basis for the development of proposals for solutions to the challenges of society, in other words, social theory gives us an alternative to any single dominant structure. For example, the following argument is taken from the actions of those who have figured out the need for social justice, particularly Marxists and, more precisely, Marxists of social theory: capitalism should be replaced by socialism. Giddens (1976:703) accounts for this by indicating that “An essential task facing contemporary social theory is that of reconciling a revised epistemology of social science with new frameworks”.
It is in this article that, even after acknowledging that social science goes back decades, it has an influence on the real world and the problems that society is continuously facing today. In other words, this article found that social science was important to culture in the present period. Through an in-depth study of the framework of social [sociological] thought, this article has followed an approach that has been written not only to illustrate the essential complexity of modernism in a evolving [dynamic] culture, but has also been applied to explore the problems of society. These concluding remarks also point out that the essay presented an empirical structure detailing the essence and features, depth and scale of social theory in its sociological sense / form (both scientifically and intellectually).
References
Best, S. 2003. Introduction: the theoretical self, in A beginner’s guide to social theory, edited by S Best. London: Sage Publications: 3 – 13.
Blumer, H. 1954. What is wrong with social theory? American Sociological Review19(1): 3-10.
Calhoun, C & Gerteis, J. & Moody, J. & Pfaff, S. & Virk, I (eds). 2007. Classical
Sociological Theory. Second edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Callinicos, A (ed). 1999. Social Theory. A historical introduction. 1st edition.Cambridge: Polity Press.
Encyclopaedia of Social Theory. 2005. Sv arguments. London: Sage Publications.
Encyclopaedia of Social Theory. 2005. Sv conclusions. London: Sage Publications.
Giddens, A. 1976. Classical social theory and the origins of modern sociology.American Journal of Sociology 81(4): 703-729.
Ritzer, G (ed). 1992. Contemporary Sociological Theory. 3rd edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill Inc.
Seidman, S & Wagner, DG (eds). 1992. Postmodernism and social theory. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
