ANALYZE THE BASIC CONCEPTS AND
PRINCIPLES OF THE MAJOR SOCIAL
SCIENCE THEORIES
Prepared by: Kesh Chutchka G. Omoso

• DIRECTION: READ EACH ITEM CAREFULLY. WRITE T IF THE STATEMENT IS TRUE AND F IF THE STATEMENT
IS FALSE. WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN A ¼ SHEET OF PAPER.
•
• ____1. MICROSTRUCTURES ARE THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES FORMED AMONG GROUPS OR INSTITUTIONS.
• ____2. SOCIAL FUNCTIONS ARE THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES OR THEIR PURPOSE.
• ____3. MACROSTRUCTURES ARE SOCIAL STRUCTURES THAT WERE ESTABLISHED BY THE INDIVIDUAL OR
WITHIN A GROUP THAT RESULTED IN INDIVIDUAL INTERACTIONS.
• ____4. STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM IS THE ESSENTIAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY THAT REVOLVES AROUND
THE NOTION THAT A SOCIETY IS COMPOSED OF A SYSTEM OF INTERCONNECTED PARTS THAT HAVE THEIR
OWN PARTICULAR FUNCTION.
• ____5. MANIFEST FUNCTION IS THE PREDICTED, INTENDED, AND EXPECTED EFFECT OF A SOCIAL
STRUCTURE.
• ____6. THE UNPREDICTED AND UNEXPECTED DISRUPTIONS OF A SOCIAL STRUCTURE IS CALLED LATENT
DYSFUNCTION.
• ____7. VARIOUS PARTS OF THE SOCIETY ARE INTERRELATED.
• ____8. DAVIS AND MOORE AIMED TO DEVELOP A THEORY, WHICH THEY CALLED MIDDLE RANGE THEORY,
THAT AIMS TO BE MORE FOCUSED AND MANAGEABLE.
• ____9. THEORISTS RESPOND TO THE SOCIAL PHENOMENA THAT PERVADE SOCIETY.

• ____10 COMMUNICATION IS THE MEANS BY WHICH SOCIETY LEARNS ABOUT THE ISSUES AND AFFAIRS OF
THE STATE.
• ____11. STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM IS THE SAME AS THE HUMAN BODY PARTS THAT HAVE SPECIFIC
FUNCTIONS, FUNCTIONALISM IMPLIES THAT ALL STRUCTURES IN SOCIETY HAVE THEIR OWN PURPOSE
AND SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.
• ____12. ADDRESSING ELDERS WITH RESPECT, AS AN EXAMPLE OF A MACROSTRUCTURE, PATTERNS AND
SHAPES THE YOUNGER GENERATION TO PROMOTE SOCIAL VALUES.
• ____13. WHEN ONE OF THE PARTS OF THE SOCIETY DOES NOT PERFORM PROPERLY, THE ENTIRE SOCIETY
COULD NOT FUNCTION WELL.
• ____14. POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION IS A MEANS BY WHICH PROPER CIVIC CONDUCT, DUTIES AND GOOD
CITIZENSHIP ARE PROMOTED AND SOCIETAL VALUES AND BELIEFS ARE PASSED ON TO THE YOUNGER
GENERATION.
• ____15. RECRUITMENT IS THE WAY BY WHICH POLITICAL SYSTEMS ATTRACT THE INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC
THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN DEBATES AND OTHER ENGAGEMENTS.
•

Motivation

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM

• STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM OR SIMPLY FUNCTIONALISM
vIS ESSENTIALLY A SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY THAT REVOLVES AROUND THE
NOTION THAT A SOCIETY IS COMPOSED OF A SYSTEM OF
INTERCONNECTED PARTS THAT HAVE THEIR OWN PARTICULAR FUNCTIONS.

2 KINDS OF STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM

MACROSTRUCTURES
v ARE SOCIAL STRUCTURES FORMED AMONG GROUPS OR INSTITUTIONS.
v WHICH INCLUDE RELIGION, EDUCATION, TRADITION,. AND CULTURE

MICROSTRUCTURES
vSOCIAL STRUCTURES ESTABLISHED AMONG INDIVIDUALS OR WITHIN GROUPS
THAT RESULT IN INDIVIDUAL INTERACTIONS.

SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
IS THE EFFECTS OF THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES OR THEIR PURPOSE .
Every social structure has a corresponding social function. This
relationship between social structures and social functions are
the parts of the system which structural functionalism identifies.

KEY CONCEPTS IN STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM
MANIFEST FUNCTION
ØIS THE PREDICTED, INTENDED, EXPECTED, AND KNOWABLE EFFECT OF A SOCIAL STRUCTURE.
vAN EXAMPLE OF WHICH IS WHEN PEOPLE GO TO CHURCH, IN ORDER TO PRAY AND TO HEAR MASS.
LATENT FUNCTION
ØIS THE UNINTENDED OUTCOME OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
vSO, IF THE MANIFEST FUNCTION OF GOING TO CHURCH IS TO PRAY AND HEAR MASS, ITS
LATENT FUNCTION IS TO GATHER PEOPLE TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE TO REINFORCE THE
SENSE OF COMMUNITY.

MANIFEST AND LATENT DYSFUNCTIONS
• MANIFEST DYSFUNCTION
•IS THE PREDICTED, EXPECTED, AND KNOWABLE DISRUPTIONS
OF A SOCIAL STRUCTURE.
• LATENT DYSFUNCTION
• IS THE UNPREDICTED AND UNEXPECTED DISRUPTIONS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES.

IMPORTANT THEORISTS
• AUGUSTE COMTE
• HE PROVIDED AN ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL EVOLUTION THROUGH HIS LAW OF THREE
STAGES. COMTE PROVIDED A THEORY OF SOCIETY AND MAN’S COGNITIVE
PROGRESSION FROM RELIGIOUS AND ABSTRACT CONCEPTS TO A SCIENTIFIC
PERSPECTIVE. COMTE’S IDEAS ARE CONSIDERED AS THE PRECURSOR TO STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM, BECAUSE HE IDENTIFIED TRADITION AND OTHER SOCIAL STRUCTURES
AS ELEMENTS IN SHAPING THE SOCIETY. THE LAW OF THREE STAGES ITSELF IS A
CRITIQUE OF THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND OF HOW HUMANS WERE SHAPED BY
PROGRESSIVE THINKING.

LAW OF 3 STAGES BY AUGUST COMTE

HERBERT SPENCER
ØHE IS KNOWN AS THE FIRST SOCIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALIST. HIS
COMPARISON OF SOCIETY TO THE HUMAN BODY IS THE OVERARCHING IDEA
OF STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM.
ØACCORDING TO SPENCER, EACH SOCIAL STRUCTURE IS LIKE A BODY PART---IT
HAS A PURPOSE AND A FUNCTION IN THE OVERALL WELL-BEING OF THE
SOCIETY. HE ALSO COMPARED THE WAY ORGANISM EVOLVED TO HOW IT
HANDLES CONSTANT PROBLEMS.

TALCOTT PARSONS
Ø TALCOTT PARSONS WAS AN AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST KNOWN AS ONE OF THE PRIMARY
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM.
ØHE IDENTIFIED THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS WHICH MAKE UP THE STRUCTURE OF THE SOCIETY, WHICH HE
CALLED SYSTEMS LEVELS.
THESE ARE:
§ CULTURAL SYSTEM IS THE STRUCTURE THAT THE SOCIETY GENERATED THROUGHOUT HISTORY SO
THAT PEOPLE CAN SOCIALIZE AND LIVE TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY.
§ SOCIAL SYSTEM IS UNDERSTOOD AS THE ROLES PEOPLE HAVE IN SOCIETY.
§ PERSONALITY SYSTEM REFERS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS AFFECT SOCIETY THROUGH THEIR PERSONALITIES,
ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, BELIEFS AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS.
§ BEHAVIORAL OR BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM IS THE PHYSICAL BODY OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE
ENVIRONMENT WHERE HE OR SHE LIVES IN.

DAVIS AND MOORE
• KINGSLEY DAVIS (1908–1997) AND WILBERT MOORE (1914–1987) WERE
AMERICAN SOCIOLOGISTS KNOWN FOR THE FUNCTIONALIST THEORY OF
STRATIFICATION OR DAVIS- MOORE HYPOTHESIS.
vTHEIR HYPOTHESIS SUGGEST THAT SOCIAL INEQUALITIES ARE NECESSARY SO
THAT SOCIETY BENEFITS FROM THEM---FROM THE POOR, THE MIDDLE CLASS
AND THE RICH.
Ø IN ORDER FOR THE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE TO FUNCTION PROPERLY, THE
POSITIONS IN THIS HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY
NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES SO THAT COMPETENT
INDIVIDUALS WOULD FILL THE POSITIONS.

ROBERT MERTON
• ROBERT MERTON (1910–2003) WAS AN AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST WHO IS ALSO A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO
THE FUNCTIONALIST THEORY OF SOCIETY.
ØHE DEVELOPED THE CONCEPTS OF MANIFEST AND LATENT FUNCTIONS AND DYSFUNCTIONS WHICH HE CALLED
MIDDLE RANGE THEORY.
Ø MERTON FOCUSED ON DYSFUNCTION AS IT OPPOSES THE IDEA OF FUNCTIONAL UNITY, WHICH
PRESUPPOSES THAT EVERYTHING WORKS OPTIMALLY ALL THE TIME AND THAT DISTORTIONS EXIST IN SOCIETY.
BECAUSE DYSFUNCTION IS DEPENDENT UPON WHO IS ASKED, IT IS CALLED VALUED TERM.
ØFOR EXAMPLE, A VEHICULAR ACCIDENT IS SEEN AS A DYSFUNCTION, BUT CAN ALSO BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR
A TOW TRUCK DRIVER OR JUNKYARD DEALER TO GAIN PROFIT (THE FORMER BY TOWING WRECKED VEHICLES,
THE LATTER BY RECYCLING THE PARTS OF THE VEHICLES).

ALMOND AND POWELL
• GABRIEL ALMOND (1911–2002) AND BINGHAM POWELL (BORN 1942) ARE AMERICAN POLITICAL
SCIENTISTS WHO APPLIED STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALIST THEORIES IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS.
• POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION IS THE MEANS BY WHICH PROPER CIVIC CONDUCT, DUTIES AND GOOD
CITIZENSHIP ARE PROMOTED AND SOCIETAL VALUES AND BELIEFS ARE PASSED ON TO THE YOUNGER
GENERATION.
• RECRUITMENT IS THE WAY BY WHICH POLITICAL SYSTEMS ATTRACT THE INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC
THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN DEBATES AND OTHER ENGAGEMENTS.
• COMMUNICATION IS THE MEANS BY WHICH SOCIETY LEARNS ABOUT THE ISSUES AND AFFAIRS OF THE
STATE.
•

ESSENTIAL LEARNING
• THE MAIN IDEA IN STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM IS THAT THE SOCIETY IS MADE UP OF DIFFERENT
COMPONENTS SUCH AS INSTITUTIONS, SERVICES, AND PEOPLE THAT WORK TOGETHER AND ALLOW THE
SOCIETY TO FUNCTION. AS BODY PARTS HAVE SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS, FUNCTIONALISM IMPLIES THAT ALL
STRUCTURE IN SOCIETY HAVE THEIR OWN PURPOSE AND SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
• STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM, OR SIMPLY FUNCTIONALISM, IS “A FRAMEWORK FOR BUILDING THEORY
THAT SEES SOCIETY AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM WHOSE PARTS WORK TOGETHER TO PROMOTE SOLIDARITY
AND STABILITY”.
• THE STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH IS A PERSPECTIVE IN SOCIOLOGY THAT SEES SOCIETY AS A
COMPLEX SYSTEM WHOSE PARTS WORK TOGETHER TO PROMOTE SOLIDARITY AND STABILITY.
EDUCATION, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS SEVERAL IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS IN A SOCIETY, SUCH AS
SOCIALIZATION, LEARNING, AND SOCIAL PLACEMENT.
•

ASSESSMENT

“SCIENCE IS MORALLY NEUTRAL, BUT SOCIAL
SCIENCE SHOWS US THAT SOME MORAL
CODES ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS.”
-MARIO BUNGE-

-THE END-
• THANK YOU!!