Question

Which sociological paradigm engages in microsociological research only? Select one: of a. Structural functionalism b. Symbolic interactionism c. Feminism od. Conflict theory e. None of the above

Answer 1

Sociologically paradigm engages in micro sociological Research is Symbolic interactionist theory:

Symbolic interactionism is a micro level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society. Communication- the exchange of meaning through language and symbols- is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social words.

George Herbert Mead is considered a founder of symbolic interactionism though he never published his work on it. He coined the term symbolic interactionism and outlined these basic premises: humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things:the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and Society. the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances. for example if you love books a symbolic interactionist might propose that you learnt that books are good for important in the interactions you had with family friends school or Church maybe your family had a special reading time each week, getting your library card was treated as a special event or bedtime stories where associated with warm and comfort .

The symbolic interactionism analysis society by the descriptive meanings that people have given two objects, events and behaviour. The behaviour pattern of the people will be based on this descriptive meaning because people behave according to their descriptive beliefs rather than objective truth. This descriptive belief and meanings are nothing but interpretations given by the people does the theory suggest that society is based on the interpretations of the people. the people interpret each other's behaviour and a social bond is created which is grounded on this interpretation.

Blummer suggests that there are three core principles of this theory. they are:

1. Meaning

2. Language

3. Thought

1. Meaning: it suggests that people act and behave towards the other people and things based upon the meaning that they have given to them. The principal of meaning is Central to the theory of symbolic interactionism. For example, when we think of a Buddhist monk the image comes to our mind. we will have some assumptions about these people and our behaviour towards them will be based on these assumptions that we have made.
2. Language: Second core principle which makes the symbols and interactions comprehensible to the mind. and which helps in formulating assumptions. According to the theory of the naming assignment through the language, the naming creates meaning to everything everything has its own name. to name it things, the knowledge about the thing is important and does the name indicate some feature or any other kind of knowledge about the things. this knowledge is converted into name through languages.

For example when we say to have dinner outside the papers only makes sense of it based on their perspectives and understanding. when I say dinner outside someone will understand it as just going out and getting something to eat and someone else may think that having dinner outside as a date.

1. Thought: the third core principle of symbolic interactionism is thought. The thought implies the interpretation that we have assigned to the symbols. The basics of thought is language. it is a process of mentally conversing about the meanings, names and symbols. The thought includes the imagination. which have the power to provide an idea even about an unknown thing based on known knowledge. for example the best example of thought is “to think”.