Perspectives on Sociological Theories

Running head: PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Perspectives on Sociological Theories
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1PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Part 1
1. Social class, class, life chances
Social class- social class refers to the division of the society
depending on economic or social status. Social class can be
dependent on various aspects that can again be interrelated
amongst themselves. The main factors that usually define social
class are, financial position, ethnic majority population or social
hierarchy. The social classes are usually divided into four levels, a)
the upper class; b) the middle class; c) working class and d) the
lower class. An example of social class can be said to be the rich
business owners that belong to the upper classes. Social class in
many way determines the lives of the people that form part of them.
Class- Class refers to the social strata that one belongs to. This can
mostly mean the financial position that one belongs to in a given
society. Moreover, class can also be said to be the lifestyle choices
that the people of the various social divisions tend to make. For
example- a higher income person is believed to have a higher class.
Life chances- Life chances refer to a social theory where a person is
given an opportunity to improve the quality of life. Life chances
measure the probability of an individual to change the lifestyle that
he/she has in the future. For example- a poor person can get a very
well paid job and improve his way of life.
Social class, class and life chances are interrelated in the sense that
they all tend to affect the lives of individuals at one point or the
other in a given society.
2. Diffuseness, specificity, solidarity
Diffuseness- This is the way in which people interact in societies
where they tend to meet one another in various roles that overlap.
Societies that are affected by diffuseness encounter very little
specialization of occupation or societal roles (Adams and Bell). For
example- given the case of a small town school, people tend to
meet each other more often and the same friends remain close to
each other.
Specificity- this means the condition of any person being peculiar to
only particular individuals or groups. This is more common in case of
larger or more complex societies, such as large cities. Thus it can be

2PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
said that specificity creates an environment of more separated
relationships than diffuseness.
Solidarity- This is the agreement or unity between groups or
individuals that have shared interests. This helps people to identify
with the causes of other people and join their causes for obtaining
goals that are important. Solidarity can only be reached though
awareness of the interests that are shared among various people.
For example- people can have solidarity in case of shared interests
in human rights or environmental issues.
These concepts are interrelated as they all stem from the
interactions of societies or groups. Individuals also pay part in all
three cases as they interact with their outside world. All the three
aspects connect groups or individuals together.
3. Statics, dynamics, societal analysis
Statics- In sociology social statics means the order of the society.
The order includes the structural components that encompass
family, government and economics. Statics are based on the fact
that the social order is measurable. The social statics include the
structural components, e.g. government, family and economics and
the interactions between these components (Seidman). The
sociological contexts that it helps to measure are important for
understanding social dynamics.
Dynamics- Social dynamics refer to the behavior of the social groups
resulting from the interactions that arise between them. The basic
assumption that is considered in case of social dynamics is that
individuals tend to be influenced by one another.
Societal analysis- This refers to the systematic analysis of the
various issues that may be prevalent in the society. The analysis are
often focused towards bringing about a desired change in society. In
societal analysis a problem is a situation that the community
consider to be undesirable.
The three concepts are interrelated with each other. Social static
is the measure of the social structure. Social dynamics further
improve upon the social static to prove an effective outlook of the
behavioral aspects of the society. Societal analysis is the systematic
analysis of the various issues that are focused towards positive
social change. Hence, the three studies of the society complement
each other.

3PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Part 2
p) Mosca observed that the society was divided into various classes
irrespective of the developmental quality of any given society.
Hence, even the more developed society could be divided into the
social class and the political class. This led him to think that
stratification was inevitable in society (Adams and Bell). There always
remains certain discrepancies in the society that causes the division
of the political classes that form the rulers and the social classes
that are the ones that are ruled. Moreover, only a few people in the
society displayed organizational skills that were superior to the
others. Hence it can be said that there exists conditions in the
society that lead to the inevitable growth of stratification of society.
The observation of social life by Davis and Moore were based on
the functional importance of the social roles of the individuals. Their
theory was based on the fact that the greater functional importance
of any social role leads to the greater reward. Their observations
that led to their consideration of the theory was the inequality of the
quality of work that was present in the society. Hence, it is the
qualified people that did the more valuable work and the lesser
qualified people that did the lesser valuable work. Hence, according
to the theorists the society was divided into people that did more
important tasks or lesser important tasks and this led to social
stratification (Bellamy).
In Canada presently, there is the existence of the politically
aware classes and the politically lesser aware classes. The political
class of Canada tend to be the people that that are highly qualified
and have important positions in regards to the important work that
they do. In accordance with the theory of Davis and Moore there are
people that are more qualified to do more important jobs in Canada
like framing laws, taking policy or taxation decisions. The large
political class of Canada was found to be more concerned about the
financial elements that can ensure the stability of the nation. There
is the other class that also exists in Canada that is different from the
political classes. This is the class that form the bulk of the masses
and are usually much lesser educated or aware of the larger political
issues that are present in the country (Porter). There is a section of
the youth that remain uninformed about the major happenings
across the globe and are more concerned about deriving personal
values from the policies of the government. Hence, stratification is
very much evident in the context of Canada.
Mosca divided the social classes in view of the capabilities of the
various groups or individuals. According to him there were people
that did not have the right amount of mental abilities to reach the