Chapter 2: DORMINANT

APPROACHES AND IDEAS IN

SOCIAL SCIENCES
POSITIVISM
 It is derived from the French word
positivisme which means “imposed
on the mind by experience”.
 It refers to the Philosophy of science
that asserts that the only source of
trustworthy knowledge is the
information obtained from rational
conducts and reports of sensory
experience.
August Comte
A French sociologist that
considered as the “Father of
Positivism” when he asserted in
the early 19th century that society,
like the physical world, operates
according to absolute laws, and
that it is duty of the sociologist to
discover these laws in order to
understand the nature of society.
 POSITIVISM

STRUCTURAL-
FUNCTIONALISM

RATIONAL CHOICE

INSTITUTIONAL
 STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM

•Is dominant approach in the social

science that sees society as a
complex system whose parts works
together to promote solidarity and
stability.
•It is more concerned with the place
of individuals in the social order itself
than with individual actions.
 STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM

•In this theory, society sees as

running effortlessly like a fit life form,
composed of many parts concocted
in large systems, and these systems,
each with its own particular use or
function, operating together with the
others.
Historical Context
 The beginnings of structural-
functionalism can be traced
back to the works of sociologists
Emile Durkheim, A.R. Radcliffe-
Brown and Herbert Spencer.
Emile Durkheim
 The foundations of this theory
were laid by the French
sociologist Emile Durkheim in
the late 19th century and were
discussed in his books, The
Division of Labor in Society and
Suicide.
Bronislaw Malinowski
 In the early 20th century,
Malinowski speculated that
cultural practices had
psychological and
physiological functions.
Radcliffe-Brown
 He focused on social structure.
 In the United States, Talcott
Parsons introduced the idea of
homeostasis, or the idea that
there are constant types of
structures which compose the
inter-reliant system of a society
and worked to maintain society.
Key Concepts

Social Structures
Social
Functions/Dysfunctions
Social Structure
 Itis the pattered social
relation.
oGovernment
oChurch (religion)
oSchool (education)
oMedia
Social Functions/Dysfunction
 It refer to the results or effects
for the operation of the society
in general.
example: Education has a
number of significant purposes
in a society, such as socializing
and learning.
Social Functions/Dysfunction
It may be intended or
unintended consequences,
thus they can be classified
into manifest and latent
functions.
Robert Merton
An American sociologist that
emphasized the important of
manifest and latent functions
in structural-functionalism for
a better understanding of
society.
Manifest
 Are those that are intentional or
known, referring to functions which
people suppose and anticipate to
be fulfilled by the institutions.
example: one of the manifest
functions of education is to transmit
cultural norms and values to the
future generation.
Latent Functions
 Are the unexpected effects of
institutions.
example: the latent function of
education was to keep the youth
off the streets.
Social Dysfunctions
 Dysfunction may also be
manifest and latent, and have
a negative effect on society.
Manifest Dysfunctions
 Are expected disruptions of
social life.
example: a manifest dysfunction
of heavy migration from rural to
urban areas might include
overpopulation and unemployed.
Latent Dysfunctions
Latent dysfunction might
include rise in crime rate due
to massive unemployment
generated by the said
migrate.