These
____________________
are
the
fundamental
assumptions
that
sociologists
have
about
the
social
world
,
the
ones
that
guide
their
thinking
and
research
.
Sociology
is
concerned
with
both
the
____________________
,
the
large
scale
and
the
____________________
,
the
smaller
scale
.
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Let's
start
with
____________________
,
which
originated
with
a
French
sociologist
named
____________________
.
He
imagined
society
as
a
kind
of
organism
,
with
different
parts
that
all
worked
together
to
keep
it
alive
and
in
good
health
.
Of
course
,
things
could
go
wrong
.
But
this
was
always
imagined
by
this
scientist
as
a
malfunction
,
an
illness
,
or
a
deviation
from
the
normal
functioning
of
things
.
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So
the
this
perspective
makes
this
same
basic
assumption
:
society
is
seen
as
a
complex
system
whose
parts
work
together
to
promote
stability
and
social
order
.
And
these
different
"
____________________
"
of
society
are
social
structures
,
relatively
stable
patterns
of
social
behavior
.
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For
example
,
this
scientist
was
extremely
interested
in
religion
,
and
also
in
the
division
of
labor
,
or
how
tasks
in
a
society
are
divided
up
.
And
these
structures
are
seen
as
fulfilling
certain
social
functions
.
For
instance
,
the
family
,
in
most
societies
,
fulfills
the
function
of
socializing
children
-
teaching
them
how
to
live
in
that
society
.
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____________________
functions
are
intended
or
obvious
consequences
of
a
particular
structure
,
while
____________________
functions
are
unintended
or
unrecognized
.
For
example
,
we
often
think
of
the
purpose
of
schools
as
providing
children
with
knowledge
.
But
schools
can
also
help
socialize
children
.
They
can
have
-
and
historically
have
had
-
the
additional
purpose
of
creating
workers
who
listen
to
authority
and
hit
deadlines
.
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Now
,
along
with
functions
,
we
also
have
social
____________________
,
which
is
any
social
pattern
that
disrupts
the
smooth
operation
of
society
.
Technological
development
is
a
powerful
driver
of
economic
improvement
,
for
example
,
which
is
a
useful
function
.
But
it's
also
a
destabilizing
force
.
New
machines
can
put
people
out
of
work
.
Someday
soon
,
we
may
see
the
social
dysfunction
of
thousands
of
long
distance
truckers
being
displaced
by
self
-
driving
vehicles
.
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-
And
this
brings
us
to
one
of
the
problems
with
this
perspective
.
Since
it
sees
society
as
fundamentally
functional
and
stable
,
it
can
be
really
bad
at
dealing
with
____________________
.
It
can
be
bad
at
providing
good
explanations
for
why
change
happens
,
and
it
can
also
interpret
bad
things
in
society
as
having
positive
functions
,
which
should
therefore
not
be
changed
.
To
take
an
extreme
example
,
this
perspective
view
might
imagine
that
poverty
,
although
harmful
to
people
,
is
functional
for
society
,
because
it
ensures
there
are
always
people
who
want
work
.
So
this
view
might
see
any
attempts
at
alleviating
poverty
as
being
potentially
damaging
to
society
.
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____________________
imagine
society
as
being
composed
of
different
groups
that
struggle
over
scarce
resources
-
like
power
,
money
,
land
,
food
,
or
status
.
This
view
takes
change
as
being
fundamental
to
society
.
The
first
conflict
theory
in
sociology
was
the
theory
of
class
conflict
,
advanced
by
____________________
.
This
theory
imagines
society
as
having
different
classes
based
on
their
relationships
to
the
means
of
production
-
things
like
factories
and
raw
materials
.
Under
capitalism
,
two
classes
were
the
capitalists
,
or
____________________
,
who
own
the
means
of
production
,
and
the
workers
,
or
____________________
,
who
must
sell
their
labor
to
survive
.
He
saw
this
conflict
between
classes
as
the
central
conflict
in
society
and
the
source
inequality
in
power
and
wealth
.
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But
there
are
other
conflict
theories
that
focus
on
different
kinds
of
groups
.
Race
-
Conflict
theory
,
for
example
,
was
first
stated
sociologically
by
____________________
,
another
founder
of
sociology
.
It
understands
social
inequality
as
the
result
of
conflict
between
different
racial
and
ethnic
groups
.
Gender
-
Conflict
theory
,
meanwhile
,
focuses
on
the
social
inequalities
between
women
and
men
.
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-
____________________
first
appeared
most
clearly
in
the
work
of
German
sociologist
____________________
and
his
focus
on
____________________
,
or
"
understanding
.
"
He
believed
that
sociology
needed
to
focus
on
people's
individual
social
situations
and
the
meaning
that
they
attached
to
them
.
So
,
because
it's
more
micro
-
focused
,
this
school
of
thought
understands
society
as
the
product
of
everyday
social
interactions
.
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Specifically
,
this
school
of
thought
is
interested
in
understanding
the
shared
reality
that
people
create
through
their
meeting
with
each
other
.
.
It
might
seem
weird
to
say
that
reality
can
be
created
,
but
think
back
to
the
idea
of
raw
facts
versus
interpretation
.
Waving
my
hand
back
and
forth
is
a
raw
fact
,
but
it
only
means
that
I'm
waving
hello
to
you
because
we've
agreed
to
give
it
that
meaning
.
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For
this
school
of
thought
,
then
,
there
is
no
big
-
T
truth
.
Instead
,
it
looks
at
the
world
we
create
when
we
assign
meaning
to
interactions
and
objects
.
A
handshake
is
only
a
greeting
because
we
agree
that
it
is
.
A
dog
can
be
a
friend
or
food
,
depending
on
what
meaning
we've
given
it
.