Hoda Rafiee Seyed Shahab Miri Functionalism Hoda Rafiee Seyed Shahab Miri This template can be used as a starter file for presenting training materials in a group setting. Sections Right-click on a slide to add sections. Sections can help to organize your slides or facilitate collaboration between multiple authors. Notes Use the Notes section for delivery notes or to provide additional details for the audience. View these notes in Presentation View during your presentation. Keep in mind the font size (important for accessibility, visibility, videotaping, and online production) Coordinated colors Pay particular attention to the graphs, charts, and text boxes. Consider that attendees will print in black and white or grayscale. Run a test print to make sure your colors work when printed in pure black and white and grayscale. Graphics, tables, and graphs Keep it simple: If possible, use consistent, non-distracting styles and colors. Label all graphs and tables. February 14th, 2012 (Bahman 25th, 1390)

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of society Sociology is a social science which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activities. Give a brief overview of the presentation. Describe the major focus of the presentation and why it is important. Introduce each of the major topics. To provide a road map for the audience, you can repeat this Overview slide throughout the presentation, highlighting the particular topic you will discuss next.

Theory a formal set of ideas that is intended to explain why sth happens or exists (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition) is a hypothesis which is supported by observational evidences.

Sociological Theory High-Level Theories Functionalism… Comes in a variety of shapes and sizes… Sociological Theory High-Level Theories Focus on trying to explain how and why society is ordered Functionalism… Mid-Range Theories Marxism… Focus on trying to explain some general aspect of social behaviour Interactionism… Feminism… Low-Level Theories Focus on trying to explain a specific aspect of social behaviour. Why do girls achieve higher educational qualifications than boys? Why do I always fall asleep in Psychology lessons?

Functionalism… “Society Is Like”: A Human Body Characteristics of human body… Each part of the body works in harmony with all other parts Characteristics of society… Each part of society works in harmony with all other parts

Marxism… “Society Is Like”: A League Table Characteristics of league table… A league is characterised by competition between teams Characteristics of society… Society involves competition between social groups / classes

Interactionism… “Society Is Like”: A Play Characteristics of a play… A play has actors who play their individual roles Characteristics of society… Society consists of individual actors who play a variety of roles

Feminism… “Society Is Like”: A League Table Characteristics of league table… A league is characterised by competition between teams Characteristics of society… Society involves competition between men and women

Post-Modernism… “Society Is Like”: A Theme Park Characteristics of theme park… A theme park has numerous different rides Characteristics of society… Society is characterised by a multiplicity of choices (work, education, leisure, etc.)

Functionalism This is another option for an Overview slides using transitions.

Theorists

Functionalism is mainly associated with the work of two sociologists; Émile Durkheim & Talcott Parsons

other sociologist who worked on this topic as well; Herbert Spencer, Davis and Moore, Robert Merton and Almond and Powell.

Sociological theories always have to be understood in terms of the time in which they were developed

Emile Durkheim 1858-1917 David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.

- the specialised division of labour For Durkheim key features of 19th century were: Industrialisation - the specialised division of labour

..and the movement of people from country to city –urban life

Talcott Parsons 1902-1979 Talcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973.

For Parsons two particular things struck him about life in 1950s USA The considerable affluence enjoyed by many

..and the vast scale of urban society Downtown Los Angeles – early 1900s and 2010

Theory Use a section header for each of the topics, so there is a clear transition to the audience.

Both sociologists developed a view which focuses on the idea that societies EVOLVE , grow or develop - a bit like living organisms

Societies are simply organised to start with, but over time they grow and become more complex

Like an organism, societies have certain needs These needs are called ‘functional prerequisites’

All societies have these needs – but they can achieve them in different ways

Systems are developed to meet the needs

An education system

A political system….. .. And so on

The systems and the society are held together because everyone shares the same values There is a shared culture

The shared culture is transmitted through socialisation into common norms and values

Society changes as systems or structures become more complex

In large scale industrial society, new ways have to be found to meet functional prerequisites

The need for specialised workers and professionals means the old system of aristocratic elites will not work

industrial society therefore becomes meritocratic Functional Necessity

..anyone can make it – if they have talent

But things don’t always work so smoothly

Robert Merton said industrial societies could be Dysfunctional

…if essential needs are not being met or if some groups cannot achieve the goals of the whole society

But how could you criticise it? Not a bad theory But how could you criticise it?

It assumes value consensus Clockwise Turkey, UK, Ukraine Political discussions around the world

It generally has an inadequate view of power – everyone seems fairly equal Do we all start from the same position with equal power and resources?

It seems deterministic – as with Marxism, people still seem very much at the mercy of social structures

Like all theories it has strengths and weaknesses Over to you Like all theories it has strengths and weaknesses But one point worth remembering is that even sociologists who don’t like functionalism much, usually recognise the importance of Durkheim – He believed in the idea of social structures.

Discussion Are you in favor or against functionalism? Why? Why not? How do you think this theory (functionalism) can be improved? Discuss outcomes of the case study or class simulation. Cover best practices.

Summary Functionalists are very POSITIVE about society and always see the GOOD in everything. They even think that crime is good for society! - They look at society on a MACRO scale [this means that they look at society on a large scale]. They want to generalize their ideas to the whole of society. For example they look at what education does for society as a whole not just certain people in society. Functionalists also believe that society is based on CONSENSUS, this means agreement, i.e. we are all SOCIALISED [brought up] to agree on how to behave [known as NORMS] and what is right and wrong [known as VALUES]. Functionalists believe that each part of society has a FUNCTION [a job to do] to make sure that society runs smoothly and everything stays in harmony. For example education has a function to make sure people are educated to be good at the job they will get after school. Summarize presentation content by restating the important points from the lessons. What do you want the audience to remember when they leave your presentation? Save your presentation to a video for easy distribution (To create a video, click the File tab, and then click Share.  Under File Types, click Create a Video.)

Microsoft Engineering Excellence References Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition http://sixthsense.osfc.ac.uk/sociology/as_sociology/functionalism.asp Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics Microsoft Confidential

Microsoft Engineering Excellence Refrences Fun basics functionalism presentation Encyclopedia Britannica ultimate reference suite Pictures taken from various websites And some others that cannot be mentioned because of lack of the space Microsoft Confidential

Microsoft Engineering Excellence Questions? Microsoft Confidential

Microsoft Engineering Excellence Is your presentation as crisp as possible? Consider moving extra content to the appendix. Use appendix slides to store content that you might want to refer to during the Question slide or that may be useful for attendees to investigate deeper in the future. Microsoft Confidential

Winter 2012 Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University Microsoft Engineering Excellence Winter 2012 Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University Is your presentation as crisp as possible? Consider moving extra content to the appendix. Use appendix slides to store content that you might want to refer to during the Question slide or that may be useful for attendees to investigate deeper in the future. Microsoft Confidential