SOC 1100 Chapter Notes -Antipositivism, Abusive Power And Control
Document Summary
Just like the sociological behaviour in our society is studied based on its theories, religion can also be studied from either a scientific or interpretive orientation. The structural-functional theory relates well to this topic, as both look at the scientific perspective, whereas the symbolic-interaction approach relates well to interpretive sociology, as both involve society being created form interaction. Scientific sociology is the study based on systematic observation of social behaviour (p. 28). This orientation involves researchers gathering quantitative and empirical data. Using this orientation to understand religion focuses more on controlling behaviour. Religion gives people a sense of unity, as religious services involve people of the same belief coming together to a place of worship. Decline or renaissance? reginald bibby discusses that in a 50-year time span, attendance to religious services has dropped a significant amount. However, although attendance has been dropped, it does not confirm that people have just stopped believing in their certain belief.