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Manifest functions are the consequences that people see, observe or even expect. It is explicitly stated and understood by the participants in the relevant action. The manifest function of a rain dance, according to Merton in his 1957 Social Theory and Social Structure, is to produce rain, and this outcome is intended and desired by people participating in the ritual.
The concept of social metabolism has been used in historical research as a framework to describe the development of human societies over time. Particularly important in this field is the work done by the German historian Rolf Sieferle on the socio-ecological patterns of societies. Focusing on the energy dimension of social metabolism (i.e. the ...
Development thinking has been dominated by the West and is very ethnocentric, according to Sachs. The Western lifestyle may neither be a realistic nor a desirable goal for the world's population, postdevelopment theorists argue. Development is being seen as a loss of a country's own culture, people's perception of themselves and modes of life.
Social development theory attempts to explain qualitative changes in the structure and framework of society, that help the society to better realize aims and objectives.. Development can be defined in a manner applicable to all societies at all historical periods as an upward ascending movement featuring greater levels of energy, efficiency, quality, productivity, complexity, comprehension ...
Value-added theory (also known as social strain theory) is a sociological theory, first proposed by Neil Smelser in 1962, which posits that certain conditions are needed for the development of a social movement.
In terms of sociology, historical sociology is often better positioned to analyze social life as diachronic, while survey research takes a snapshot of social life and is thus better equipped to understand social life as synchronic. Some argue that the synchrony of social structure is a methodological perspective rather than an ontological claim ...
The analysis of sequence patterns has foundations in sociological theories that emerged in the middle of the 20th century. [27] Structural theorists argued that society is a system that is characterized by regular patterns. Even seemingly trivial social phenomena are ordered in highly predictable ways. [40]
While social geometry might entail other elements as well (or instead), Black's own explanation of the model includes five variable aspects: horizontal/morphological (the extent and frequency of interaction among participants), vertical (the unequal distribution of resources), corporate (the degree of organization, or of integration of individuals into organizations), cultural (the amount and ...