Durkheim begins his theory of society with an overall perspective of the whole society. In his work ‘The divisions of labour in society’ (1984), he says there are two ways which can be seen to bind society together; Mechanical solidarity inherited from the earliest form of society, where individuals in society have similar ways of life and are joined together by the collective conscience. Along with organic solidarity, individuals are seen as more complex in their way of life. Durkheim saw suicide as a personal act, which represented a failure in social solidarity. In his study of suicide the ‘collective conscience’ acts as a regulator of individual’s dreams and desires, therefore controlling society.
Durkheim’s seminal monograph Suicide (1952), was a case study where he looked into suicide rates amongst differing social categories, by examining suicide statistics in different police districts. It was a unique publication for its time, which showed his example of what the sociological monograph should look like. This work was seen to pioneer modern social research, as his theory was among the first attempts within sociology to combine theoretical and empirical approaches.
Durkheim’s method was a scientific one due to his sociological view. He had defined the problem he wanted to study, as suicide rate, which could be seen as the dependent variable in scientific work. Durkheim believed that the other main component for his study was social factors, in particular; religion, marital status, economic condition, and military/civilian status, as he believed they all had a direct effect on suicide rates, these factors are seen as the independent variable. Durkheim, like academics carrying out scientific studies, created his hypothesis on the study, which was that suicide rates would vary depending upon the social factors listed above.
While most commonly Durkheim is seen as a positivist with his scientific methodology, the more recent evaluations have argued...