There are numerous sociological perspective theories some dating back as early as the 19th century some of these include functionalism, maxism and social action theories.
Throughout the years these perspectives have gradually been modernised due to the changes that have occurred in society. Although the methodology and nature of these perspectives may vary in the manner they view and study society and human beings, they share a main focus, which is to establish how human behaviour is formed and developed through society and to what extent does society influence our behaviours. Therefore I have decided to use functionalism, maxism and social action perspectives as my main starting point since the 3 perspective share some similar and different concepts. They have been around for decades and have contributed a great deal to the modern sociological enterprise. Hopefully by using these 3 main perspectives I will be able to achieve my overall aim which is to describe the methodology, nature and scope of the modern sociological enterprise.
Sociology was developed in response to major changes that occurred during the 18th century and onwards, some of these major changes include the industrial and political revolution. The industrial revolution forced peasants of the land which was used for farming mainly and provided them with factories jobs in cities. Whilst the upper class and manufactures prospered from the industrial revolution, the working class suffered considerably, they worked long hours, received little pay, worked in overcrowded conditions and suffered political turmoil. By 1848 revolution was spreading all over Europe, the working class and its supporters demanded for universal suffrage and economic improvements. Early sociologist such as Comte, Durkheim, Marx and Weber were all confronted by the same problems, the founding fathers were intrigued by these social changes and wanted to understand how these changes had occurred. Separately they began...