State-Oriented Approach

Examples of State-Oriented Approach in the following topics:

• Evaluating Global Theories of Inequality

  • Occupy Wall Street protesters approach inequality from a social justice perspective that holds that all Americans deserve equal life chances and have been denied them by market-oriented approaches to economic regulation (or lack thereof).
  • Occupy Wall Street protesters approach inequality from a social justice perspective that holds that all Americans deserve equal life chances and have been denied them by market-oriented approaches to economic regulation (or lack thereof).
  • Functionalists are likely to embrace market-oriented approaches to inequality, on the basis that a free market will result in prices that benefit the smooth-functioning and growth of economies.
  • These thinkers are likely to support state-oriented approaches to regulating inequality, with governments instating policies to equally distribute opportunities and resources.
  • Interactionists recognize global inequality, but consider it only in the context of individual relations and, therefore, see no role for state intervention.

• The Functionalist Perspective

  • This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole.
  • This approach looks at both social structure and social functions.
  • By the 1980s, its place was taken in Europe by more conflict-oriented approaches, and more recently by "structuralism".
  • While some of the critical approaches also gained popularity in the United States, the mainstream of the discipline has instead shifted to a myriad of empirically-oriented middle-range theories with no overarching theoretical orientation.

• Market-Oriented Theories

  • Market-oriented theories of inequality argue that supply and demand will regulate prices and wages and stabilize inequality.
  • Market-oriented theories of inequality are focused on the laws of the free market.
  • When the supply of a product exactly meets the demand for it, the price reaches a state of equilibrium and no longer fluctuates.
  • Considering inequality, market-oriented theories claim that if left to the free-market, all products and services will reach equilibrium, and price stability will reduce inequality.
  • According to market-oriented theories, over time the low wages earned by agricultural laborers will induce more people to learn other skills, thus reducing the pool of agricultural laborers.

• Tradition vs. Science

  • Thus, Aristotle studied planetary motion and poetry with the same methods, and Plato mixed geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge.
  • The first thinkers to attempt to combine scientific inquiry with the exploration of human relationships were Emile Durkheim in France and William James in the United States .
  • Sociology embodies several tensions, such as those between quantitative and qualitative methods, between positivist and interpretive orientations, and between objective and critical approaches.
  • This approach to doing science is often termed positivism or empiricism.
  • The positivist approach to social science seeks to explain and predict social phenomena, often employing a quantitative approach.

• History

  • In the United States, the first Sociology course was taught at the University of Kansas, Lawrence in 1890 under the title Elements of Sociology (the oldest continuing sociology course in America).
  • The first full fledged university department of sociology in the United States was established in 1892 at the University of Chicago by Albion W.
  • This early sociological approach, supported by August Comte, led to positivism, a methodological approach based on sociological naturalism.
  • The contrast between positivist sociology and the verstehen approach has been reformulated in modern sociology as a distinction between quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches, respectively.
  • Quantitative sociology is generally a numerical approach to understanding human behavior.

• Models of Urban Growth

  • The field of urban sociology had been dominated by the idea that cities were basically containers for human action, in which actors competed among themselves for the most strategic parcels of land, and the real estate market reflected the state of that competition.
  • This theory, known as the "broken windows theory," argues that small indicators of neglect, such as broken windows and unkempt lawns, promote a feeling that an area is in a state of decay.
  • Smart growth programs often incorporate transit-oriented development goals to encourage effective public transit systems and make bicyclers and pedestrians more comfortable.
  • As an approach to urban planning, it encompasses principles such as traditional neighborhood design and transit-oriented development.

• The Development of Sociology in the U.S.

  • But for Ward, science was not objective and removed, but human-centered and results-oriented.
  • Though originated by Spencer, these ideas were advanced in the United States by William Graham Sumner, an economist and sociologist at Yale.
  • Ward disagreed with Spencer and Sumner and, in contrast to their laissez-faire approach, promoted active intervention.
  • As a political approach, Ward's system became known as "social liberalism," as distinguished from the classical liberalism of the 18th and 19th centuries.
  • This perception was strengthened by the growing socialist movement in the United States, led by the Marxist Russian Revolution and the rise of Nazism in Europe.

• Paying for Medical Care

  • Concerns about health insurance are prevalent in the United States.
  • Healthcare changes in the United States, however, are typically rife with conflict, slow to progress, and dominated by concerns about profits rather than patients, which often leads to a highly fractured and conflict-oriented approach with little room for significant changes except over vast periods of time (see debates surrounding Social Security, the Hill-Burton Act, the EMTALA, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for examples.
  • It is seen as a key part of a welfare state.
  • The state chooses for them.
  • However, wealthy Canadians can and travel to the United States for care.

• Determining the Research Design

  • One of the best known examples of a quantitative research instrument is the United States Census, which is taken every 10 years.
  • The Census form asks every person in the United States for some very basic information, such as age and race.
  • Quantitative methods of sociological research approach social phenomena from the perspective that they can be measured and quantified.
  • While quantitative methods involve experiments, surveys, secondary data analysis, and statistical analysis, qualitatively oriented sociologists tend to employ different methods of data collection and hypothesis testing, including participant observation, interviews, focus groups, content analysis, and historical comparison .
  • Although sociologists often specialize in one approach, many sociologists use a complementary combination of design types and research methods in their research.

• Sociology and Science

  • Arriving at a verstehen-like understanding of society thus involves not only quantitative approaches, but more interpretive, qualitative approaches.
  • The contrast between positivist sociology and the verstehen approach has been reformulated in modern sociology as a distinction between quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches, respectively.
  • Quantitative sociology is generally a numerical approach to understanding human behavior.
  • While there are some individuals who begin analyzing data without a theoretical orientation to guide their analysis, most begin with a theoretical idea or question and gather data to test that theory.
  • The second step is the collection of data, and this is really where the two approaches differ.