..
| We
link Durkheim
with social fact, and Weber
with Verstehen. Durkheim's writings led to functionalism while
Weber's writing led to symbolic interactionism. |
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| Both
were "Fathers" of sociology, and wrote mainly in the late nineteenth century. |
.
| Both
called for applying the scientific method to the study of society, and
both wanted sociologists to be objective (although they had different ideas
about objectivity). |
.
| Both
contributed to the sociological perspective. Both criticised Marx,
but in different ways. |
.
| The
main difference between them was that Durkheim coined the term "social
fact" to indicate that there were forces beyond the individual that
affected their behaviour, while Weber said we needed to understand the
meanings people put on their behaviour to understand society. |
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| The
approach by Weber has developed into modern perspective of sociology called
symbolic interactionism. |
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| Durkheim's
study of suicide to show how rates of suicide differed between groups with
different social characteristics, although we do not have enough information
to predict which individuals would commit suicide. |
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| Suicide
rates are quite predictable, when based on specific social characteristics.
Durkheim used this to explain "social fact." |
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| The
idea of seeing social facts as external to the individual was Durkheim's
contribution. See "Inside or Outside?" |
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| In
contrast, we see Weber's verstehen as a "deeper understanding" (which
is why we use the German term rather than the weaker English equivalent)
of the society which we all carry within us. |
.
| Although
we might at first see these differences as mutually exclusive and un-reconcilable,
Weber's "internal" approach and Durkheim's "external" approach, we must
integrate these two perspectives. |
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| Modern
sociology requires that you see them both as valid and operating simultaneously. |
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| Weber
made other important contributions, eg to the study of bureaucracy and
to the factor of religious beliefs and values in social change. |
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| Similarly,
Durkheim
made many other contributions, such as differentiating between organic
and mechanical solidarity, and explaining
anomie. |
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| Weber's
study of the rise of capitalism, and his thesis that it was caused by the
rise of the Protestant ethic, can be used to contrast him with Marx. |
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