Page 54 - Sociology and You

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Unit 1 Sociological Perspectives
World View
World View
A World Turned Upside Down
Without turning this book upside down, try to locate the United States. If you find this view of the world disorienting because you are used to conventional maps, you may reject this new worldview. So it is with any perspective. In this book you will be asked to abandon the conventional or psychological per- spective in favor of the sociological perspective.
Interpreting the Map
1. What does your reaction to this map tell you about the power of the perspective you bring to a situation?
2. Look at world maps in your various social studies classes as you progress through the day. Where are North America and Europe located on these maps? What does that tell you about the perspective of these map publishers and their customers?
of society. A theoretical perspective is viewed as true by its supporters and it helps them organize their research.
Competing, even conflicting, theories in science usually exist at the same time. Perhaps not enough evidence exists to determine which theory is ac- curate, or different theories may explain different aspects of the problem. This is even true in the so-called “hard” sciences like modern physics. Einstein’s theory of general relativity, for example, contradicts the widely ac- cepted Big Bang theory of the origin of the physical universe. Einstein him- self never accepted the quantum theory. Nonetheless, this theory has become the foundation of modern developments in such fields as chemistry and mol- ecular biology (Hawking, 1998). Today theories are being put forth that hold promise for combining relativity and quantum theory. If theories still com- pete in physics, it should not be surprising that several major theoretical per- spectives exist in sociology.