Theoretical sociology focuses on theory and broad research traditions, while practical sociology is more concrete. It involves identifying and analyzing sociological problems and reacting to them with action points or principles. Subcategories include structural functionalism, Marxism, and conflict theory. Theoretical sociology seeks to draw conclusions about causal events and address real problems in sociology, similar to theory in sciences like physics. It is taught in academic departments and studied by professional sociologists.
Theoretical sociology is a type of sociology that focuses on theory or theoretical findings. This is in contrast to practical sociology, which can be pursued in more concrete ways with more specific data sets or restrictions within research projects. Theoretical sociology is often described as a broad research tradition that focuses on elements of sociology and worldview.
As a type of theoretical research, theoretical sociology is sometimes described as having two separate phases. The first phase would involve the identification and analysis of some theoretical sociological problems or situations. Critical analysis, as a general method, would then lead to the second stage, which would consist of reactions to these problems in the form of action points or principles. This process may revolve around the idea of ”curing” sociological ills in a particular society or community.
Some practitioners also subdivide the field of theoretical sociology into several subcategories. Some of these include structural functionalism, which has been attributed to the work of sociological researcher named Emile Durkheim. Another important subcategory is sometimes described as Marxist, in which the relatively familiar work of Karl Marx poses various theoretical sociology problems and theoretical answers. Another general category is often called conflict theory, which may be theoretical but is often considered to have many practical applications in societies.
To study various types of theoretical sociology, academics can apply different labels to each subcategory. One of these would be a specific view of a company or a scenario for theoretical research. Others might include a specific designation for the application of sociological criticism, as well as a set of key concepts or terms for a given method of theoretical sociology.
To explain the role of theoretical areas of sociology, some in the social sciences relate it to the similar but different idea of theory in sciences such as physics. In both cases, the theory provides a hypothetical approach. In the social sciences, some of the practical applications may be less concrete than in a science such as chemistry, but theoretical sociology and similar research areas also seek to draw conclusions about causal events or other features of a classical hypothesis, in order to address real problems in the field of sociology. As a useful area of the social sciences, this type of theory can be taught in academic departments and studied extensively by professional sociologists.
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