Famous Theorists

(you should know)

Auguste Comte
(French)(1798-1857)
Coined the term sociology
Believed society could be studied like any other science
Key concepts: positivism, sociology the queen of sciences,
social engineering
Harriet Martineau
English (1802-1876)
Translated A. Comtes work into English
Concerned with social change and the plight of women
and children in English factories during the early phases
of industrialization
First acknowledged female sociologist
Examined emerging American society (c 1834)
mile Durkheim
(French) (1858-1917)
Founded sociology as an academic discipline
Famous for his study on suicides (1897)
Use of statistics in sociology
Key concepts: social facts, social structure
social solidarity, collective conscience, mechanical and
organic solidarity, anomie
Structural/functionalist theorist

Karl Marx
(German) (1818-1883)
Founder of political / economic theory of socialism (communism)
Considered the founder of the conflict perspective
Wrote the Communist Manifesto and co wrote Das Kapital (with
Friedrich Engels)
Key concepts: proletariat, bourgeoisie, capitalists, social class,
dialectics (thesis, antithesis, synthesis)
Max Weber
(German) (1864-1920)
Believed that sociologist could never capture the reality
of society but should focus on ideal types that best capture
the essential features of aspects of social reality
Key concepts: bureaucracy, verstehen, rationalization of the
modern world, people are becoming prisoners of new
technology, loss of individuality
Herbert Spencer
(English) (1820-1903)
Structural/Functionalist
Coined the term survival of the fittest in reference to human
social arrangements (Social Darwinism)
Advocated against social reform efforts to poor people because
it disrupts the natural selection process of evolution
Jane Addams
(American) (1880-1935)
Won the first Nobel Peace Prize (1931) given to an
American sociologist
Founded Hull House for the poor in Chicago
Influenced the Chicago School of applied sociology
(social problems)
Pioneered the study of social problems
W. E. B. DuBois
(American) (1868-1963)
First Afro-American PhD graduate of Harvard University
Concerned with the social position of African-Americans in US
society.
Wrote The Philadelphia Negro (1899) on race relations
Used statistics to examine racial discrimination against blacks
Talcott Parsons
(American) (1902-1979)
Reintroduced the theories of European sociologists while
teaching at Harvard University
Structural/Functionalist
Abstract ivory tower theoretician
Emphasis on empirical research--not social reform
C. Wright Mills
(American) (1916-1962)
Taught at Columbia University
Marxist, structural/functionalist theorist
Key concepts: power elite, radical social change, social
injustices, applied sociology, the sociological imagination
Robert K. Merton
(American) (1910-2002)
Taught at Columbia University
Sought to bridge the European grand theories and a
more focused research style
Structural/Functionalist
Key concepts: manifest & latent functions, Strain Theory
of deviance, dysfunctions
George Herbert Mead
(American) (1863-1961)
Symbolic/Interactionist theorist
Believed that the self was a social product acquired by
observing and assimilating the identities of others
Key concepts: I & me, significant other, generalized other,
role taking, preparatory stage, play stage, game stage
Charles Horton Cooley
(American) (1864-1929)
Symbolic interactionist theorist
We develop a sense of who we are in society based upon
interaction with others and how we feel others perceive us
The Looking Glass Self
Erving Goffman
(American) (1922-1982)
Symbolic interactionist theorist
Believed we play roles and present a face for public view
Key concepts: dramaturgical approach, frontstage & backstage
selves, presentation of self
Sigmund Freud
(German)(1856-1939)
Psychoanalyst
Key concepts: unconscious, id, ego, superego, psycho-sexual
stages, psychoanalysis, ego defense mechanisms, free association.
dream interpretation, seduction theory, libido, libidinal energy
Erik Erikson
(German/American)(1902-1994)
Psychologist
Eight Stages of Man (Psycho-social stages)
Focused on ego conflict through the life span and
how they are resolved
Lawrence Kohlberg
(American)(1927-1988)
Psychologist
Expanded Piagets theory of moral development in children
Key concepts: Stages of Moral Development, the Heinz scenario
Carol Gilligan
(American) (1936- )
Social psychologist: former student of Lawrence Kohlberg
Took a feminist perspective to moral reasoning, author of
In a Different Voice, which proposes that males and
females have different moral reasoning
Key concepts: caring perspective (females); justice & law (males)
Albert Bandura
(American) (1925- )
Social (cognitive) psychologist, performed classic study of
imitation and aggressive behaviors in children.
Key concepts: social learning theory, imitation, models,
vicarious reinforcement, expectancies self efficacy, reciprocal
determinism
B(urrhus) F(redrick) Skinner
(American) (1904-1990)
Psychologist, learning theorist, behaviorist. Taught at Harvard
University, probably the most famous American psychologist
Wrote several books including: The Behavior of Organisms,
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and Walden Two
Key concepts: operant learning, positive & negative reinforcement,
punishment, shaping, schedules of reinforcement,
behavior modification, the Skinner Box