Meaning & use
social theory
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Meanings
noununcountable
The field of ideas and frameworks that scholars use to explain how societies work, how groups behave and how social change happens.
Grammar: As a field it is uncountable: she studies social theory.
Patterns
- study social theory
- social theory of something
She is writing a thesis on modern social theory.
Social theory asks why some societies are more unequal than others.
The course introduces social theory through classic readings.
nouncountable
One specific framework that explains some aspect of social life, such as class conflict or the role of institutions.
Grammar: Countable when it names a particular framework: a social theory, several social theories.
Patterns
- a social theory of something
- develop a social theory
Marx proposed a social theory based on class struggle.
The author builds a new social theory of online communities.
Critics say that social theory fails to explain everyday behavior.
Word forms
| plural | social theories |
|---|
Common combinations
- classical social theory
- Classical social theory includes the work of Weber and Durkheim.
- contemporary social theory
- Contemporary social theory looks at globalization.
- critical social theory
- Critical social theory questions existing power structures.
- apply social theory
- Researchers apply social theory to study protest movements.
- develop a social theory
- He set out to develop a social theory of work.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sociology
- Sociology is the whole study of society, while social theory is the conceptual and philosophical part of that study.
- social philosophy
- Social philosophy asks moral questions such as what a fair society is, whereas social theory mostly tries to explain how society works.
- social science
- Social science is a broad group of subjects including economics, so it is wider than social theory.
Word family
- theorist noun
- a person who develops theories
- theoretical adjective
- based on ideas rather than practice
- social adjective
- relating to society
- theorize verb
- to form a theory about something
Commonly confused: social theory or social science?
social theory vs social science
Social science is a group of subjects studying people, while social theory is the set of ideas used to explain social life.
Practice
In her sociology seminar, Priya read how Durkheim used ___ to explain why societies stay together.
Choose one answer.
Social theory is the framework of ideas explaining society, which is what Durkheim contributed. The other options are unrelated fields.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “social theory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.