Sociological Theories

A sociological theory is a supposition that intends to consider, analyze, and/or explain objects of social reality from a sociological perspective, drawing connections between individual concepts in order to organize and substantiate sociological knowledge.

As the study of social relationships and systems, sociology has many theories that can help us to better understand and interact with the world around us. That includes competing theories that are attempting to explain the same phenomena, as well as theories that cover an incredibly diverse range of different social systems and issues.

Fully appreciating some of the most popular theories in sociology often requires you to understand many other theories as a point of reference. But exploring a few examples of sociological theory can better provide a sense of the range of ideas explored by sociology, as well as prepare you for exploring some of its more complicated ideas in-depth.