This response is meant to serve as a bridge between discussions of theoretical perspectives and sociological research. Choose one of the three main perspectives (structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism) and make the case for which one of the main research methods covered in the readings for this week (survey, field research, experiments, and secondary data analysis) would be best for answering questions central to that perspective. Support your answer with evidence from the texts. For example, if you chose conflict theory as your perspective, which research method do you believe would be best for answering questions that conflict theorists ask and why? Think about what each perspective focuses on (ex. structural functionalism looks at interlocking social institutions) and it’s level of analysis (i.e. macro v. micro, ex. symbolic interactionism’s level of analysis is micro). An example of what your answer would look like: “I chose (theory) as my perspective and (method) as my research method. I chose (theory) because (what perspective focuses on and level of analysis). The method I chose would help answer these types of questions because….” Leave your online response in the comment section of this post. For this exercise, you do not need to comment on a classmates’ online response.

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