What is the difference between functionalism and symbolic interactionism?
They’re both theoretical paradigms that can be applied when studying society’s structure. A functionalist approach is based on the more objective scientific method, meaning that they tend to see society as an organism with interacting and interlocking parts. They want to know how society fits together. How parts function to lend to stability or instability of the whole. A symbolic interactionalist approach is more interpretive. They would focus more on the actions or reactions that individuals have when they attach meaning to these interacting and interlocking parts. They are more interested in why and how people define their situations because they believe that it is how these individuals create their identity, which is why most research is based on individuals’ observations.
