Disciplines and

Ideas in the
Social Sciences
(Quarter 1 – Module 2/Lesson 1/Week 5)

Department of Education
SDO – City of San Fernando (LU)
Region I
11
Disciplines and
Ideas in the
Social Sciences
(Quarter 1 – Module 2/Lesson 1/Week 5)
Dominant Approaches and
Ideas in the Social Sciences
MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCIES

• Analyze the basic concepts and principles of Structural-Functionalism.

• Apply Structural-Functionalism and its importance in examining socio-
cultural, economic, and political conditions.

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For the parents:

1. Please guide your child while he is studying and answering the tasks provided in this
module.
2. Remind your child about his study time and schedule so he can finish the module.
3. Let your child answer the module activities independently, however, assist him only
when necessary.
4. I will call on a certain time based on the schedule to explain the lessons in the module.
5. Kindly return the whole module and answer sheets on _________ during Fridays at
____________________.

For the learners:

1. Carefully read the directions so that you will know what to do.
2. If there are directions or topics in the module that are difficult for you to understand,
feel free to ask from your parents or companions at home. However, if you still could
not understand, you can call me at this number, _____________so I could explain it
to you clearly.
3. Answer the activities in the module on the specific day for the subject. Use a separate
sheet of paper for your answers. Avoid writing or tearing the pages of this module
because this will be used by other pupils/students like you.
4. Write important concepts in your notebook regarding your lesson. This will help you
in your review later.
5. You need to finish the activities in this module so that you can give this to your
parents on ___________________________.

Always remember these health tips:

1. Remember to wear your face mask properly and regularly.

2. Always wash your hands with clean water and soap.
3. Cover your mouth and nose with handkerchief whenever you cough or sneeze.
4. Follow the one-meter distance so that you will prevent the spread of the virus.

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Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences Self – Learning Module is mapped and
aligned to the Department of Education Senior High School Curriculum and was written with
the students in mind. It attains the K to 12 Most Essential Learning Competencies of DepEd.
Enriched with the 21st century skills and supplemented with relevant figures, the variation of
activities and exercises promotes the overall goal of the K to 12 Basic Education Program,
which is holistically developed Filipino. Furthermore, this module includes the following
components:

This will give you an idea of the skills or

What I Need
competencies you are expected to learn in the
to Know
module.
This part includes an activity that aims to check
What I what you already know about the lesson to take. If
Know you get all the answers correct (100%), you may
decide to skip this module.
This is a brief drill or review to help you link the
What’s In current lesson with the previous one.
In this portion, the new lesson will be introduced
What’s New to you in various ways; a story, a song, a poem, a
problem opener, an activity, or a situation.
This section provides a brief discussion of the
What is It lesson. This aims to help you discover and
understand new concepts and skills.
This comprises activities for independent practice
What’s to solidify your understanding and skills of the
More topic. You may check the answers to the exercises
using the Answer Key at the end of the module.
This includes questions or blank
What I Have
sentence/paragraph to be filled in to process what
Learned
you learned from the lesson.
This section provides an activity which will help
What I Can
you transfer your new knowledge or skill into real
Do
life situations or concerns.
This is a task which aims to evaluate your level of
Assessment mastery in achieving the learning competency.
In this portion, another activity will be given to
Additional you to enrich your knowledge or skill of the lesson
Activities learned.

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What I Need to Know
This module will help you to demonstrate an understanding of key concepts and
approaches in the Social Sciences. Furthermore, you will be able to: (a) interpret personal and
social experiences using relevant approaches in the Social Sciences; and (b) evaluate the
strengths and weaknesses of the approach.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Determine manifest and latent functions and dysfunctions of sociocultural phenomena
(HUMSS_DIS11-IIIe-f-1);
2. analyze the basic concepts and principles of Structural-Functionalism; and
3. apply Structural-Functionalism and its importance in examining socio-cultural,
economic, and political conditions.

What I Know

Before we get started, let us find out how much you already know about this module
by answering the pre – test below.

INSTRUCTION: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write the UPPERCASE LETTERS
ONLY on your answer sheet.

1. What Social Science Approach is expressed when a society is described as a mechanism

involving parts similar to a human body?
A. Marxism C. Structural-Functionalism
B. Psychoanalysis D. Symbolic Interactionism
2. Which of the following is NOT considered as a social institution?
A. Education C. Government
B. Family D. Race
3. Who among the proponents of Structural-Functionalism discussed mechanical
solidarity and organic solidarity?
A. Émile Durkheim C. Talcott Parsons
B. Robert Merton D. Herbert Spencer

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4. Which of the following functions is described as something that is sought or anticipated
result?
A. Dysfunctions C. Latent Functions
B. Functionalism D. Manifest Functions

5. Which of the following is the contribution of Talcott Parsons to Structural-

Functionalism?
A. AGIL Scheme C. Division of Labour
B. Deviant Behaviour Theory D. Social Darwinism

Lesson
Structural-
1 Functionalism
“The functions of the family in a highly differentiated society are not to be interpreted as
functions directly on behalf of the society, but on behalf of personality.”
~ Talcott Parsons

What’s In
Before we proceed to the new lesson, let us review the different disciplines in the social
sciences by answering the identification test below.
INSTRUCTION: Determine what is being asked. Write your answers on your answer
sheet.
_______________1. It is the systematic study of politics.
_______________2. It is the systematic study of human society.
_______________3. It is the scientific study of language and its structure.
_______________4. It is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
_______________5. It is the study of the ways in which the human experience is processed
and documented.

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_______________6. It is the statistical study of human populations especially with reference
to size and density.
_______________7. It seeks to understand human origins and adaptation, and the diversity of
cultures and worldviews.
_______________8. It is the study that describes/narrates and analyses human activities in the
past and the changes that they had undergone.
_______________9. It deals with the optimum allocation of scarce resources among its
alternatives to satisfy the unlimited human wants and needs of the people.
_______________10. It is a specialized investigation of the physical structure of the earth,
including its terrain and its climates, and the nature and character of its contrasting inhabited
portions.

What’s New
SONG ANALYSIS: “Isang Dugo, Isang Lahi, Isang Musika” by Richard Reynoso
INSTRUCTION: Should you want to listen to the song, just key in the title written above.
Read and understand the lyrics of the song and translate your analysis
into a drawing with a one-liner caption. Use a short bond paper for this
activity and attach it on your answer sheet. Write your complete name
and section. This activity will be evaluated using the rubric below:

(Image Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/240978815/The-Will-of-the-River-Worksheet-No-5)

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Isang himig ang aking narinig
Minsa'y nanaginip ating bansa'y umaawit
Isang himig pagibig ang hatid
Ang musika'y batid sa bawat puso at isip

Ikaw at ako tayo ay pilipino

Isang bansa ba't di magkaisa
Isang dugo, isang lahi, isang musika
Ang pangarap ko'y bansang mapayapa

Isang himig pag-ibig ang hatid

Ang musika'y hatid sa bawat puso at isip
Isang awit ang aking narinig
Kristiyano at Muslim
Magkaisa sa awitin

What is It

NATURE OF STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM

(Image Source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/structural-functional-theory-in-sociology-definition-examples-quiz.html)

According to britannica.com, structuralism (sometimes called French structuralism),

which studies the underlying, unconscious regularities of human expression—that is, the
unobservable structures that have observable effects on behaviour, society, and culture. In
social sciences, functionalism is a theory based on the premise that all aspects of a society—

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institutions, roles, norms, etc.—serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term
survival of the society.
In sociology and other social sciences, structural-functionalism is a school of thought
according to which each of the institutions, relationships, roles, and norms that together
constitute a society serves a purpose, and each is indispensable for the continued existence of
the others and of society as a whole. In structural functionalism, social change is regarded as
an adaptive response to some tension within the social system. When some part of an integrated
social system changes, a tension between this and other parts of the system is created, which
will be resolved by the adaptive change of the other parts.

Claude Lévi-Strauss’ Structural-Functionalism

(Image Source: https://exploringyourmind.com/biography-of-an-extraordinary-anthropologist-claude-levi-strauss/)

Claude Lévi-Strauss was French social anthropologist and leading exponent of

structuralism, a name applied to the analysis of cultural systems (e.g., kinship and mythical
systems) in terms of the structural relations among their elements. Structuralism has influenced
not only 20th-century social science but also the study of philosophy, comparative religion,
literature, and film.
His structuralism was an effort to reduce the enormous amount of information about
cultural systems to what he believed were the essentials, the formal relationships among their
elements. He viewed cultures as systems of communication, and he constructed models based
on structural linguistics, information theory, and cybernetics to interpret them.
Structuralism, in cultural anthropology, the school of thought developed by the French
anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, in which cultures, viewed as systems, are analyzed in
terms of the structural relations among their elements. According to Lévi-Strauss’s theories,
universal patterns in cultural systems are products of the invariant structure of the human mind.
Structure, for Lévi-Strauss, referred exclusively to mental structure, although he found

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evidence of such structure in his far-ranging analyses of kinship, patterns in mythology, art,
religion, ritual, and culinary traditions.

Herbet Spencer’s Structural-Functional Theory

(Image Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herbert-Spencer)

Herbert Spencer is best remembered for his doctrine of social Darwinism, according to
which the principles of evolution, including natural selection, apply to human societies, social
classes, and individuals as well as to biological species developing over geologic time. In
Spencer’s day social Darwinism was invoked to justify laissez-faire economics and the
minimal state, which were thought to best promote unfettered competition between individuals
and the gradual improvement of society through the “survival of the fittest,” a term that Spencer
himself introduced.
Functionalism, also called structural-functional theory, sees society as a structure with
interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that
society. Functionalism grew out of the writings of English philosopher and biologist, Hebert
Spencer (1820–1903), who saw similarities between society and the human body; he argued
that just as the various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning, the
various parts of society work together to keep society functioning (Spencer 1898). Outline of
a man with a briefcase inside of a gear, surrounded by other gears. The parts of society that
Spencer referred to were the social institutions, or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on
meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the
economy.

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Émile Durkheim’s Functionalism

(Image Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emile-Durkheim)

Émile Durkheim, another early sociologist, applied Spencer’s theory to explain how
societies change and survive over time. Durkheim believed that society is a complex system of
interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability (Durkheim 1893),
and that society is held together by shared values, languages, and symbols. He believed that to
study society, a sociologist must look beyond individuals to social facts such as laws, morals,
values, religious beliefs, customs, fashion, and rituals, which all serve to govern social life.
Alfred Radcliff-Brown (1881–1955) defined the function of any recurrent activity as the part
it played in social life as a whole, and therefore the contribution it makes to social stability and
continuity (Radcliff-Brown 1952). In a healthy society, all parts work together to maintain
stability, a state called dynamic equilibrium by later sociologists such as Parsons (1961).
He believed that individuals may make up society, but in order to study society,
sociologists have to look beyond individuals to social facts. Social facts are the laws, morals,
values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern
social life (Durkheim 1895). Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a
society. For example, one function of a society’s laws may be to protect society from violence,
while another is to punish criminal behavior, while another is to preserve public health.
In Durkheim’s view, ethical and social structures were being endangered by the advent
of technology and mechanization. He believed that societies with undifferentiated labour (i.e.,
primitive societies) exhibited mechanical solidarity, while societies with a high division of
labour, or increased specialization (i.e., modern societies), exhibited organic solidarity. The
division of labour rendered workers more alien to one another and yet more dependent upon
one another; specialization meant that no individual labourer would build a product on his or
her own.

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Robert Merton’s Structural-Functional Theory

(Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_K._Merton)

Another noted structural functionalist, Robert Merton (1910–2003), pointed out that
social processes often have many functions. Manifest functions are the consequences of a social
process that are sought or anticipated, while latent functions are the unsought consequences of
a social process. A manifest function of college education, for example, includes gaining
knowledge, preparing for a career, and finding a good job that utilizes that education. Latent
functions of your college years include meeting new people, participating in extracurricular
activities, or even finding a spouse or partner. Another latent function of education is creating
a hierarchy of employment based on the level of education attained. Latent functions can be
beneficial, neutral, or harmful. Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the
operation of society are called dysfunctions. In education, examples of dysfunction include
getting bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding suitable employment.
Overall, he thought it was possible to have an idea of the balance of a structure taking
into account the functions and dysfunctions. He said that this type of analysis can be done from
different perspectives, such as “functions” and this analysis is a matter of perspective. For
example, slavery was functional for some and dysfunctional for others.
In summary, Merton said that dysfunctional structures could exist within systems,
depending on their relationship with other systems. Thus, not all structures are positive, nor all
of them are essential.

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Talcott Parsons’ Structural-Functionalism

(Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talcott_Parsons)

Structural functionalism underwent some modification when the American sociologist

Talcott Parsons enunciated the “functional prerequisites” that any social system must meet in
order to survive: developing routinized interpersonal arrangements (structures), defining
relations to the external environment, fixing boundaries, and recruiting and controlling
members. Along with Robert K. Merton and others, Parsons classified such structures on the
basis of their functions. This approach, called structural-functional analysis (and also known
as systems theory), was applied so broadly that some sociologists took it to be synonymous
with the scientific study of social organization.

Parsons’ AGIL Scheme

1. Adaptation: A system must cope with external situational exigencies. It must adapt to
its environment and adapt the environment to its needs.
2. Goal Attainment: A system must define and achieve its primary goals.
3. Integration: A system must regulate the interrelationship of its component parts. It also
must manage the relationship among the other three functional imperatives (A, G, L).
4. Latency (Pattern Maintenance): A system must furnish, maintain and renew both the
motivation of individuals and the cultural patterns that create and sustain the
motivation.

Parsons was concerned mainly on the creation of social order; his investigations were
carried out using his theory based on a number of assumptions. In the first place, he said the
systems are interdependent, and that these tend towards balance. Systems can be static or
dynamic, that is a constant change to help either stability or change.

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(Image Source: https://a14121-46157.cluster211.canvas-user-content.com/courses/14121~140/files/14121~46157/course%20files/so/so13011/explanation/t12-explanation.htm)

Actors are seen as a set of states and roles relatively deprived of thought. He became
interested in large-scale components of social systems, such as group, rules and value. Parsons
also stated that social systems have a number of functional requirements, such as compatibility
with other systems, meeting the people’s needs, the support of other systems, participation of
the members in the system, control conflict and language. This means society is considered as
a system in which individuals interact according to symbols they have structured and shared.
Parsons was interested in the role that norms and values play in society. In the socialization
process, society inculcates individuals with a perspective that they can search for their own
interests while serving the system’s interests. It is through socialization that Parsons said the
individual embraces the norms of society. He claimed that culture, like norms and values, have
the ability to become part of other systems.

PRINCIPLES OF STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM
1. Societies should be examined holistically in an interrelated system framework.
2. Causation is reciprocal and, in many instances, multiple.
3. Social systems are generally in a state of equilibrium.
4. The functionalists are less interested in the history of a society, but more concerned
with social interaction.
5. The functionalists attempt to find the interrelationships between the compounds of
social structure.

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(Image Source: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sociological_Theory/Structural_Functionalism)

CRITICISMS ON STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM
The preeminence of structural functionalism came to an end in the 1960s, however,
with new challenges to the functionalist notion that a society’s survival depended on
institutional practices. This belief, along with the notion that the stratification system selected
the most talented and meritorious individuals to meet society’s needs, was seen by some as a
conservative ideology that legitimated the status quo and thereby prevented social reform. It
also ignored the potential of the individual within society. In light of such criticism of structural
functionalism, some sociologists proposed a “conflict sociology,” which held that dominant
institutions repress weaker groups and that conflict pervades all of society, including the
family, the economy, polity, and education. This neo-Marxist perspective gained prominence

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in the United States with the social turmoil of the civil rights movement and the antiwar
movement of the 1960s and ’70s, influencing many younger sociologists.
Other criticisms leveled at structural functionalism from a variety of theoretical
perspectives were that it was based on faulty analogies between societies and biological
organisms; that it was tautological, teleological, or excessively abstract; that its conception of
social change as an adaptive response was inadequate; and that it lacked a methodology for
empirical confirmation.

What’s More

PICTURE ANALYSIS
INSTRUCTION: Study the given diagram below. Based on what you observed, what can
you say about social order? Support your explanation by citing
examples. Write your brief but substantial analysis on your answer
sheet.

(Image Source: https://revisesociology.com/2016/09/01/functionalism-sociology/)

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What I Have Learned

Remember the following:

• Structural-Functionalism is an approach that sees society as a complex system whose
parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. It looks for a structure’s social
function.
• Structuralism is a method for analyzing language, narratives, and cultural phenomena
that uncovers basic elements that form structures (often binary oppositions).
• Structure is any relatively stable pattern of social behavior.
• The principles peculiar to Structural-Functionalism are collective conscience, social
order, education, and deviance and crime.

What I Can Do

INSTRUCTION: Complete the given table below by identifying the different

contributions of the proponents of structural-functionalism. Choose
your answers from the pool of terms and write them on your answer
sheet.
conflict theory cultural system social conflicts social facts
consensus theory functions & dysfunctions social Darwinism social system

Proponent Contributions
Claude Lévi-Strauss 1.
Herbert Spencer 2.
Émile Durkheim 3.
Robert Merton 4.
Talcott Parsons 5.

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Assessment
INSTRUCTION: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write the UPPERCASE LETTERS
ONLY on your answer sheet.
1. Which is referred to as an approach that sees society as a complex system whose parts
work together to promote solidarity and stability?
A. Marxism C. Structural-Functionalism
B. Psychoanalysis D. Symbolic Interactionism
2. Which of the following is NOT a principle of Structural-Functionalism?
A. collective conscience C. exploitation and alienation
B. deviance and crime D. social order
3. Who among the following is a proponent of Structural-Functionalism?
A. Erving Goffman C. Max Weber
B. Karl Marx D. Talcott Parsons
4. Who among the proponents of Structural-Functionalism discussed mainly on the
creation of social order?
A. Émile Durkheim C. Talcott Parsons
B. Robert Merton D. Claude Lévi-Strauss
5. Which of the following is the contribution of Robert Merton to Structural-
Functionalism?
A. AGIL Scheme C. Division of Labour
B. Deviant Behaviour Theory D. Social Darwinism

Additional Activity

➢ WEB CONNECT. Instruction: Scan the QR code or access the link below for the
instructional video on Structural-Functionalism.

https://tinyurl.com/y62bcafo

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References

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Abulencia, A. S., et al. (2017). Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences (First
Edition). Pasig City, Philippines: Department of Education

ONLINE RESOURCES
 https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-structure/Structuralism
 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/alamo-sociology/chapter/functionalism/
 https://www.britannica.com/topic/structural-functionalism
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/structural-functionalism
 http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/n2202.htm
 https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/sociology/theories-in-
sociology/functionalism/#:~:text=As%20a%20structural%20theory%2C%20Function
alism,more%20important%20than%20the%20individual.&text=Talcott%20Parsons%
20viewed%20society%20as,attainment%2C%20integration%20and%20pattern%20m
aintenance.
 https://www.slideshare.net/jakeodunga/structural-functionalism-28307025
 https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/geography/functionalism-its-major-ways-and-
basic-principles-geography/24536
 https://a14121-46157.cluster211.canvas-user-
content.com/courses/14121~140/files/14121~46157/course%20files/so/so13011/expla
nation/t12-explanation.htm
 https://revisesociology.com/2016/09/01/functionalism-sociology/
 https://www.britannica.com/science/structuralism-anthropology
Development Team of the Module
Writer/Illustrator/Layout Artist: ROEGEN C. RIVERA
Editors/Evaluators/Reviewers: ALMARHODA E. ESPEJO
THEA ZONETTE S. MEDRANO, Ph. D.
BRENDA A. SABADO
BERNARDO T. ROMBAWA
Management Team: Dr. Rowena C. Banzon, CESO V, SDS
Dr. Wilfredo E. Sindayen, ASDS
Dr. Agnes B. Cacap, Chief – CID
Dr. Jose Mari P. Almeida, Chief – SGOD
Genevieve B. Ugay, EPS – LRMS
Hazel B. Libatique, Librarian II
Aurelio C. Dayag, Jr., PDO II