What is a Theory: Impontance of Theories

Sociology is vital in every community and society in the sense that it enables the understanding of various aspects such as the culture and the interaction of individuals and institutions and the cause and effect relationship of different events as well as theories that are vital in the processes of socialization that have been propounded by different scholars in different academic disciplines. Therefore, this essay will attempt to look at what is a theory and why are theories important as well as how the theories in socialization help to understand the processes at work in the lives of pupils and then will give a conclusion. It will begin by defining the key concepts such as theory and socialization.

The concept Socialization can be defined as the process of social interaction by which people acquire those behaviors essential for effective participation in the society, the process of becoming a social being(Davidson,1971). It is important to note that the concept is essential or necessary for the renewal of culture and the perpetuation of society. The individual and society are mutually dependent on socialization.

The concept theory refers to the explanation of why things happen the way they do or why things are like the way they are (Hornby, 2000).In other words it a contemplative and rational type of abstract or generalizing thinking or the results of such thinking. For example, the results may involve generalized explanations of things, or events in the society or in a particular environment operates. It is important understand that the concept has its roots in ancient Greek but in modern use it has acquired several different meanings.

Theories are vital and are used in various disciplines in order to help learners or scholars to be able to understand the contributions of various writers in different fields. For example, the theory of behaviorism in psychology is vital in the sense one is able to understand the behavior of individuals in the learning environment as well as in the society they operate from, the same applies to the theories in sociology will allow learners to be able to understand various aspects and nature of society( Davidson,1971).In disciplines such as counseling theories included by different scholars that enables the learners  to be able to understand how to deal with clients in the counseling process or session such as trait and factor theory and emotive rational theory as well as psychoanalysis theory are included in the disciplines to enhance the understanding and learning of various learners. This shows how important theories are in various disciplines such as sociology in the sense that they help to understand how things work and how the knowledge and skills can be used to improve the effectiveness of various fields. There are theories in many and varied fields of study, including the arts and sciences ( Watson,1974).  

Theories are also important in the sense that they are analytical tools for understanding and explaining as well as making predictions about events, situations or subject matter. For example, the learners are able to understand the essence or the importance of particular subject through the knowledge acquired from theories in order to explain the occurrence of various events and to discover the chances of the same event happening in the future. In the case of sociology one is able understand the behavior of people and explain as well as decide whether or not the same behavior will be repeated in the future (  Hawkins,1996).

The concept theory is important in the sense that it lays the foundation for insight in various situations or subject areas. This means that it enables one to have deeper understanding of issues such as those that are affecting people in the society or in the communities. This is possible because theories are usually focused on one particular issue and deals with the particular subject area in detail ( Davidson,1971).It is vital in the sense that it provides the basis at which people will be able to comprehend the materials and happenings in their lives.

They are important in the sense that they provide or explain the relationship between two or more variables. For example, it explains the relationship between the cause and effect relationship of different aspects such as marriage and divorce or illiteracy, poverty and development (Zima,2007). This means that through theories one is able to understand what leads to divorce in marriages such as those in Zambia and other developing countries. It is a set of formal ideas that seeks to explain reality or why things happen the way they do in the society. This is possible because it is an explanation of things or events of a particular subject area that is of importance to the learners or interested individuals.

Theories are also important in the sense that they are clear and are not so contradictable. This means that they are easily understood by various scholars or learners in particular fields. This implies that there specialization or focus on certain subject areas enables them not to be contradictable.

Theories are also important in the sense that they are comprehensive nature or in the way they are developed. For example, theories are vital in that they generate a lot of information that is relevant or necessary to explain events or subject matters and which are understandable. This means that theories covers a lot of information related to a particular subject matter and does not live out anything that is important (Davidson, 1971).

The other importance of theories is that they are explicit in nature and this brings about the aspect of precision in terms of data or information on a subject matter. This means that the fact that they are precise their wrongness and rightness can be tested.

They are also important in the sense that they are parsimonious in the way they are developed or established. This means that they are concerned with scientific principles that things are usually connected in the simplest or most economical way (Hawkins, 1996).                  

They are also important in the sense that they stimulate or generate research. This means through the theories people are able to develop the desire to conduct a research or developed other theirs that will be able to bridge the gaps in the previous theories conducted by other scholars. It is vital to understand that theories are developed or can be renewed because things in the society or the world constantly changing and this motivates various scholars to come with new theories that will be able to respond to various situations( Watson,1974).This implies that theories are important in the sense that they stimulate further research.

They are also vital in the sense that they help to summarize the body of knowledge in way that makes it easy for others to be able to understand. In other words theories compress a particular body of knowledge to enable learners to easily understand the essence of a particular subject area.

They are important in the sense that they help educators to be able explain and facilitate phenomenal in the case of behavior. This is vital in the teaching and learning environment or situations. This helps in the process of socialization as one will be able to understand the different kinds of behavior that is exhibited by the learners.

Theories on socialization help to understand the processes in the lives of pupils. For example, the  micro level socialization theories enables the educator to be able to help learners to learn through social conditioning and or observation. This is important in the sense that one learns conditional socialization by personal experiences, easily exhibited by the common emotion of fear. For example, if child fails learns feels embarrassed and as result learns to associate failure with embarrassment. Further the Observational socialization helps educators to be able to help learners learn by another individual's actions ( Watson,1974).

The symbolic interaction perspective, also called symbolic interactionism, is a major framework of sociological theory. This perspective relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction. This helps to understand the meaning of what is going on in the interactions of learners or pupils in the classroom situations.

In conclusions theories are vital in the sense that they help to explain various situations or develop insights in various disciplines. The theories of socialization are vital in the sense that help to understand the activities happening in the lives of children or the pupils and through the knowledge acquired from theories enables the learners or pupils to be assisted.

REFERENCES

Davidson Reynolds, Paul (1971). A Primer in Theory Construction. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Hawking, S. (1996). "The Illustrated A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books, p. 15.

Hornby, A.S. (2000).Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press

Matson, R (1972). Comparing Scientific Laws and Theories.  Kennesaw:  Kennesaw State University.

Zima, P. V. (2007). What is theory? Cultural theory as discourse and dialogue. London: Continuum . Tübingen: A. Franke Verlag.