The early sociologists were united in their desire to make sense of the changing societies in which they lived. They wanted to do more than simply depict and interpret the momentous events of their time, however. They all looked to develop ways of studying the social world that could explain how societies functioned and what were the causes of social change. Yet, as we have seen, Durkheim, Max and Weber employed very different approaches in their studies. For example, Where Durkheim and Max focused on the strength of forces external to the individual, Weber took as his point of departure the ability of individuals to act creatively on the outside world. Where Max pointed to the predominance of economic issues, Weber considered a much wider range of factors to be significant. Such differences in approach have persisted throughout the history of sociology. Even When sociologists agree on the subject of analysis, they often undertake that analysis from different theoretical positions. 早期的社会学家的共同愿望就是试图理解他们所处的变迁中的社会。可是他们并不只是想简单地描述和解释他们时代的重大事件。更重要的是，他们力求提出研究社会世界的方式，以便能够从整体上说明社会的运行，特别是说明社会的变迁的本质。然而正如我们前文所见，涂尔干、马克思和韦伯在研究社会世界时采用的思路非常不同。例如，涂尔干和马克思都强调外在于个体的因素的力量，而韦伯则把个体创造性地作用于外部世界的能力作为自己的出发点。马克思指出了经济问题的突出地位，而韦伯则认为还有更多的因素也是意义重大的。即使社会学家就研究对象达成了共识，也常常从不同的理论视角展开分析。 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/45d3d9cbf7ec4afe04a1df9a.html