Structural Functional Approach To Religion

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The structural functional approach refers to the idea that society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability and unity. This idea claims that our lives are guided by social structures within the society which are formed through our everyday social behaviours. In order to conduct research, sociologists use scientific sociology to study the society by gathering empirical, quantitative data. When applying structural functional approach to the context of religion taken from the reading Religion in Canada: Decline or Renaissance?(Sociology 494), the theory suggests that strong affiliation with religion leads to social cohesion, social control and having meaning and purpose in life. In this particular reading, Reginald Bibby