Social theories are frameworks of empirical evidence used to study and interpret social phenomena. A tool used by
social scientists, social theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies (e.g.
positivism and
antipositivism), as well as the primacy of either
structure or agency. Certain social theories attempt to remain strictly scientific, descriptive, and objective.
Conflict theories, by contrast, present ostensibly normative positions, and often critique the ideological aspects inherent in conventional, traditional thought.