Granovetter in his article examines how the analysis of social networks is used to link micro and macro levels of sociological theory. He does this through the examination of the ties between different groups. This article was pretty confusing and surprising to me, especially considering the strong ties within an ethnic neighborhood. Immigrants move into an ethnic neighborhood to be with people like them who understand them and who will hopefully offer connections for job opportunities. According to Granovetter, however, strong ties within a community network actual limits an individual to this one, confined group. This is seen in Chinatown, for example, where it is very exclusive and Chinese people mainly deal with their own kind creating a sort of barrier from outside forces and as a result limiting themselves from other opportunities. However, Granovetter goes on to take one step further and say that the best way to create networks between groups is with weak ties. This I had to admit was confusing. In theory you would think that the more people get to know you, you would be able to come apart of their inner circle and gain their trust and gain new opportunities, but apparently this isn;t the case.

There are three major sociological perspectives that the world is seen through: conflict theory, functionalist theory, and symbolic interactionism. This idea of studying ties between groups would I think be considered symbolic interactionism because it looks on a micro level how people interact with one another. Yet I still don’t completely understand how this is then used to understand bigger sociological theories.