Introductory Principles of Sociology

I. Sociology: systematic study of human behavior and social life as

shaped by groups/collectives.
A. Behavior is a result of groups, categories, social structures and
shaped by social contexts.
B. Social life/social fact: our feelings and interactions that are a
result of society and our own personality.
a. Social life is constructed through social interaction
C. Example: Student behavior
a. social fact: student
b. social interaction: with students and non-students
c. social life: going to parties w/ students, studying when
w/ professor
D. Sociology is systematic and uses the scientific method
a. The scientific method involves
1) questioning
2) development of theory to explain how
3) empirical: gathering data
4) analysis of the behavior and the cause
5) reassessment
E. Sociological Imagination: the ability to see the impact of
massive cultural systems on private lives (Mills)
a. Need to assess history, biography, and social structure to
form the basis of sociological imagination
b. Personal troubles: circumstances of difficulty within
individuals life
c. Public troubles: social context/and larger society
Sociological Perspectives
I.

II.

Perspective: a statement that makes an assumption about

the nature of society that gives an explanation for a range of
behaviors
A. All perspectives aim to ask
1) How society is organized?
2) Main factors that lead to organization?
3) Focus of the inquiry?
4) What level of analysis is used in examining social
phenomenon?
Levels of Analysis
A. Macro-sociology: focuses on structure and the impact
of groups and large societies on human behavior
B. Micro-sociology: examines the role of everyday
interactions on human behavior

III.

Main Perspectives
Functionalism

Nature of
Society

- Society is a system of
parts that all create a
whole.
- Strive towards
stability
- Structure is
functional when it
contributes to having a
stable society

Conflict

Interactionism

- society is made
of parts but some
parts benefit
certain categories
of people more
than others

- basis of social
life is interaction

- conflict is
inevitable bc there
are scarce
resources/social
inequality

Basis of
Interactio
n
Focus of
Inquiry

Shared values and

consensus
The extent of social
order and how its
maintained

- conflict due to
inequality leads to
social change
Struggle for control
through
conflict/power
Causes of
inequality and
social change

Level of
Analysis
Advantag
es/Disadv
antages

Macro-level

Macro-level

+ Explains origins of
behavior

+ notices
instability

- Stability and
integration rather than
looking at inequality

- focus on conflict
and change rather
than stability and
ignores how shared
values/interdepend
ence creates unity
in society.

- doesnt realize that

what is structurally
functional for one is
dysfunctional for
another

Research Process

- interaction is a
result of
symbolic
communication
that shows
shared meanings
- individual views
of reality are
changeable

Shared meanings
associated with
symbols
Everyday nature
of social life and
how individuals
adapt to it
Micro-level
+ Focus on how
individuals
experience
society
- ignores the
impact of larger
social structures

Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:

Select Topic
Define Problem
Review Literature
Formulate a hypothesis
Research Method
Collect Data
Analyze the results
Share Results

Social Construction of Reality: process through which members of

society discover, make known, reaffirm and alter a collective version of
facts/truth
Theory: set of statements that seek to explain an aspect of social life
I.

Forms of Research
A. Qualitative Research
B. Quantitative Research

Social Structure
I.

II.

Society: population of people living in the same area who

hare a cultura and common identity and fall under the same
political authority
A. Social structure: the regularity/pattern of social behavior
B. The parts of social structure provide a framework
Components of Social Structure
A. Institutions: meet the basic needs of society
a. Ex/ family, economic institution, government,
education, religion
B. Organizations: large complex network of positions
created to fulfill a purpose and has division of labor
a. Ex/ College, Microsoft, Red Cross
C. Groups: interactions among individuals based on
concern/relationship or issue
a. Primary: a group that is together over a long period
of time and members have emotional attachment to
each other ex/ family, friends
b. Secondary: impersonal group that are established
to perform a task ex/ work environment
D. Status/Roles:
a. Status: positions based on certain skills, honors, and
social beliefs
i. Achieved: status due to persons efforts

ii. Ascribed: status that you are born with ex/

race, gender
b. Role: expectations for behavior and obligations
based on a status
E. Individuals/Interactions: the interaction of individuals is
the basis of social behavior and occurs in all levels of social
structure
Socialization
I.

Socialization: the process of learning values, norms,

behavior in order to participate in society and a way of
learning culture.
A. Research (Spitz) shows that humans need contact in order
to be properly socialized
a. Seen through the impact of isolation on feral children
B. Goals of Socialization
a. control impulses and development of conscience
b. role preparation (gender roles, marriage, jobs)
c. provide understanding of what should be
valued/lived for
C. Characteristics of Socialization
a. socialization happens through social interaction
b. its a lifelong process
c. its culturally relative
D. Example: Unequal Childhoods
a. Concerted cultivation: parents foster childrens
talents through organized activities
b. Natural growth: Parents in working class give their
children more unstructured time and create their own
activities
E. Types of Socialization
a. Primary socialization: takes place in early life and
basic core of individual
b. Secondary socialization: takes place through out
life, and when someone joins a new group that
requires more socialization
c. Re-socialization: process of learning new
values/norms when adult leaves an old role and
enters a new one
d. Anticipatory socialization: people gain values and
orientations in statuses they will enter in the future
The Self
I.

Self: unique set of traits, behaviors, attitudes that distinguish

one person from the next

II.

III.

IV.

A. The self has reflexive behavior: can perceive and

evaluate oneself
Differentiation of Self/ Acquisition
A. Must identify yourself as a distinct being
B. Looking glass self: we use the reactions of others to help
us determine our own self-worth (Cooley)
C. Also about internalizing the role system (Mead)
D. Significant others help shape important values and beliefs,
language developmental skills, and are related to looking
glass.
a. Generalized Others: what we believe the attitudes
and expectations held in common by the members of
society are
Role Taking
A. Looking at oneself as an object from the perspective of the
other
B. Play Stage: mimic the behavior of others, and without
rules or expectations ex/playing house
C. Game Stage: understanding the roles of others and your
own purpose in the system
The Self as Structure
A. Identities: self-conceptions about who we are
a. A result of roles/expectations of behavior
b. Personal qualities
c. How we evaluate our own identity
B. Identity Salience: importance of an identity
a. Implies a hierarchy of identities
b. Motivates social behavior
C. Self Esteem: evaluation of the self
a. Family Experiences: early family support or lack of
impacts self esteem
b. Performance Feedback: responses to your actions
from others
c. Social Comparison: how we view ourselves in
comparison to others
d. We protect our self-esteem and try to enhance our
self-esteem as well
D. Self-Efficacy: a persons belief in their ability to succeed

Culture
I.

Culture: shared ideas and products of a society in regards to

what is true, right and beautiful. Its a map for living that is
created by a group or society
A. Products: ideas that are transmitted material (fashion)
and nonmaterial (language)

B. True: perceived reality/beliefs Right: morals Beautiful:

ideals
II.
Acquisition of Culture
A. Physiology: inherited through genetics
B. Culture: learned through socialization
III.
Function of Culture
1. Shapes our behavior
2. Evaluate the behavior of others (ethnocentrism:
using our values to evaluate others)
3. Provides meaning
4. Differentiates
IV.
Elements of Culture
A. Values: shared ideas about what is moral/good
B. Norms: rules that govern behavior
C. Rituals: activities or pattern ways with symbolic
significance that express the norms/values of a social
group
V.
Subculture: variation in values/behaviors that distinguish
members from the larger culture
VI. Counterculture: group that actively opposes the values and
behavior patterns of the dominant culture
VII. Cultural Relativism: principle that peoples beliefs and
activities should be interpreted in terms of their own culture