The Sociological Perspective

Week 1: Lecture 2&3

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Seeing the Broader Social Context

How Groups Influence People

How People are Influenced by Their Society

People Who Share a Culture
People Who Share a Territory

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Social LocationCorners in Life

Jobs

Income
Education
Gender
Age
Race
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C. Wright MillsConnection
Between History, Biography and
Social
Structure
HistoryLocation in Broad Stream of Events
BiographyIndividuals Specific Experiences

Social Structure - how the institutional orders in a society operate, which

ones are dominant, how they are held together, etc

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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

Mills believed that one must look inside oneself to

help important research problems because social
scientists often translate private troubles into public
issues.
The Sociological Imagination gives the one
possessing it the ability to look beyond their local
environment and personality to wider social
structures and a relationship between history,
biography and social structure.

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The Growing Global Context

The Global Village
Instant Communication

Sociology Studies both the Global

Network and Our Unique Experiences
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Sociology and the Other Sciences

The Natural SciencesExplain and Predict
Events in Natural Environment

The Social SciencesExamine Human

Relationships
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The Goal of Science

Explain Why Something Happens
Make Generalizations
Look for Patterns

Move Beyond Common Sense

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Origins of Sociology
Tradition vs. Science
Emerged mid-1800s
Grew Out of Social Upheaval

The Scientific Method

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Auguste Comte ( 1798 1857)

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition

Copyright 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Auguste Comte and Positivism

Suggested applying the Scientific Method to
Social World
Coined the Term Sociology

Armchair Philosophy
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Herbert SpencerSocial Darwinism

Second Founder of Sociology
Lower and Higher Forms of Society
Coined Phrase Survival of the Fittest
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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

mile Durkheim ( 1858 1917)

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition

Copyright 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

Durkheim and Social Integration

Got Sociology Recognized as Separate Discipline

Studied How Social Forces Affect Behavior

Identified Social IntegrationDegree to Which People

are Tied to Social Group
Added to the concept of Social
Social Facts: Social patterns that are external to the
individual
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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

Social Integration

Durkheim believed that modern societies produce feelings of isolation, much of which comes
from the division of labor. In contrast, members of traditional societies, who work alongside
family and neighbors and participate in similar activities, experience a high degree of social
integration. The photo contrast a U.S. office with nomads in Mongolia who are shearing
cashmere off their goats.
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Karl Marx ( 1818 1883)

Karl Marx and Class Conflict

Engine of Human History is Class Conflict
The Bourgeoisie vs. The Proletariat
Marxism Not the Same as Communism

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Critical Thinking!
What sort of social and cultural capital do you
possess?

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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

Key Terms to Remember!

Social Structure
Social Institutions
Social Change
Social Interaction

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Max Weber ( 1864 1920)

Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic

Religion and the Origin of Capitalism
Religion is Central Force in Social Change
Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism

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Verstehen and Social Facts

Weber
VerstehenTo Grasp by Insight
Importance of Subjective Meanings
Durkheim
Stressed Social Facts

Explain Social Facts with Other Social Facts

How Social Facts and Verstehen Fit Together

Social Action behaviour which gives people

meaning
E.g. bumper stickers on cars
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Neglected Founders
Sexism in Early Sociology
Attitudes of the Time
1800s Sex Roles Rigidly Defined
Few People Educated Beyond Basics

Harriet Martineau
Published Society in America Before Durkheim
and Weber Were Born
Her Work was Ignored
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Neglected Founders
Harriet Martineau was a scholar and
activist who introduced sociology to
England. Among other things, she
insisted on the significance of
studying domestic life to better
understand a society.

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Neglected Founders
W.E.B. Du Bois was the first significant
African American sociologist. He made
many contributions to the field,
including the notion of the double
consciousness experienced by all
American blacks. Du Bois was also a
founding member of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP).
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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

double consciousness
double consciousness is intended to express the way in
which all African Americans must see themselves, not only
through their own eyes, but also through the eyes of a society
that degrades them.
His claim was that this necessarily led to the construction of a
negative self-identity for those in the black community.
What he wanted to bring to the fore was the reality that
although slavery was over, the color line remained a major
social problem in the United States.
He remained involved in issues of race relations for most of
his life, but ultimately, in a state of disenchantment, he left the
country for Ghana.
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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

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Levels of Analysis
Microsociology is the study of everyday, face-to-face
interaction. Symbolic interactionists study primarily at this
level of analysis.
Macrosociology is the analysis of large social systems and
institutions. Functionalists and Marxists fall largely under this
heading.
In practice, these two levels of analysis work best when
applied in concert.

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Theoretical Perspectives
Symbolic Interactionism
Functional Analysis
Marxism

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Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic InteractionismHow People Use
Symbols

Applying Symbolic InteractionismChanging

the Meaning of Symbols Affects Expectations
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 Symbolic Interactionism
All social interaction involves an exchange of
information via symbols.
This exchange may be through language, but may
also be non-verbal or may be conveyed by setting.
We learn about ourselves and the world through
this meaningful interaction.
Key figure: George Herbert Mead

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Functional Analysis
Society is a Whole Unit Made Up of Interrelated
Parts that Work Together
Functionalism, Structural Functionalism
Robert MertonFunctions and Dysfunctions

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 Functionalism
This perspective is derived from Comte and Durkheim
and emphasizes large-scale social institutions and
processes.
Functionalist approaches are focus on understanding
the role or contribution of some event, activity, or
institution to the workings of society as a whole.
Modern figures: Talcott Parsons, Robert K. Merton

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 Marxism
Those working under this approach derive their
approach from Marx, most significantly as regards
concerns about power, conflict, and ideology.
This perspective is most commonly applied to
capitalism and economic systems.
Marxist thinkers tend to take on an activist stance in
addition to a scholarly one.

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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

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Trends Shaping the Future

Sociology Full Circle: Reform vs. Research
Globalization

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Definition of Sociology

The science of society (Ward & Graham Sumner).

The science of social phenomena (F.H.Giddings)
The science of institutions (Durkheim)
The science of studying human relationship
(Simmel)
The science of social action (Weber)
The science of collective behavior (Park)

Research Methods: Questions

Sociology, as a social science, must take an
empirical approach to answering questions
about the world.
Sociologists ask four primary types of
questions: factual, comparative,
developmental, and theoretical.

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Table 1.2 A Sociologists Line of Questioning

Research Methods: Seven Steps

1. Define the research problem.
2. Review the evidencedo a literature review.
3. Make the problem precisespecify your
hypothesis.
4. Work out a research design.
5. Carry out the researchcollect your data.
6. Interpret the resultsanalyze your data.
7. Report the findingspublish or present them.

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Research Methods
Ethnography, or participant observation, is a
method frequently used to study people in
their own settings (ethnos = folks, people,
nature; grapho = I write)
Surveys are a more structured research
method where specific, carefully constructed
questions are asked to specific, carefully
selected individuals.
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Research Methods
Sociologists occasionally use experimental
designs when highly controlled conditions are
necessary to answer research questions.
Comparative and historical research are
approaches that allow researchers to
understand variations in social phenomena
across both time and space.

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Research Methods: Ethics

Because sociologists are dealing with real people in
their everyday lives, we must be very cautious in our
work.
All research that directly involves human subjects
must first be approved by an institutional review
board.
Study participants must give informed consent prior
to agreeing to participate and must be debriefed
after.
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