Thinking Sociologically: Lecture notes midterm

What are 7 functions of theory?

1. Accumulation of evidence

2. Precision

3. Guidance

4. Connectedness

5. Interpretation

6. Prediction

7. Explanation

What are 7 components of theory?

1. Premises

2. Conclusion(s) that flow from those

3. Intellectual traditions

4. Focus and scope assumptions

5. Concepts

6. Propositions (“covering laws”)

7. Variations/follow-up

What are intellectual traditions?

The ideas and ways of thinking from earlier scholars that a theory builds on

What are focus and scope assumptions?

Describes what the theory focuses on and how broadly it applies

What are propositions (“covering laws”)?

Statements about how different concepts are connected, what the theory says is likely to happen

What are variations/follow-up?

New versions or extensions of a theory that develop from the original idea

What is an easy way to remember the order of components of theory?

Premises

Concepts

Connections

Conclusions

What are 4 important concepts?

1. Bugs vs. features

2. Social “structure”

3. Structure vs agency

4. Methodological individualism, atomism

Bugs vs. features

• feature - accepted, normal, typical

• bug - anomalies, exceptions, undesirable outcomes

Social “structure” concept

• Conditions in which things happen

• think of how mice got in to your garage, through a the vulnerability of a hole in the wall

Structure vs. agency concept

Intentions and choices of people in those situations

A source of debate

Methodological individualism, atomism

• exclusive focus on individuals apart from their social contexts

• presumption your choice and my choice are all that matter

What are the 4 levels of analysis?

1. Micro

2. Meso

3. Macro

4. Time element

What is the micro level?

• You in car, late for concert

• Honking at one another

What is the Meso level?

• looking at the cars together in this stretch of highway, all cars need to catch the light

• the little exit some can take advantage of

What is the Macro level?

• the entire traffic system

• the lights, the things controlling the lights, the construction

• looking at the whole picture everything together

What is the time element level?

• people tracked over time

• like an accident that caused the traffic jam, maybe this one place has frequent accidents

• Tracking change or lack of change over time

What are 3 points to keep in mind on how we build social theory?

1. Content

2. Who for, why?

3. Key choices

What is the content aspect on how we build social theory?

• social patterns, social interactions, social classification (stratification)

• have material like a data set, know the subject area

Why is it important to ask who for and why in building social theory?

• Audience, intentions, values

• Consider the audience, ex. homelessness, who you are talking to matters, are they a policy maker or are you just spreading the word

What are 6 key choices for how we build social theory?

• patterns of interest

• level of analysis

• degree of complexity

• structure, agency or both

• protocols for assessing evidence

• which explanations to use

Who was Emile Durkheim? His notes

• Founder of the first sociology department

• Founding sociology as an academic discipline

• Borrowing his 3 group analogy, social group

• Macro - big levels

• Came up with his own findings, different way of thinking that was groundbreaking

What are 5 rules of the sociological method?

1. Social context to the choices we make every day

2. Collective conscience

3. Social facts

4. Cause of something is different from what maintains it

5. “Normative” behaviour

What is collective conscience?

Somehow everyone feels the same thing, same intentions, same ideas in mind in their community they start to act in unison in social ways

What is the example he used to explain social facts?

Moving to a small town and everyone salutes when greeting you instead of shaking your hand.

Durkheim on suicide

• some but not all of his observations still hold true

• this notion that suicide is ‘social’

Who was Karl Marx?

• Economist

• Conflict theorist

• Macro level

• Long legacy in the book, Capital - capitalism bad for society

• The ‘heart’ - of sociology discipline

How does he refer to Durkheim and Marx being what aspects of the sociology discipline?

Durkheim - the brain

Marx - the heart, the spirit, the push for equality and making the world better

What are the 5 points of conflict theory?

• Society prioritizes some groups over others

• 4 C’s

• Components

• Key arguments

• Strengths & weaknesses

What are the 4 C’s of conflict theory?

1. Conflict

2. Classification - putting people into groups, society making that decision

3. Contestation - the pushback

4. Change

What are 3 components of conflict theory?

1. Subaltern - person who is marginalized for being different in perception

2. Distribution of resources - privilege

3. Features, not bugs - part of the system is to isolate, to marginalize

What are 4 key arguments of conflict theory?

1. Justification of the system, complacency

2. Narratives around what people “deserve”

3. Categories intersect in ways that generate conflict

4. Solutions involve collective consciousness

What are the strengths & weaknesses of conflict theory?

• Applicable to many other areas

• How do we know when conflict is resolved? Does the theory then become irrelevant?

Who was Max Weber?

• Came after Marx, Durkheim

• Generalist

• Foundational thinker

• He did not like the number side of socialism, thought you had to spend time walking in others shoes

• Micro and macro

What were Weber’s contributions?

• Ideal types - nothing will perfectly manifest the idea

• ‘Life chances’ - what you are born with, some people born with opportunity, some not

• Class, status, party

• verstehen - german word to understand, walking in peoples shoes

• ‘Rationality - everything working like clockwork

• Types of legitimate domination: Tradition, Charisma, legal-rational

• Bureaucracy

Symbolic interactionism

1. Society is the product of human interactions

2. Microsocial

3. Symbols - talking, texting & Interactions

4. Built upon Weber’s verstehen - walking in others shoes

What was George Herbert Meads contribution?

You are created by your social environment by your social interaction

What are 4 applications of sociological thought and what they do?

1. Professional sociology - academic

2. Critical sociology - orientation toward meaningful change

3. Policy sociology - focus on policy formulation & implementation

4. Public sociology - translation of sociology for the public

What are 3 points for understanding and applying theory?

1. Distill into clear, simple statements

2. Theoretical insights

3. From propositions to hypotheses

What are 3 hazards of using social theory?

1. Verbosity

2. Language

3. Tautology and other logical fallacies