sociology unit 1

Society

A group of people who live in a defined geographic area who interact with one another and who share a common culture

Sociological imagination

An awareness of the relationship between a persons behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the persons choices and perceptions

Social facts

Laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals and all of the cultural rules that govern social life

Figuration

Process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior

Who was August Comte?

Positivism: the scientific study of social patterns

Believed that sociologists could address problems such as education and poverty

Who was Harriet martineau?

Observed and analyzed social practices, including economics, religion and government, etc.

Early work= illustrations of political economy, which was commissioned to help explain the ideas of Adam smith to the masses

Closely acquainted with major political and scientific figures of the time including Charles Darwin

Karl Marx

Believed societies grew as a result of struggles of different social and political classes

Predicted that social change came through social conflict

This was a general rejection of positivism

Wrote the communist manifesto

Herbert Spencer

Rejected Comte and Marx

Favored market and societal forces to shape govt and economy

Wrote the study of sociology

Emile Durkheim

Focused on sociological study of objective facts

Studies determine the health of a society

Studied social ties that led to social solidarity

Wrote on deviations from social solidarity, which will be covered in the chapter of deviance and crime

George Herbert mead

Focused on mind and self, and indicated that our identity is developed through interactions with others

Significant others: individuals that impacted a person’s life

Generalized others: the organized and generalized attritude of a social group

Max weber

Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism

Nature of social action

Verstehen; a German word that means to understand in a deep way. In seeking versetehen, outside observers of a social word (an entire culture or a small setting) attempt to understand it from an insiders pov

Anti positivism

Strive for subjectivity to represent social processes, cultural norms and societal values

Quantative sociology

Uses statiscal methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants. Researchers analyze data using statistical techniques to see if they can uncover patterns of human behavior

Qualitative sociology

Seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in depth interviews, focus groups and analysis of content sources

Who is web du bois

Developed and employed highly detailed empirical methods of research. Contrasted previous methods, many didn’t have rigorous experimental qualities and therefore couldn’t be proven or repeated

His research in areas of race using the empirical methods were accepted as refuting lower quality theories that had provided backing for the biological basis of racism

Preeminent leaders in the African American civil rights movement. Drove the Niagara movement known for being less tolerant of racism and helped found the naacp

3 paradigms

Structural functionalism

Conflict theory

Symbolic interactionism

Paradigms

Perspectives are considered lenses to analyze many aspects of our society (like govt, religion, work, economics, race, class and gender)

What’s structural functionalism?

• macro or mid

• The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the functioning of the whole

• How each organ works together keep your body healthy

• How does education work to transmit culture?

Quantitative data

Data in numerical form that can be counted and analyzed

Qualitative data

A personal explanation whenever it’s difficult to get honest answers

What is conflict theory?

• macro

• The way inequities and inequalities contribute to social, political and power differences and how they perpetuate power

• The ones with the most toys wins and they will change the rules to the games to keep winning

• Does education transmit only the dominant certain cultures?

What’s symbolic interactionism?

• micro

• The way one on one interactions and communications behave

• How do students react to cultural messages in school

• What’s the point in getting married?

Kenneth and mamie Clark

There research helped the Supreme Court decide to end separate but equal racial segregation in schools in the us

Why study sociology?

• supports careers and our ability to understand each other

• Business, economics, govt and politics, education, healthcare, etc require an understanding of sociology, society and culture

• Understands social systems and large bureaucies

• Can devise and carry out research projects to assess if a program or policy is working

• Ability to collect, read and analyze statistical info from polls or surveys

• Ability to recognize important differences in people’s social, cultural and economic backgrounds

• Skills in preparing reports and communicating complex ideas

• The capacity for critical think7about social issues and problems that confront modern society

• Helps us interpret our own experiences, our backgrounds and circumstances and things that occur in our lives

• Can find commonality with groups and communities, can learn more about your own background, the country and people in your lives

Sociology

• not social work

• Scientific study of society, human behavior, groups and group interactions

Applied sociology

Taking sociological results and applying it to a problem

Ex: naacp, business, Ebola crisis, covid, climate change, govt providing info on contemporary problems

Sociological perspective

• looking at things like a sociologist

• Our lives are contextual

• Obesity/ starvation

• Multiculturalism/ethnic cleansing

• Road rage

• Harmony/ socialism

• Dynamic

  
  

• Field of sociology

1800s- early 1900s

Lots of crisis and social upheaval

Agriculture to industrial

Paradigm shift

Nobles sold off land and couldn’t keep up with mass industry

Change in govt (govt overthrow)

Traditional monarchy to democracy

People wanted inalienable rights

Success of the scientific method

Who was August Comte?

Father of sociology

Came up with positivism

Society can be studied via natural sciences

Sociology could address society’s problems

Who was Emile Durkheim?

Believed in social integration and social facts

Established department of sociology at university of Bordeaux

Published rules of sociological method

Talked about how society went from primitive to capitalist industrial society

Can determine if a society is healthy or pathological

Explained how societies change and survive over time

Believed society is a system of interrelated parts and work together to maintain stability

Who was Jane Addams

Won 1913 Nobel peace prize

Hull house: served immigrants via social and educational programs and gave a lot of sociological research associated with sociological school of sociology

Informed, child labor, immigration and healthcare

What’s the developmental process of sociology

Developmental

Basic/pure

Applied

Grand theories

Independent of time and space; universally applicable

Symbolic interactionism

Created by George Herbert mead

The meanings we associate with things that affect the outcome

Stereotypes

Ex: us divorce rate

• micro level theory that focuses on the relationships amongst individuals within a society

• Social scientists look for interactions btw individuals

• Ex: a protest looks at how the protesting group interacts

• Sociologists begin to feel that structural functionalism didn’t sufficiently explain social changes

• Emphasized institutional social inequality

Why study sociology?

• brown v board ended segregation in schools

• Sociology has helped equal opportunity for women, improved treatment for ppl with mental illness, increased accessibility and accommodation for ppl with physical disabilities and the right of native populations

• Sociology raises awareness on classifications and how it affects perceptions

• Sociology makes people be more aware of different people in the world ; helps people see the world from a different perspective

• Sociology prepares people for a wide variety of careers

What are the approaches of sociological research?

• sociologists have studied behavioral patterns

• They study social patterns in the workplace

• Sociologists ask questions about why things happen in the world

• Human social interactions are diverse

• Scientific methods help study human behavior

• Scientific method is developing and testing theories

• Studies allows people to know people’s cultures, rituals, beliefs or trends and attitudes

• Sociologists study many things like poverty, divorce, abuse, etc.

6 steps of the scientific method

1. Ask a question

2. Research existing sources

3. Formulate a hypothesis

4. Design and conduct study

5. Draw conclusions

6. Report results

7. Sociologists use the scientific method to analyze data

8. Helps ensure objectivity and consistency in exploring a social problem

Ask a question

• see a problem and find a specific area of interest

• Should be narrow enough to study within a geographic location and time frame

• Ex: how do differing personal hygiene habits reflect the cultural value placed on appearance?

Literature review

Review of any existing similar or related studies

Helps researchers gain a broad understanding, identity gaps and position their own research

Ex: a researcher that sorts through existing data from the court system, police database, prison info, interviews with criminals, guards, wardens, etc.

Formulate a hypothesis

Hypothesis: an explanation for a phenomenon based on a guess about the relationship btw the phenomenon and one or more casual factors

If then statement

Ex: if unemployment increases, then the crime rate will increase

Independent variable

Cause of the change

Ex: unemployment

Dependent variable

The effect the thing that’s changed

Ex: crime rate increases

Observes a form of human behavior on the independent variable and its influence on the dependent variable

How does gender affect the rate of income?

Independent variable: does gender

Dependent variable: rate of income

The greater availability of affordable housing, the lower the homeless rate

Independent variable: affordable housing

Dependent variable: homeless rate

Reliability

How research results are replicated if the study is reproduced

What happens to one person will happen to another

Accuracy increases reliability

Validity

How well the study measures what it’s designed to measure

Operational definition

Used to produce reliable and valid results, define each concept in terms of the physical or concrete steps it takes to measure it. Identifies an observable condition of the concept

• helps researchers collect data

• Ex: topic- tutoring definition- one on one assistance by an expert in the field hired by an educational institution

Draw conclusions

• sociologists collect and analyze data to form conclusions. If it supports the hypothesis researchers can discuss the results. If it doesn’t support researchers repeat the experiment.

• Even if results contradict it contributes to a sociological understanding

• Ex: increase in crime

Report results

• results reported at conferences and academic journals

• Studies repeated in same/ different environments before they’re widely accepted

Interpretive frame work

• doesn’t follow the hypothesis testing model

• Seeks to understand social worlds from the pov of participants

• Descriptive/ narrative

critical sociology

• deconstruction of existing sociological research and theory

• Embedded by class, caste, race and gender

• Can legitimate and rationalize systems of social power or liberate humans

• Deconstruction= involves data

Research methods

• sociologists use research to design a study

  
  

Primary source data collection

Survey, participant observation, ethnography, case study, unobtrusive observation experiment

Secondary data analysis

• use of existing sources

• Researchers have times when they just need to observe and times where they can survey

• Researchers choose methods that suit their study to pics, protect research participants

Surveys

Help collects data from subjects who respond to a series of questions; most widely used

• not all surveys= sociological research

• Polls from tv aren’t generalized

• Great for seeing how people think and act

• Can track preferences for presidential candidates

• Targets a specific population: ppl who are the focus of a study

• Sometimes they use open ended questions that require a short answer response. Sometimes they talk about religion, politics, goals/ morals

Sample

A manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population

Random sample

Every person in a population that has the same chance of being chosen for the study

Population

Ppl who are the focus of a study

• researcher develops a plan to ask questions and record responses

• Some subjects answer closed ended questions, researcher may ask yes or no questione

Census

Receives demographic data

Dramaturgical analysis

Views everyday interaction as a theoretical performance

Uses qualitative research methods

Constructivism

Reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be

Social constructs are developed based on interactions with others and they become generally accepted

Used to see what’s deviant in a society

Difficult remaining objective

Functionalism

Created by Robert Merton

Society: whole unit made up of interrelated parts that work together, each has its own function

Manifest: intended (function)

Latent: unintended (dysfunction)

What’s the purpose in society?

Conflict theory

Created by Karl Marx

Society is made up of groups that compete for scarce resources

Wrote the communist manifesto

Ex: us divorce rate

• who has the power?

• Macro level approach

• War and conquest are the bases of civilization

• Inequalities of political power and social structure cause conflict

• Ppl are treated differently based off of education, race, gender and ppls reactions were moderated by class and rates of social mobility

• George simmel believed that conflict can integrate and stabilize a society

• Groups work to create internal solidarity, centralize power and reduce dissent

• Eating is influenced by our cultures

• Eating has to do with the role of the agriculture industry

• Manual labor leads to mechanized production

• Interested in power differentials present in the regulation of foods

• Examines the power and powerlessness experienced by local farmers vs large farming

• Criticized b/c it focuses too much on conflict

Critical theory

Created by German philosophers

An expansion of conflict theory and is broader than just sociology, address issues that causes inequality

Critical race theory

Came from analysis of race and racism

Looks at structural inequality based on white privilege, wealth, power and prestige

Micro level

Study small groups such as a legal entity

Ex: accepted rules of conversation in groups such as teens of business professionals

Macro level

Looks at trends of large groups

Ex: ways that language has changed via social media

Culture

A group shared practices, values and beliefs way of life everyday interactions

Product of people in a society

Sociological imagination

A relationship btw a persons behavior and experience that shapes the persons choices and perceptions

Ex: person’s decision to marry

What are sociologists interested in?

Sociologists are interested in the experiences of individuals

Cultural patterns, social forces and influences put pressure on people to select one choice over another

There was a change in marriage where it went from married parents living with their unmarried children to same sex couples, unmarried couples, single parent and single adult households

Social facts

Laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions that govern social life

Individual and society=

Inseparable

Figuration

Analyzing the behavior of individuals and society at the same time

Social institution

A larger social context

Ex: religion

History of sociology

Catholic Church was the center of power in Europe

Ma Tuan Lin

Chinese historian that documented the social dynamics that generated historical development

Ibn khaldun

Tunisian historian that founded sociology and economics

Bubonic plague

Took credibility from the Catholic Church and brought different philosophers

Certain philosophers explained social life and researched social ills

19th century

• Industrial Revolution: increased mobility and employment

• Increased trade, travel and globalization

• Ppl changed their traditional beliefs

Harriet martineau

Introduced sociology to English speaking scholars

Analyzed economics, social class, religion, suicide, govt and women rights

Wrote illustrations of political economy, society in America and retrospect of western travel

Founded capitalism

Pointed out faults of the free enterprise system

Karl Marx

German philosopher and economist

Wrote the communist manifesto

Rejected positivism and believed societies grew and changed based off of social classes

Believed capitalism would collapse and be replaced with communism because workers would revolt

Capitalism

Economic system that has private or corporate owner7of goods and the means to produce

Who was Herbert Spencer

Published the study of sociology

Rejected Comte’s philoabc Marx’s theory of communism, he wanted the market to control capitalism

Who was George simmel

Wrote on social and political issues

Wrote on micro level theories

Supported anti-positivism and talked about social conflict, money, identity in city life and fear of outsiders in Europe

Who was max webber

Established sociology department in Germany

Wrote the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism

Not possible to predict the behavior of a group using the scientific method

Believed in anti positivism

Positivism and anti positivism is related to qualitative and quantitative sociology

Verstehen

To understand in a deep way

Who was William sumner

1st professor sociolog

Franklin giddings

1st full professor of sociology

Albion small

Wrote the first sociology textbook

Lester ward

Developed social research methods

Web du bois

Harvard trained historian and made empirical methodology

Studded the AA community in Philly to document challenges within that community

His publication gave evidence to challenge racism

Helped give rights back to black people

Founded the NAACP

Thorstein Veblen

Wrote about economy

Co founder of economics

Researched the unemployed, the working class and the impact of technology and business within society

Charles Horton Cooley

People compare because if social standards

Wrote about the order of life in human nature and the social order and social organization

Concerned about individualism and competitiveness

George Herbert mead

Philosopher and sociologist that studied the mind and the self

The way someone views his/herself is based on interactions w/ others

A positive or negative reflection depends on who the other was

Greatest impact on someone’s life= significant others and generalized others

Father of symbolic interactionism

Robert e park

Founder of social ecology

Wrote about how Belgians oppressed the Congolese

Social chaos= prevalent in the inner city

Theory

Explains why things work as they do and creates a hypothesis

Social solidarity

Social ties within a group

Theories change in scope depending on the scale of issues

Grand theories

Attempt to explain large scale relationships and answer fundamental questions like why communities change and form

• theories provide broad perspectives that help explain different aspects of social life (paradigms)

Paradigms

Philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to bring theories, generations and experiments