Sociology

What is sociology?

the study of society including patterns of social interactions, relationships, and culture

What is structure?

rukes/norms that become patterns and shape every day life

What is agency?

capacity of individuals to make choices and push back against social structure 

Mechanic Solidarity 

strong sense of shared value

smaller more traditional rural societies 

limited division of labor 

kind of how a machine functions: all the parts work towards a common goal

Organic Solidarity

highly specialized roles

reliance on each other for material needs

more individuality nut still depends on the larger collective

like an organism

Functions of the division of labor

creates social cohesion

acts as a moral force

How do mechanical societies react to crime?

harsher reaction, repressive punishment, cutting people off from society

How do organic societies react to crime?

offense against individuals rather than the whole, rehabilitation

Profane

mundane, ordinary

sacred 

extraordinary 

Collective effervescence

collective bond, creates social cohesion

Collective effervescence examples

online communities, concerts, sporting events, being on a team

Totem

symbol of expression that reminds us of collective effervescence 

Social actions

actions that are oriented towards the behaviors of others

value rationality (type of social action)

driven by some intrinsic moral/ethical values

value rationality example

religion practices, protest

Traditional (type of social action)

action driven by tradition or habit 

Traditional examples

holiday traditions, handshakes

Affect  (type of social action)

driven by emotion/feelings

Affect examples

crying over a sad movie

Purposive rationality (type of social action)

trying to achieve a specific goal

Purposive rationality examples

studying for a midterm

What is performance?

social behavior for an audience

Front

part of the performance the audience sees

Parts of the performance setting: 

physical environment 

Parts of the performance appearance:

dress/how someone presents themselves

Parts of the performance manner:

behavior

Quantitative research methods

seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form 

• Deductive approach 

• Results can be generalizable 

• Often relies on statistical analysis 

• Often relies on secondary data 

• Ex: surveys

Qualitative research methods

Qualitative research methods attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form 

• Inductive approach 

• Ex: Interviews